Marc VDS Racing's Maxime Martin and Frederic Makowiecki secured their third qualifying race victory of the year with a straightforward drive in the opening part of the Ordos GT1 World Championship event. Dyson Racing's rookie duo Steven Kane and Humaid Al Masaood scored their first American Le Mans Series victory in the two-hour race around the new Baltimore street circuit. Kane led home a Dyson Lola-Mazda one-two, with LMP1 championship leaders Guy Smith and Chris Dyson having to settle for second. Marc VDS Racing secured its first championship race win in the World GT1 series as Maxime Martin and Frederic Makowiecki held JRM Nissan duo Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck at bay at Ordos in China.
The Young Driver Aston Martin squad scored a decisive one-two finish in the GT1 World Championship qualifying race at Beijing's Goldenport track on Saturday morning, with Alex Muller and Tomas Enge heading home the sister car of Darren Turner/Stefan Mucke in heavy rain. The decisive moment of the race came during the mandatory pitstop cycle, when Mucke stalled in the pits as he attempted to rejoin, handing a huge lead to Enge.
The Hexis duo of Christian Hohenadel/Andrea Piccini looked set to overcame their Young Driver Aston Martin stablemates in the championship race at Beijing's Goldenport track on Saturday until spinning out with a handful of minutes to go, which handed victory to Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner.
First win of the season for the SC430 at Toyota's home course, Fuji Speedway!. Tachikawa and Hirate pilot the ZENT CERUMO SC430 to brilliant come-from-behind victory. In the GT300 class race, the winner was the pole-starting HATSUNEMIKU GOODSMILE BMW (Nobuteru Taniguchi/Taku Bamba).
Simon Pagenaud and Sebastien Bourdais delivered Peugeot the 2011 AUTOSPORT 6 Hours of Silverstone crown after a race-long fight with the #1 Audi. Result:
Zitat1. LMP1 Davidson/Bourdais/Pagenaud Peugeot 190 laps 2. LMP1 Bernhard/Fassler Audi + 1m29.763s 3. LMP1 Premat/Pla Oak Pescarolo-Judd + 5 laps 4. LMP1 Belicchi/Boullion Rebellion Lola-Toyota + 5 laps 5. LMP1 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues Oak Pescarolo-Judd + 5 laps 6. LMP1 Collard/Tinseau/Jousse Pescarolo-Judd + 5 laps 7. LMP1 Kristensen/McNish Audi + 6 laps 8. LMP1 Montagny/Sarrazin Peugeot + 9 laps 9. LMP1 Fernandez/Primat/Klien AMR Lola-Aston + 11 laps 10. LMP2 Ojjeh/Kimber-Smith/Lombard Greaves Zytek-Nissan + 12 laps 11. LMP2 Frey/Meichtry/Rostan Race Performance ORECA-Judd + 13 laps 12. LMP2 Kraihamer/Ebbesvik Boutsen ORECA-Nissan + 14 laps 13. LMP2 Newton/Erdos/Collins RML HPD + 14 laps 14. LMP2 Gates/Hughes/Garofall RLR MG Lola-Judd + 19 laps 15. LMP2 Barlesi/da Rocha/Lafargue Oak Pescarolo-Judd + 19 laps 16. LMP2 Mailleux/Ordonez/Vernay Signatech ORECA-Nissan + 20 laps 17. FLM Schultis/Simon/Schell Pegasus FLM + 21 laps 18. FLM Mitchell/Grogor/Kronfli Genoa FLM + 21 laps 19. FLM Marcelli/Ducote/Moro JMB FLM + 22 laps 20. GTE-P Fisichella/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari + 22 laps 21. GTE-P Ortelli/Makowiecki Luxury Ferrari + 23 laps 22. GTE-P Lieb/Lietz Felbermayr Porsche + 23 laps 23. GTE-P Priaulx/Alzen BMW + 23 laps 24. GTE-P Goossens/Holzer Prospeed Porsche + 23 laps 25. LMP2 Leventis/Watts/Kane Strakka HPD + 23 laps 26. GTE-P Farfus/Muller BMW + 23 laps 27. GTE-P Pilet/Henzler IMSA Porsche + 23 laps 28. GTE-P Farnbacher/Simonsen Farnbacher Ferrari + 23 laps 29. GTE-P Bell/Walker JMW Ferrari + 24 laps 30. GTE-P Jakubowski/Beltoise/Marroc