Sabato a Imola

The third session of ILMC/LMS free practice was the second event scheduled for Saturday morning, with the cars out and circulating by ten to nine. More heavy rain overnight had left the track varying between damp to sodden, but at least the sun was shining, and a gentle shimmer over some of the tarmac suggested that another hot day was in prospect.

The Radical Masters qualifying session,immediately beforehand, had seen a dry line developing around several sections of the circuit, and within ten minutes or so of the pitlane opening for the sports and GT cars, those who'd ventured out on intermediate tyres were heading back to pit row for slicks.

Third Free Practice

Ben was first out in the RML HPD, and while the track was damp, reinforced the impression given in Friday's very wet period that the RML AD Group #36 could be a strong contender if the race should also turn wet. Third quickest in LMP2 for much of his stint, Ben looked to be enjoying himself, and was steadily picking up speed, despite only a moderate improvement in track conditions. However, as the surfaced dried out, and others swapped to slick tyres, his times were soon bettered, and he too returned to the pitlane for smooth rubber.

Once again, it was the Oreca chassis that had the edge in LMP2, although Pierre kaffer was running strongly at the beginning of the hour. Next to show strongly was Nicolas de Crem in the Boutsen Energy Performance #45, with Soheil Ayari (Signatech #46) and Mathias Beche (TDS Racing) also briefly topping the class times before Dominik Kraihamer came back in the #45 to post quickest in LMP2 just before red flags brought the session to a premature close. His 1:38.152 was almost two seconds quicker than Friday, and reflected improving track conditions - not only much dryer by the close, but also benefiting from two days of intense track action.

Unexpectedly bottom of the list was Strakka Racing, where turbo problems (similar to those encountered by RML at Le Mans) limited their running to just three laps. The accident that ended the session included an uncharacteristic error from Phil Keen in the #92 Neil Garner Racing Oreca FLM. Heading back to the pits he inadvertently caught a wheel on the plastic Astroturf that edges some of the track. The artificial turf was still wet and the car snapped away from him, making heavy contact with the nearby wall. We understand that the damage is sufficient to ensure the car won't be racing tomorrow.

Third Session - LMP2 Times

	#	o/a	Team	Car	Drivers	Session 3
1	45	7	Boutsen Energy	Oreca 03 Nissan	Kraihamer, de Crem	01:38.152
2	46	9	TDS Racing	Oreca 03 Nissan	Beche, Thiret, Firth	01:39.368
3	41	10	Greaves Motorsport	Zytek 09S	Ojjeh, Lombard, Kimber-Smith	01:39.522
4	26	11	Signatech	Oreca 03 Nissan	Mailleux, Ordonez, Ayari	01:39.612
5	39	12	Pecon Racing	Lola B11/40 Judd	Companc, Russo, Kaffer	01:39.654
6	33	13	Level 5 Motorsports	Lola HPD	Tucker, Bouchut, Barbosa	01:41.417
7	40	14	Race Performance	Oreca 03 Judd	Frey, Meichtry, Rostan	01:41.721
8	35	15	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Barlesi, Da Rocha, Lafargue	01:41.743
9	36	18	RML AD Group	HPD ARX -01d	Erdos, Newton, Collins	01:44.964
1	95	19	Pegasus Racing	Oreca FLM	Schultis, Simon, Schell	01:45.196
2	91	20	Hope Racing	Oreca FLM	Moro, Graves, Zhang	01:45.310
3	92	21	Neil Garner M'sport	Oreca FLM	Keen, Keating, Hartshorne	01:45.589
4	93	24	Genoa Racing	Oreca FLM	Petersen, Julian, Zugel	01:45.878
10	49	25	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Nicolet, Prémat	01:45.926
11	39	27	Extreme Limite	Norma Judd	Rosier, Basso	01:46.015
5	99	28	JMB Racing	Oreca FLM	Ducote, Marcelli, Marroc	01:46.297
12	43	36	Team RLR	MG Lola EX-265	Garofall, Phillips, Gates	01:47.033
13	42	49	Strakka Racing	HPD ARX -01d	Leventis, Watts, Kane	01:59.678

Qualifying

Twenty minutes of qualifying for the GT cars preceded the prototypes onto the track, and served to demonstrate the the speed inherent in the circuit had improved dramatically during the course of the previous couple of days. Rarely active these days - at this level certainly - Imola suffers from lack of use, and while this is reflected in a generally poor surface, it also means that what traction is offered takes some while to become usable. We hear Tommy talking about a "green" surface from time to time, but this weekend has made it much easier to appreciate his point. Two days of heavy use has laid down a thin sheen of rubber across the racing line, and cleared away all the loose dust. Finally, we were seeing the kind of pace we might have expected.

The two works BMW's had not shown their hand in practice, but leaped to the fore when it really mattered. With Muller on pole, and Werner second, it was a front-row lock-out for the M3s, leaving Ferraris and Porsches to squabble over the remaining slots. Third for Melo in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari, fourth for Makowiecki (Luxury Racing Ferrari #59) and then Rob Bell, fifth for JMW. The top Porsche was Lietz in the #77 Felbermayr car.

