|
The Le Mans
Series entered new territory on November 10 as the
series visited the historic circuit of Interlagos,
Brazil. This was the first time that the series had
raced outside Europe and the event, first run in 1956,
would see the “LM” P1 titles decided, and who in the
“LM” GT2 class would win an automatic entry to the 2008
Le Mans 24 hours. The undulating, bumpy, anti-clockwise
track would pose a new challenge to the Le Mans Series
competitors who were more used to the billiard-table
smooth circuits of Europe. Reliability would be a factor
for this 1000 mile race which should last less than 11
hours.
Though Virgo
Motorsport (Ferrari) won the GT2 titles at Silverstone,
there was a strong incentive for the Team Felbermayr Proton
Porsche and GPC Ferrari teams to score well in Brazil, the
sixth and final LMS round. Team Felbermayr held second place
in class, two points clear of the GPC Ferrari, and the two
teams would be battling hard to secure that guaranteed entry
to the 2008 Le Mans. Marc Basseng joined Marc Lieb and
Xavier Pompidou in the lead Porsche, while Johannes Stuck
would drive the second 997 GT3 RSR. GPC Sport has added Yves
Lambert to its line-up alongside Fabrizio de Simone, Luca
Drudi and Matteo Bobbi.
However while
the GPC-run Ferrari F430 GT would be battling for a Le Mans
entry, three of the four Italian cars in the entry list
would come courtesy of JMB Racing. After beginning the
season with the 12 Hours of Sebring and participating in the
24 Hours of Le Mans, Ben Aucott would drive his final race
of the year in Interlagos in the #99 car along with Philipp
Peter, his partner for the 24 Hours of Spa, and Rob Bell,
leader in the 2007 Le Mans Series Drivers Championship in
GT2. JMB Racing’s other two cars would feature all Brazilian
line-ups and remarkably both cars included a father/son
combination: in the #75 car Alexandre (Xandy) Negrao Sr and
Alexandre (Xandinho) Negrao Jr would shate with Andreas
Mattheis, while in the #75 entry Francisco Longo would be
joined by former F1 racer Chico Serra, a veteran of 33
Grands Prix for the Fittipaldi and Arrows teams, and his son
Daniel Serra.
There was an excellent turn out in the class, with Spyker
Squadron and Speedy Racing fielding Spyker C8 Spyders, Team
Markland Racing a Corvette Z06, and Porsche represented by
Thierry Perrier, Farnbacher Racing, and James Watt
Automotive where Paul Daniels joined Richard Westbrook,
Bryce Washington and Allan Simonsen.
Qualifying
Dirck Werner set pole position time in the Farnbacher Racing
Porsche that he was sharing with Pierre Ehret and Lars Erik
Nielsen. His best time of 1m33.017s was three tenths of a
second faster than newly crowned champion Rob Bell, who
qualified the JMB Racing Ferrari 430, shared with Ben Aucott
and Philipp Peter. The British driver will be watching out
for the James Watt Automotive Porsche of Allan Simonsen,
Richard Westbrook, Paul Daniels and Australian Bryce
Washington. Daniels set ninth fastest time in class with a
1m34.547s. Simonsen and Bell have shared the Virgo
Motorsport Ferrari for the majority of the season, but the
Dane missed Silverstone to compete in an Australian V8
Supercar race. Bell won at Silverstone with Gianmaria Bruni
to move ten points clear of his former co-driver but, should
Bell fail to score in Brazil and Simonsen win, they would
again be level on points. Making it a 2-3-4 on the grid for
JMB Racing were the two all-Brazilian crews: the #75 car
edging out the #74.
Xavier Pompidou
qualified the Felbermayr Proton Porsche fifth in class after
a mysterious switch from oversteer to understeer from the
morning session to the afternoon qualifying, while the
Spyker Squadron team was delighted with sixth place,
achieved by Peter Kox. The GPC Sport Ferrari of Fabrizio de
Simone, Luca Drudi, Matteo Bobbi an Yves Lambert was an
unhappy eighth having lost track time following an accident
during Wednesday’s night practice.
