The dreaded rain was largely
conspicuous by its absence today, but the few short showers that did
materialise were sufficient to leave the track wet for quite some time – to the
extent that right up until the final hour of qualifying, yesterday's benchmarks
remained unbeaten.
The closing minutes, however,
provided all crews with the opportunity to chase a quicker lap time as the
clock ticked down towards midnight. At the wheel of the N°36 Alpine A450,
Nelson Panciatici achieved a best effort of 3m41.654s to place the car eighth
amongst the LMP2 runners.
“We have made a lot of progress
in terms of the car's performance,” explains Signatech Alpine team principal
Philippe Sinault. “That is a great source of satisfaction. Nelson Panciatici
did an excellent job, even if a combination of traffic and yellow flags
prevented him from featuring amongst the class's front-runners. We're not going
to look at the lap times anymore, though; now is the moment to shift our
attentions to the big clock!”
After setting off on a
last-ditch effort in the dying moments of the session, Nelson Panciatici
ultimately wound up eighth in class: “I was hampered by traffic. Ok, perhaps we
weren't going to be battling for pole position, but a place inside the top four
at least was well within reach. The Alpine A450 is performing well. That is
promising for the race.”
A little earlier, Tristan
Gommendy had been able to complete a number of laps: “Away from the racing
line, certain parts of the track were still damp – with sections ready to catch
you out right the way from the Mulsanne Straight to Indianapolis. We made good
progress with the set-up of our Alpine A450, and now I can't wait for the race
to get going!”
Having taken to the circuit
right at the beginning of the session, Pierre Ragues found himself needing to
contend with a track surface that was still rather wet: “Two thirds of the lap
were dry, the rest of it soaking wet. The team asked me to do five laps in
order to ensure I completed my necessary night-time quota. That brief has been
fulfilled.”
The cars will not run
tomorrow, but will return to the track on Saturday morning for a 45-minute
warm-up session. The start of this 90th anniversary edition of the Le Mans 24
Hours will follow at 3.00pm, with the N°36 Alpine A450 going off the eighth row
in the hands of Nelson Panciatici.