Luxury Ferrari + 26 laps 31. GTE-A Narac/Armindo IMSA Porsche + 26 laps 32. GTE-P Hancock/Dolan/Buncombe Jota Aston Martin + 26 laps 33. GTE-A Roda/Long Proton Porsche + 27 laps 34. FLM Hartshorne/Keating/Keen Neil Garner FLM + 28 laps 35. GTE-A Ehret/Lynn/Wills CRS Ferrari + 28 laps 36. GTE-A Bornhauser/Canal/Gardel Larbre Corvette + 28 laps 37. GTE-A Perazzini/Cioci/Lemeret AF Corse Ferrari + 28 laps 38. GTE-A Felbermayr/Ried Felbermayr Porsche + 28 laps 39. GTE-A Krohn/Jonsson/Rugulo Krohn Ferrari + 29 laps 40. GTE-P Rossiter/Mowlem/Wendlinger Jetalliance Lotus + 29 laps 41. GTE-A Giroix/Goethe/Wainwright Gulf Aston Martin + 37 laps 42. GTE-A Hummel/Christodoulou/Quaife CRS Ferrari + 59 laps
Not classified:
GTE-P Broniszewski/Peter Kessel Ferrari 118 laps GTE-P Lichtner-Hoyer/Rich/Hansson Jetalliance Lotus 114 laps LMP2 Companc/Russo/Kaffer Pecom Lola-Judd 103 laps
Retirements:
LMP1 Prost/Jani Rebellion Lola-Toyota 159 laps GTE-P Melo/Vilander AF Corse Ferrari 92 laps LMP2 Beche/Thiriet/Firth TDS ORECA-Nissan 23 laps
Stefan Mucke, Adrian Fernandez and Harold Primat gave Aston Martin Racing a boost in what has been a miserable season by winning the American Le Mans Series' six-hour race at Laguna Seca. Result:
Zitat1. P1 Fernandez/Primat/Mucke AMR Lola-Aston 6h01m02.936s 2. P1 Dyson/Smith/Cochran Dyson Lola-Mazda + 3 laps 3. P1 Al Masaood/Kane/Leitzinger Dyson Lola-Mazda + 3 laps 4. P2 Tucker/Bouchut/Diaz Level 5 HPD + 7 laps 5. PC Lux/Julian/Guasch Genoa FLM + 7 laps 6. PC Jeannette/Gonzalez/Junco CORE Autosport FLM + 7 laps 7. PC Ducote/Ducote/Marcelli Intersport FLM + 9 laps 8. PC Bennett/Montecalvo/Wallace CORE Autosport FLM + 9 laps 9. PC Moro/Drissi/Vera Intersport FLM + 11 laps 10. UNC Dumas/Lietz Porsche Hybrid + 12 laps 11. GT Bergmeister/Long Flying Lizard Porsche + 12 laps 12. GT Muller/Hand RLL BMW + 12 laps 13. GT Sharp/van Overbeek Extreme Speed Ferrari + 12 laps 14. GT Auberlen/Werner RLL BMW + 12 laps 15. GT Gavin/Magnussen Corvette + 12 laps 16. GT Melo/Vilander Risi Ferrari + 12 laps 17. PC Nicolosi/Boon/Lueders Performance Tech FLM + 13 laps 18. GT Beretta/Milner Corvette + 13 laps 19. PC Dobson/Richard/Villeneuve PR1 Mathiasen FLM + 16 laps 20. GT Brown/Cosmo Extreme Speed Ferrari + 17 laps 21. GT Neiman/Holzer Flying Lizard Porsche + 18 laps 22. GT Miller/Maassen Miller Porsche + 24 laps 23. GTC Ende/Pumpelly/Ludwig TRG Porsche + 26 laps 24. GTC Pappas/Bleekemolen/Bleekemolen Black Swan Porsche + 26 laps 25. GTC LeSaffre/Faulkner Green Hornet Porsche + 27 laps 26. P1 Burgess/McMurry/Willman Autocon Lola-AER + 28 laps 27. GTC Sweedler/Wong/Lewis Alex Job Porsche + 28 laps 28. GTC Sofronas/Welch GMG Porsche + 28 laps 29. GTC von Moltke/Buckler/di Guida TRG Porsche + 32 laps 30. GTC Ragginger/Kauffmann/Cisnero NGT Porsche + 33 laps 31. GTC Ham/Thompson/Blackett JDX Porsche + 35 laps 32. P1 Luhr/Graf Muscle Milk Lola-Aston + 48 laps
Retirements:
GT Junqueira/Wilden RSR Jaguar 186 laps GT Henzler/Sellers Falken Porsche 101 laps GTC Avenatti/Faieta/Wagner Competition Porsche 96 laps GT Jones/Moran RSR Jaguar 5 laps
The Young Driver Aston Martin squad scored a decisive one-two finish in the GT1 World Championship qualifying race at Beijing's Goldenport track on Saturday morning, with Alex Muller and Tomas Enge heading home the sister car of Darren Turner/Stefan Mucke in heavy rain. Julien Jousse and Emmanuel Collard claimed the Le Mans Series LMP1 drivers' title for sportscar legend Henri Pescarolo's team in a thrilling six-hour race at Estoril.