In GTE-Am, Patrick Long was streets ahead of everyone else, slotting the #63 Proton Competition Porsche onto pole, almost a second clear of Ciocci (#61 AF Corse Ferrari) and Rugolo third for Krohn Racing, #57.

Prototypes
With the GTs cleared from the track, the prototype session got under way at 14:30, with the Norma first out, chased by a Peugeot and a couple of Audis. First to show; Fassler with a 1:33.274, followed seconds later by McNish on 1:33.413, and third to set a flyer, Davidson in the #7 Peugeot.

In LMP2, a sudden flurry of times, with Kraihamer the quickest on the first flyer, followed by Bouchut and Kimber-Smith, but Beche then topped them with a 1:37.670.

Fourteen minutes remained when Tommy headed off to join the circus. Overall pole was swapping between McNish and Fassler - the latter posting a 1:32.354 to reclaim provisional pole just as yellow flags came out at Turn 5.

Good times from Premat (Oak) and Ayari (Signatech) knocked TK-S down the screen, and then, with 12 minutes remaining, there came news that the yellow flag is a car off into the barriers. It was not clear at the time which one, but could have been the #91.

Davidson moved through to second overall for Peugeot as Tommy completed his first flying lap - 1:44.326, but it's a start. Beche improved again on LMP2 provisional pole, clocking 1:37.208, with Kraihamer (#45) second and Ayari (#26) third. Fourth Kimber-Smith for Greaves (#41) and then Bouchut (Level 5) and Premat (Oak #49).

Just over eight minutes remained when Davidson posted his next offering; a 1:31.736 to reclaim overall pole,. and with both Audi drivers out of their cars, it looked as if Audi had accepted second and (with a 1:32.732 from Sarrazin) fourth.

Tommy's next was a 1:42.483 to move into 22nd overall, while Danny Watts threw in a 1:38.752 to go 14th, 5th in P2. A 1:42.065 from Tommy was no improvement in position, and had the RML HPD still two seconds behind the RLR Motorsport MG Lola, RML's car from five years ago.

Five minutes remained, and the frenetic action had already eased, although a 1:38.118 from Danny Watts was enough to haul the Strakka Racing HPD through to third in LMP2. Only five cars were still on the circuit - one of them Tommy Erdos, and his penultimate lap was a 1:40.953, followed by a 1:40.642 to improve his time significantly, but not position. The RML #33 will start Sunday's race from 22nd overall.

LMP2 Qualifying Times

	#	o/a	Team	Car	Drivers	Qualifying
2	46	10	TDS Racing	Oreca 03 Nissan	Beche, Thiret, Firth	1:37.208
1	45	11	Boutsen Energy	Oreca 03 Nissan	Kraihamer, de Crem	1:37.476
6	42	12	Strakka Racing	HPD ARX -01d	Leventis, Watts, Kane	1:38.118
7	26	13	Signatech	Oreca 03 Nissan	Mailleux, Ordonez, Ayari	1:38.351
4	41	14	Greaves Motorsport	Zytek 09S	Ojjeh, Lombard, Kimber-Smith	1:38.533
8	33	15	Level 5 Motorsports	Lola HPD	Tucker, Bouchut, Barbosa	1:38.959
9	40	16	Race Performance	Oreca 03 Judd	Frey, Meichtry, Rostan	1:38.991
5	49	17	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Nicolet, Prémat	1:39.130
3	39	18	Pecon Racing	Lola B11/40 Judd	Companc, Russo, Kaffer	1:39.198
11	39	19	Extreme Limite	Norma Judd	Rosier, Basso	1:39.848
13	35	20	Oak Racing	Oak Pescarolo Judd	Barlesi, Da Rocha, Lafargue	1:40.146
10	43	21	Team RLR	MG Lola EX-265	Garofall, Phillips, Gates	1:40.543
12	36	22	RML AD Group	HPD ARX -01d	Erdos, Newton, Collins	1:40.642
1	93	23	Genoa Racing	Oreca FLM	Petersen, Julian, Zugel	1:42.574
2	99	24	JMB Racing	Oreca FLM	Ducote, Marcelli, Marroc	1:42.755
3	95	25	Pegasus Racing	Oreca FLM	Schultis, Simon, Schell	1:43.285
4	91	27	Hope Racing	Oreca FLM	Moro, Graves, Zhang	1:44.550
-	92	-	Neil Garner M'sport	Oreca FLM	Keen, Keating, Hartshorne	Withdrawn

RML AD Group Lap Times

Session 1: 01:43.993
Session 2: 02:02.115 (heavy rain)
Sesssion 3: 01:44.964
Qualifying: 01:40.642

For an additional perspective on RML AD Group's qualifying run, please see the Qualifying Report.

Radio & On-line: Full coverage of all the weekend's events and happening's were provided live by Radio Le Mans, beginning with Free Practice. Articles and features about the Le Mans Series and June's Le Mans 24 Hours are also available to listen to, or download, and the RLM website also carries season previews and interviews. Click the button below for access.

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