Test Day thoughts

After wringing the water out of our socks, we have a few observations on the soggy Test Day action.

Brendon Hartley in #17 Porsche 919 posted the fastest dry time of the day 3:21.061

The day started with a sky of battleship grey but the rain did hold-off for long enough for a few times to be set. In LMP1 Audi and Porsche exchanged fastest times overall, but it was Jani in Porsche 919 #18 who put in the fastest time (3:21.945) just before the heavens opened and the track remained wet for the remainder of the session. In LMP2 it was the Oak Ligier #34 quickest. In LMGTE Pro the Corvette #64 was consistently quick and finished a fraction ahead of the #51 AF Corse Ferrari that is a more familiar sight at the top of WEC timing screens. In Am the #61 AF Corse Ferrari was quickest. That said, the dry part of the session was over in about 30 minutes so it is hard to read anything from those times. The three Nissan GT-R LM were off the pace on lap times but could take comfort from setting the quickest speed trap time of 336kmh, solidly quicker than the 332.9 of the quickest Audi. The ByKolles CLM #4 exploded a tyre and demolished its rear deck. Sadly the team did not have a spare, and took no further part in testing despite being otherwise unscathed.

Murphy Prototypes Oreca #48

The second session started 'damp' but dried out quite quickly and it was the turn of Brendon Hartley in #17 to post the fastest dry time of the day 3:21.061, but again the sky darkened and rain began to fall and never really let up. The session looked like it might dry out a few times but just as a dry line was forming, the rain would return to erase it. In LMP2 the Murphy Prototypes Oreca #48 was fastest, but did not quite beat the best P2 time of the first session. In GTE Pro it was Aston #97 quickest, and they did beat the morning time with a lap of 3:58.069 by Darren Turner. In Am it was Aston Martin again, with Lamy in the #98  also beating the morning session time with a lap in 3:59.338.

LMP3 Ginetta Nissan #75

The LMP3 Ginetta/Nissans will not feature in the 24 hours but gained valuable experience on the 'big' circuit. The best P3 time was 3:58.308 by #74, putting them neatly between the pace of GTE and LMP2.

On a final note, we were impressed (as always) by the work of Race Director Eduardo Freitas and his team, who dealt with the many off-track excursions in the wet conditions with admirable efficiency.

Aston Martins #97 and #98 posted fastest times in GTE Pro and Am

Pictures courtesy of lynxd67 

Kazaki Nakajima fit to drive at Le Mans Testing

Toyota Gazoo Racing have announced today ( Saturday 30th May) that Kazaki Nakajima has been declared fit to drive at the Le Mans Testing session on May 31st.

You will recall that Kazuki had that big accident at Spa on April 30th that put him into hospital in Verviers with a what turned out to be a fractured vertebrae. He was then moved to Nice for specialist treatment at their neuro-radiology department.At this point his chances of driving at Le Mans looked very slim.

However his treatment has been highly successful and The FIA Medical Delegate Dr Jacques Tropenat has confirmed Kazuki’s fitness to drive after an examination on Saturday morning. The team plans to use the test session to check out whether Kazuki will be fit enough to rejoin Davidson and Buemi in the #1 TS040 Hybrid Toyota for the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"I want to say a huge thank you to all the medical staff who have helped me return so quickly, not just the staff in Verviers and Nice but also the team doctor Bruno Franceschini and our physio Beppe Sebastiani. Everyone has done so much to help me; I am truly grateful. My passion for Le Mans helped to

motivate me even directly after the accident, when it looked unlikely I would be driving at Le Mans this year. I am just so happy that my Le Mans dream for 2015 is still alive and I can’t wait to get back in the car tomorrow at the test.”

Police Clamp Down?

Various people have been in touch with us, including Travel Destinations, to tell us that the police are planning on taking a particularly serious view of anybody speeding, drinking or maybe even just being enthusiastic. We get warnings like this every year but this one would appear to carry some extra weight. Don't forget cars with foreign registration plates appear to be more vulnerable than the locals. Any feed back via the forums would be welcome. Anyway take care .. you have been warned !