ZitatTMG RETURNS TO LE MANS 14 October 2011
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) is delighted to confirm that it will take part in several races of the 2012 FIA World Endurance Championship, including the Le Mans 24 Hours.
The entry will be based upon an LMP1 prototype chassis from TMG, and a petrol hybrid powertrain produced by Toyota Motor Corporation in Japan.
The exact scope of this participation and its official name will be confirmed in the coming weeks.
TMG’s high-performance technical centre in Cologne, Germany, where the LMP1 chassis has been designed, developed and produced, will be the base for the team.
The car is planned to take part in a roll-out around the turn of the year prior to an extensive test schedule in early 2012. Further details will be confirmed in due course.
Tadashi Yamashina, Toyota Motor Corporation Senior Managing Officer and TMG Chairman, said: "Toyota Motor Corporation has entered Le Mans before but by using our hybrid technology this time will be a completely new challenge. We want to write a new page in the history of the Le Mans 24 Hours, as well as in the FIA World Endurance Championship, through our use of hybrid technology. In addition, we aim to learn from the experience of competing in such a challenging motorsport environment to enhance our production car technology. Le Mans is a legendary race and I would like to thank the ACO and the FIA for their constructive and positive cooperation over the last few months."
TMG’s award-winning engineering services, including all current motorsport projects, will continue unaffected by this announcement, which it is hoped will provide further impetus to its successful business development activities.
About Toyota Motorsport GmbH: Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) is an engineering services supplier based in Cologne, Germany since 1979 with extensive experience of World Rally, sportscar racing and Formula 1. With two state-of-the-art wind tunnels, unique R&D testing facilities and extensive production departments as well as impressive design and simulation capabilities, TMG is at the forefront of engineering services supply to the motorsport and automotive industries. In 2011, TMG was part of a Le Mans Series Manufacturers’ championship with Rebellion Racing and Lola, while it also set a new lap record for electric vehicles at the Nürburgring Nordschleife using a road-legal car with TMG electric powertrain.
Peugeot Sport driver Franck Montagny is of the view that Toyota should grab the drivers from Peugeot and Audi, as it saves time in the development. He believes that the WEC will be a big battle between the big three manufacturers, each manufacturer wants to show that the technique is the best on the track and the drivers are trying their best. Super GT for several years, Toyota (Lexus) drove Andre Lotterer is one of the possible name of the Toyota's driver list, but he was not told to leave the contractual relationship between the Audi. Yet you may not want to speculate any more names, although Toyota's home country of drivers would be available, including Kazuki Nakajima, Kohei Hirate and Seiji Ara.
JR Motorsport's Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm became 2011 FIA GT1 world champions at the penultimate race of the season at San Luis, by finishing a fighting second behind Exim Team China's startling debut winners Yelmer Buurman and Francesco Pastorelli. Exim Bank Team China claimed its first Championship Race victory and first for the Corvette C6.R following an action-packed and unpredictable FIA GT1 World Championship season finale Sunday in San Luis, Argentina. Drama unfolded from the very start of the 60-minute race, as newly crowned driver's champion Lucas Luhr, along with four other cars, were collected in a massive pileup on the start/finish straight of the high-speed Potrero de los Funes circuit. While GT1 debutant Yelmer Burrman cruised to victory in his Exim Bank Team China Corvette, it was underdogs Hexis AMR which scored an unlikely teams' championship with third and fifth place finishes for its two Aston Martins.
ZitatWurz, Nakajima and Lapierre for Toyota WEC team f1fanatic.co.uk /07.11.2011
Toyota have confirmed Alexander Wurz, Kazuki Nakajima and Nicolas Lapierre will drive for their World Endurance Championship team in 2012:
Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG) is delighted to confirm that Alex Wurz, Nicolas Lapierre and Kazuki Nakajima will share its new hybrid LMP1 car in selected World Endurance Championship races, including the Le Mans 24 Hours.
