After the three red flags in FP1, the second session was a cleaner affair with dry running throughout the ninety minutes.
Only a beached #67 IMSA Performance Matmut in the turn 13 gravel interrupted the running this afternoon. Erik Maris was at the wheel of the Porsche 911 RSR when it snapped sideways midway through the corner with 18 mins of the session remaining.
With more rubber down on the track the times came alive with Tristen Gommendy peaking on a 1m31.422s lap in the Thiriet by TDS Racing Ligier-Nissan to head the timing screens.Most of the teams were reporting some harsh degradation on the left front tyres at this, one of the most abrasive track surfaces in Europe. Double stinting tyres in the race tomorrow will be interesting to say the least.
The lanky Frenchman’s lap was just 0.033s quicker than Harry Tincknell’s best in the Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan. All three Jota drivers spent much of the session honing the Jota Sport Zytek-Nissan on a variety of tyre evaluation runs. The team was confident that a decent chunk of time was still in the car for a stab at pole and what could prove to be a vital point earned tomorrow morning.
‘Pipo’ Derani continued to impress in the Murphy Prototype and set the third fastest time of 1m31.952s. Earlier, Derani’s team mate, Tony Wells, survived a lurid sideswipe from one of the AF Corse Ferraris leaving the pit lane. There was just cosmetic damage to the rear bodywork of the Oreca-Nissan after the altercation. James Littlejohn again impressed the team with the ease in which he had got in to the zone on his LMP2 return after a six month competitive absence.
Jota Sport’s title rivals, Signatech Alpine, were in fourth position, with Nelson Panciatici setting the time in the final 25mins. It was a solid day for Les Bleues as they focus on ensuring that they maximise their ten point advantage going in to the race tomorrow. Earlier in the session Oli Webb had enjoyed another good stint at the wheel as the team honed their long-stint pace. Webb emerging unscathed from a brief pirouette, at Turn nine, during his time at the wheel.
Still with title ambitions and also looking at a potential move to the FIA World Endurance championship in 2015, the New Blood by Morand team finished fifth. Christian Klien rued heavy traffic on his runs and reckoned that at least a second could be chipped away from his best of 1m32.314s.
Getting up to speed in the second session was Race Performance. Still with slim title ambitions the Swiss team worked through their programme efficiently, with Patric Niederhauser continuing to re-engage himself with LMP2 machinery after a 12-month absence. Niederhauser set the sixth fastest time on 1m33.461s.
The LMGTE scrap looks set to be as ferocious as always with just 0.03s covering the top two.
Fastest again in LMGTE was the championship chasing #72 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia. Andrea Bertolini proved to be the master over a single lap one more before he handed over to Russian team mates Viktor Shaitar and Sergey Zlobin.
Encouragingly the Gulf Racing UK Aston Martin was second fastest with Stuart Hall again showing that despite his advanced years he is still a very rapid proposition! The team are confident at a potential crack at LMGTE pole tomorrow morning.
Earlier, Pierre Kaffer had sat atop the times in class in the AF Corse run AT Racing Ferrari 458 Italia until the final half hour but was eventually relegated to fifth place. The German was happy with the way his time at the wheel went and is hungry for the efforts of the Talkanista’s to be recognised this weekend with a big result.
“We have had some bad luck in the races so far, so I hope we can really have a clean qualifying and race tomorrow. We are aware of some cars fighting for the title but we have to have our own race too. It will be close between the Ferraris again for sure,” he said.
The #55 AF Corse of Matt Griffin, Duncan Cameron and Michele Rugolo placed a lowly eighth in class after a conservative session. Ironically this very position would be good enough for them to win the title tomorrow afternoon, even if the #72 SMP Ferrari were to win the race.
In the GTC class, the Russian/Italian alliance of Aleksy Basov, Kiril Ladygin and Luca Persiani ruled the roost with Persiani setting several quick laps during his stint. His best of 1m39.782s was good enough for the top spot in the #71 SMP Racing Ferrari 458 Italia.
Title favourites – #73 SMP Racing Ferrari – were in second place with Olivier Beretta peaking on a 1m39.782s lap. Just behind the Monegasque in third place was the Team Russia by Barwell BMW Z4, Johnny Cocker managing a 1m40.319s lap.
Tomorrow’s qualifying sessions are scheduled to begin at 09.30 with the LMGTE/GTC cars out first. The LMP2 cars will follow at 10am cet. Both sessions will be twenty minutes.
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Sam Smith