Race
On Saturday, the
race began under threatening skies but finished without
seeing a drop of rain. Lieb, Pompidou and Basseng finished a
successful season for the Felbermayr Proton team by taking
their third victory of the year. The three drivers had a
relatively problem-free race; their only scare came when
Basseng challenged the James Watt Automotive Porsche of
Simonsen for the lead mid race and the two collided,
damaging the front of the Felbermayr Proton car. “It has
been a successful year – I have won two 24 hour races for
Porsche and three 1000km races, but unfortunately this time
car lost four laps with a light problem, and lost further
time when the team made a precautionary stop to check the
source of sparks which lit up the track in the dark.
The battle for
second place raged between the two JMB Ferraris with the
newly-crowned champion Bell taking third place in the car
shared with Aucott and Peter, behind the sister car of the
two Negraos and Mattheis. Peter, in the #99 JMB car was hit
at the beginning of the race by De Simone’s Ferrari.
Fortunately, only the rear bumper was affected, and there
was no other damage to the car. The crew was at the front
pack for the entire 1,600 km of the race, constantly
battling with the #75. Aucott, a consistent, steady driver,
contributed to the team’s excellent performance. Bell
convincingly confirmed his Drivers Championship title in the
2007 LMGT2 by posting the record lap time and crossing the
finish line in third place. “We have had a good race in GT2,
a tough fight particularly between Ferrari and Porsche this
year,” said Bell. “The three of us really enjoyed the
circuit and we are happy to be here.”
After an excellent start to the race, Xandy Negrao took hold
of second place and finished his first stint at the wheel
right behind the first-place Porsche. Xandinho, an
experienced GP2 driver but a beginner in GT, also drove
quickly and flawlessly. Andreas did the same during a close
race in which the team lay in waiting behind the Porsche and
were under pressure from JMB Racing’s second Ferrari. The
Brazilian team’s consistency finally paid off with a second
place finish on its home track. The #74 team was
disappointed with its sixth-place finish, considering its
promising results during trials, but two flat tyres and a
collision with a prototype caused the team to fall behind
the leaders. It was then impossible to close the gap, as the
leading cars encountered no significant problems.
JMB Racing was
delighted with the fine performance of its three cars - all
both started and finished the Mil Milhas, and especially the
two crews that earned podium finishes. JMB Racing’s crews
were able to finish all of the 2007 races in which the
Ferrari F430GT was entered: the 12 Hours of Sebring, the
five Le Mans Series 1000 km races, the Mil Milhas Interlagos
and the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Le Mans Series,
Rd 6 – Mil Milhas (Interlagos, Brazil) – Final Result (GT2
Class):
1. 77 LIEB /
POMPIDOU / BASSENG PORSCHE 997 GT3 RSR
2. 75 NEGRAO / NEGRAO / MATTHEIS FERRARI F430 GT
3. 99 AUCOTT / PETER/ BELL FERRARI F430 GT
4. 85 KOX / HEZEMANS / VAN SPLUTEREN SPYKER C8 SPYDER GT2R
5. 91 FIGUEIREDO / BOESEL / VISCONDE PORSCHE 997 GT3 RSR
6. 74 LONGO / SERRA / SERRA FERRARI F430 GT
7. 94 BELLICHI / CHIESA / KANE SPYKER C8 SPYDER GT2R
8. 88 RIED / FELBERMAYR PORSCHE 997 GT3 RSR
2008 Le Mans Series
As the 2007
season draws to a close with the Mil Milhas of Interlagos in
Brazil, Le Mans Series presents its 2008 calendar. In
addition to the traditional test sessions on the Paul Ricard
HTTT circuit, now held at the beginning of March, three
rounds will be organised before the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The
opening race will take place in Barcelona with the 1000 km
of Catalunya on the 4th, 5th and 6th of April. This is the
debut of the Le Mans Series on the track with which Le Mans
Series has come to a three year agreement. The new event
will be followed by the 1000 km of Monza, on the 25th, 26th
and 27th of April. The 1000 km of Spa will take place on the
16th, 17h and 18t of May and after that, the teams will
return to the 1000 KM of the Nürburgring on the 15th, 16th
and 18th of August. The competitors will return to a track
that they know very well for the 1000 km of Silverstone on
the 12th, 13th and 14th of September. A sixth round will be
officially confirmed at the beginning of December.
2008 Le Mans Series calendar
2-3 March Paul Ricard
4-5-6 April 1000km of Catalunya
25-26-27 April 1000km of Monza
16-17-18 May 1000km of Spa
15-16-17 August 1000km of Nürburgring
12-13-14 September 1000km of Silverstone
|