TMG will work intensely with all three drivers to learn more about the specific demands of endurance racing, as well as continuously developing the car. In the near future, this will include sessions on TMG’s driving simulator, which already features the Le Mans track and an LMP1 vehicle model.
Each driver has significant experience at the top level of international motorsport and they have been selected to help the team develop during what is expected to be a learning season in 2012.
The length of the respective contracts remains undisclosed.
One car will be entered in selected rounds, although the final identity of the team and its race schedule remain under discussion.
All three drivers are expected to drive the hybrid LMP1 car for the first time at the roll-out, which will take place early in the new year at an as-yet-unconfirmed European venue.
As a two-time Le Mans winner and multiple Formula 1 podium finisher, Alex Wurz is famed for his technical ability, speed and consistency.
His excellence in single-seater racing inevitably led to the top and he proved his talents in endurance racing as early as 1996, when he won the Le Mans 24 Hours at the first attempt and became the youngest-ever winner, a record which still stands.
After more than a decade in Formula 1, both as a combative racer and trusted tester, Le Mans beckoned again. Another outright win in 2009 combined with victory in the Sebring 12 Hours at his first attempt while triumphs at the Spa 1,000km and Petit Le Mans further enhanced his reputation.
Alex Wurz: “As soon as I heard about the possibility to join the team I was instantly excited and keen to be involved. I love endurance racing and I have been a fan of Le Mans since my childhood so I have great memories of Toyotas competing there, particularly the GT-One which was a really sexy, cool-looking car. As an ambitious Le Mans racer, this heritage combined with the immense technical capabilities at TMG makes a very attractive combination. So I am extremely happy to be involved, along with Nicolas and Kazuki. One of the most important things in endurance racing is the connection between the drivers. If the drivers are working together it is a very productive situation for the team and ultimately improves lap times and results. Nicolas has shown his speed while I really rate Kazuki as a person and a driver so I think we will be a strong team. I can’t wait to get started and I am fascinated by the new challenge of competing with a hybrid car. It is the future of racing so I am very excited that Toyota comes in with this technology. I know Toyota has a lot of expertise in this area and I hope this plays to our advantage.”
As a well-qualified single-seater driver, with GP2 races wins complimenting the 2006 A1 Grand Prix championship, Nicolas Lapierre moved into endurance racing in 2007.
He has quickly established himself as a leading light with wins in 1,000km races at Portimao and Silverstone before this year’s victory in the 12 Hours of Sebring.
Nicolas Lapierre: “To be selected by a company like Toyota for such a new and interesting project is a proud moment for me. We are at the beginning of a big challenge and I am very excited. TMG has some very impressive capabilities and, together with the hybrid system, we have the potential to develop a really strong car. I am interested to experience the hybrid system for the first time; this adds a different aspect to our challenge and we have to consider some different strategic factors. It’s great to be involved at the beginning with this technology and I hope it will give us a performance advantage. I’m also pleased to be part of such a strong driver line-up. I raced against Kazuki in GP2; he is definitely a fast driver and also a good team player, which is very important in endurance racing. Alex is a two-time Le Mans winner so he is a great benchmark for us, but he is also able to build a strong team spirit. I believe the choice of drivers is very good and I am looking forward to working together as a team.”
Kazuki Nakajima is a successful graduate of the Toyota Young Drivers’ Programme, having enjoyed race-winning successes in Formula 3 and GP2 on his way to Formula 1, initially as test driver before progressing to a race seat.
He stood out as a mature and determined driver despite an extremely tough environment, so it is no surprise he has immediately returned to winning ways in Formula Nippon.
Kazuki Nakajima: “I am thrilled to have been chosen to become a member of Toyota’s World Endurance Championship team. To return to Le Mans, and to take part in this new championship, means a lot to Toyota so I am very honoured to be a part of it. Le Mans will be a new experience for me but it is one I am very much looking forward to. The challenge of Le Mans is famous throughout motorsport so I can’t wait to race there for the first time. Obviously it is a new experience but I am familiar with endurance racing thanks to my time in Japanese Super GT and this will help me to adjust. It’s great to join such a strong driver line-up, especially because I am already familiar with both of my new team-mates, having worked with Alex in Formula 1 and raced against Nicolas in GP2. I am looking forward to working closely with Alex and Nicolas; I want to learn about Le Mans from them and I hope I will be able to do a good job.”
