The trick at Le Mans is to finish qualifying in a good position and with the car in one piece for the big race. Scuderia Ecosse duly secured second place on the GT2 grid for the 74th Le Mans 24 Hours and ended yesterday with the car intact…mission accomplished!

Scuderia Ecosse's long week got underway in earnest on Tuesday left the team left the Le Mans circuit for a few hours to attend scrutineering, held in the Le Mans town centre. Scrutineering at Le Mans is very different to scrutineering at any other event. Rather than taking the cars to a quiet garage for checking they are transported to the main square where they receive all their technical checks in front of large crowds of fans. Whilst the cars are checked over the drivers take part in interviews on the main stage before everyone gathers around the car for the official team photo.

The Le Mans track action started on Wednesday with the first two qualifying sessions (1900hrs – 2100hrs and 2200hrs – 2400hrs). After Andrew Kirkaldy set the fastest ever GT2 time at Le Mans during the test day which took place at the beginning of this month, the team were hopeful of a good result. However, with two more qualifying sessions to be held last night the pole sitter would not be known until then. The first two sessions on Wednesday night were wet with heavy showers.
 

This meant the team spent time making sure all three Scuderia Ecosse drivers got out for their three mandatory night time laps and also worked on bedding in sets of brakes for the race. Last night’s sessions were dry and as the night closed in the lap times began to fall. Andrew Kirkaldy set the second fastest GT2 time halfway through the second session with a lap time of 4:04.596.

Andrew Kirkaldy: “Pole position was possible tonight but I had to back off on the straight before Indianapolis on my fastest lap because of yellow flags. We’re pretty happy with second though. The car feels good for the race and P2 is fine with me!”

Chris Niarchos: “It was good to get in some more time in the dark tonight and I’m chipping away at those lap times now. I’m really looking forward to the race and know that if I can lap consistently and do a good job for the team I’ll be a happy man.”

Tim Mullen: “I did very little running tonight as Andrew was doing the qualifying runs and it was important for Chris to have as much time in the car as possible. We did a lot of good work at the test day though and I’m happy with the way the car feels for the race so roll on Saturday!”

Stewart Roden: “The guys have done an outstanding job to get us where we are. We decided that one more shot at pole wasn’t worth the risk. We’re happy to be second after a drama-free session and looking forward to the race.”

2006 LE MANS 24 HOURS - TOP LM GT2 QUALIFYING TIMES: 1. IMSA Performance Matmut Porsche 911 4:03.438; 2. Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 4:04.596; 3. Seikel Motorsport Porsche 911 4:04.897; 4. Flying Lizards Motorsport Porsche 911 4:05.266; 5. White Lightning Racing Porsche 911 4:05.700