ZitatNakajima out to prove himself with Toyota drive for Le Mans 24 Hours Wednesday, June 13th 2012, 13:27 GMT/Autosport
Kazuki Nakajima believes becoming part of Toyota's Le Mans programme gives him a chance to prove himself all over again after the end of his Formula 1 stint.
The Japanese driver contested 36 grands prix for Williams between 2007 and '09, and then returned to domestic racing after losing his F1 seat.
The 27-year-old's Toyota sportscar deal marks his return to the international scene, and sees him sharing the #7 car with Alex Wurz and Nicolas Lapierre.
"It's nice to come back to a world-class racing field again, and this is special for me because it's with Toyota," Nakajima told AUTOSPORT. "F1 was kind of together with Toyota [as engine supplier to Williams], but this is much more important for the company and me.
"I think I have to prove myself again. But the way to work here is different to F1 - you have to drive not only to prove yourself but also to work for the team and get a good result as a team. I think it will be a different way but I'm sure I can prove myself.
"It's more important to run more consistently, not just doing one quick lap and that's it. It's a different style to formula car racing. I like it this way. I have good team-mates like Alex and Nico, and I know that they are really good team players. I think I'm in a really good situation and I can work quite relaxed and learn from the other drivers."
Nakajima suspects there will be elements to the Le Mans experience that he will not be able to grasp until he has raced there once.
"I have no experience in the Le Mans 24 Hours, so still I cannot say I'm fully ready," he said. "I'm sure this is something that basically you have to experience in racing. Until you race here for the first time, I think you'll never be ready.
"But because I have some experience in Japanese GTs, for traffic management I think I can be a little bit better than some other rookies."
He said Toyota's simulator meant the Le Mans circuit held few surprises for him on the test day earlier this month, but admitted he still had to learn its intricacies.
"It was really special to drive here, but actually because I have been working on the simulator in TMG quite a lot, I wasn't so confused by the track," said Nakajima.
"I need to learn a lot more, because the conditions are changing all the time, and I'm sure when you have good conditions the feeling will be completely different. I still have a good feeling with this track, and it's very exciting through the Porsche Curves and other places.
"It's maybe kind of similar to Monaco or another street track because it's so narrow and the barriers are really close. It's not like F1, it's a completely different world and I'm sure the atmosphere will be really special."
ZitatQ & A with Pascal Vasselon Wednesday, June 13th 2012, 15:43 GMT/Autosport
After over a decade away Toyota returns to Le Mans in 2012 with a fresh bid for the outright victory that has eluded them at all previous attempts.
Ex-Formula 1 engineer Pascal Vasselon's team have taken a very different approach to Audi in shaping a car to the ACO's hybrid regulations, and the TS030 has shown considerable promise in testing.
While clearly very quick, the TS030 Hybrid has yet to prove itself in competition after the first chassis was damaged in a crash during testing, forcing Toyota to pull out of the Spa 6-hour enduro last month.
Q. You haven't had a great deal of testing with this car. What programme will you be working through during the practice sessions?
Pascal Vasselon: Our plan is nothing unusual, I would say. There are the normal things we have to work through, like qualifying all the drivers, making sure they have all done enough laps at night. We have to install a few spare parts and make sure everything will work fine in case we have to change any pieces of bodywork during the race. One of the main targets is to develop our set-up, because we had a day of testing a few days ago and although we did well, we found a few things that needed to be corrected. We have quite a lot of set-up activity ongoing.
The weather will dictate when we go for the qualifying runs. We want to show that we are there even though qualifying has little importance at Le Mans.
We also have a lot of tyres to evaluate, thanks to the weather. This will be a big job: we have several tyre specs, and we have to find the temperature limits of the slicks as well as the transition between wets, intermediates and slicks. We have plenty of work to do, especially with the conditions predicted to be changeable.
Q. How much development have you done on the hybrid system in terms of wet- weather performance?
PV: Fortunately - or unfortunately – we've done quite a lot of work in the wet. At Le Castellet we had several days of rain. So we have some experience in terms of reliability as well as performance.
The hybrid system works better in the wet than it does in the dry. Why? Because in the dry the braking events are shorter. In some places we don't recover the full 500 kilojoules [permitted by the regulations]. In the wet the braking events are longer because of the lower grip, so we can recover more energy and boost more within the restrictions of the rules.
Q. Can you release the energy at the same time as you would in the dry, though?
PV: By the regulations, yes, but technically you can only transmit what the tyres can take, so for sure with less grip you stay tyre-limited longer. You have to wait, maybe 50 metres later. But the impact on performance is minimal because you are releasing the energy of the combustion engine first and then the electric power. It's based on what the tyres can take.
Q. Unlike Audi you've chosen to do the energy recovery and redeployment through the rear wheels. Did you do that for reliability or weight distribution reasons?
PV: We are using only one set of driveshafts which do everything – combustion engine, energy recovery, energy deployment. We did test with a system at the front of the monocoque. We made the decision because of packaging – it was easier to package the engine and the gearbox. Globally it was a lighter solution, so even with the weight at the rear it freed up the possibility of putting some ballast at the front. Also there is less friction and rolling resistance when you have fewer driveshafts. For all these reasons the decision was clear for us to make the installation in this way.
Q. What made you choose super-capacitors rather than a flywheel system or batteries?
PV: It's power density. For this kind of system it was important to be able to charge and discharge quickly. We were not looking for storage – it's not like an EV car where you're relying on the power for 100 kilometres or more. You're charging under braking, waiting a few seconds and then releasing it again. So you need a storage system with the best power but low weight, and that is the power density. We did many studies and found that a capacitor was the best device – but we expect that soon the battery will become the best option. At the moment you need more battery weight for the same power. Q. How reliable are the capacitors?
PV: We will not have to change them – hopefully!
Q. The Audi drivers say their system is quite subtle and it can be hard to know whether it's working or not. What do your drivers say?
PV: Our hybrid system is more powerful. Our drivers – you cannot not notice it, there is a really big boost. But they complain that when they are out of the boost, there is nothing left!
Q. Is it possible to run purely on the electric system, say if you wanted to save fuel while running behind the safety car?
PV: We can do what we want with it. In testing we have brought the car back to the pits on electric power after running out of fuel. Obviously here it would depend on where it happened! We have options to use it for pure performance, or to drive to a certain laptime, or to save fuel. It depends what scenarios we encounter during the race.
Q. With having the hybrid system working through the rear, are there any implications for tyre wear?
PV: It was one of the difficulties of the packaging we chose, but we are very good at managing the tyres. We were quite surprised at Le Castellet about how long we were able to run on one set of tyres. It's a strong point.
Q. Why did you choose petrol for the combustion engine rather than diesel?
PV: That's a good question! Historically, Toyota hybrids for the road car market are gasoline hybrids. The decision was made to be in relation to the road car concept.
Q. The Audi diesels have had a reduction in on-board fuel capacity for this year. Was that the result of some negotiations behind the scenes with the ACO about performance balancing?
PV: I would not talk in terms of negotiations – we are engineers. The intention of the ACO and the FIA is very clear, they want different technologies at Le Mans but they want them to be balanced. Not in terms of lap time – that's where the confusion comes from. If you talk about lap time you never reach a conclusion because lap time is about many things – aero, braking tyres – as well as the engine. The debate had to be reset. To move forward we had to engineer it better – if we want to balance the performance of the engines we had to look at acceleration. That's the process that's in place, it began last year, adjustments have been made and the process is still going on. For me it's not a negotiation, the intention is clear: the two technologies should offer the same power, let's measure it and adjust it if necessary. There is no place for lobbying.
Q. Is it your intention to go for pole position?
PV: We will try to do well – we want to show that we are here. Pole position would be nice. We are going to do our best, so long as it doesn't detract from the other work we need to do. It will be a nice game. We have so many choices because all our drivers are able to qualify the car, and we haven't made the decision yet.
Q. At this stage in the car's development, what can you realistically expect to achieve in the race? How long can you run for?
PV: We have had issues in the test sessions and we've been working hard to fix them. We've fixed the known issues but we have not done the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and that's the next step. You can do endurance sessions anywhere in the world but Le Mans is very specific.
Q. You've got some operational support from ORECA. Who will actually be making decisions on the pit wall?
PV: The race operation is heavily supported by ORECA and we're very happy with that. You will find a mixture of people but the spine of the race engineering is ORECA. You have different decisions to make during the race and there is a process for each of them. If an immediate decision has to be made, that is the responsibility of the car's race engineer. For strategic decisions where we have more time available, for instance which tyres to fit for the next stint, I will be involved in that. Higher level decisions will go through the team management. We have a great level of integration – car seven's race engineer is from ORECA, car eight's is from Toyota Motorsport. The number one mechanics are the other way around. We are one team rather than two.
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