6 Hours of Sao Paulo: What the LMP2 drivers said
G-Drive Racing
Mike Conway, No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan, winner in LMP2: “From the start I wanted to build a gap on the Pecom car as I knew they’d be close rivals all the way through the race and it was a case of getting a nice gap there at the beginning and it was relatively easy through the traffic. The car was good, it was hooked up all the way through and I was trying to be as easy as I could on the tyres. Once we pitted we had a bit of a different strategy and double-stinted them without too much problem. I handed over to Roman and John and they’ve done a great job all weekend, especially in the race so a big thank you to them and the team; the pit stops were faultless all day.”
Roman Rusinov, No.26 G-Drive Racing ORECA 03 Nissan, winner in LMP2: “It was important for me to be honest to take over a car with a lead of at least 10 or 20 seconds and that’s what we did. It was important for us to control the race and that had been our plan. At the first and second safety cars we weren’t sure in which way to go because I didn’t know whether to jump in the car or not as we weren’t sure how long the safety car period would be. I put my helmet on three different times!”
OAK Racing
Bertrand Baguette, no. 35 Morgan-Nissan, 2nd in LMP2: “The start of the race was spoilt by the safety car, which came out between Nicolas Minassian in second place and me. We lost a lap and we had to push very hard to pull it back. Ricardo Gonzalez did a great job setting very good times. Martin Plowman was consistent during his two stints and I went as fast as I could while saving fuel at the end. We finished forty seconds behind the winner so if the safety car hadn’t got mixed up in things…If you look at our position in the championship it’s been a good day for no. 35, and even though I’m disappointed for no. 24, I hope we’re going to continue in the same vein.”
Keiko Ihara, no. 45 Morgan-Nissan, 5th in LMP2: “I’m very happy to have finished this race in fifth place scoring points. It’s my best result of the year. I don’t yet feel completely at home in the Morgan-Nissan so it wasn’t all that simple, all the more so as I hadn’t driven for three or four months and it’s a very demanding circuit from a physical point of view. We worked hard to make progress throughout the weekend. I received a fantastic welcome from the whole OAK Racing team and everybody helped me to improve. My thanks to the whole squad. I’m delighted to share this good result with Jacques Nicolet and Jean-Marc Merlin.”
Alex Brundle, no. 24 Morgan-Nissan, 6th in LMP2: “After a tough qualifying session we were determined to move up the time sheets. Olivier drove a fantastic first stint and I did my best after that. Nos. 35, 49 and us were close together throughout almost the whole race. Unfortunately, our hopes of clinching a good result were dashed by the mechanical problem. Despite this we scored points so we’re still in with a chance in the championship.“
Pecom Racing
Nicolas Minassian, No.49 Pecom Racing ORECA 03 Nissan, 3rd in LMP2: "We had a solid race, with a car and Michelin tires that were competitive, but we lacked a little something to take the fight to G-Drive Racing. They were untouchable this weekend. Nonetheless, we took home important points in the championship. There are still four rounds left this season and we’ll do everything we can to take the title !"
Lotus
Kevin Weeda (No.31 Lotus T128, DNF): “It is good to be back in the race car after a long break. The sessions on Friday and Saturday were good for us and we didn’t have any problems. We tried different set-ups and tyre compounds and the car was well prepared for the race. It is a shame that my team mate Christophe Bouchut only could do one fast lap in qualifying as he was traffic. Maybe we could have had a better result. But I am very happy with our progress and that I did my best lap time in my first qualifying.”
Dominik Kraihamer (No.32 Lotus T128, DNF): “I turned into curve 3 and lost the rear of the car. I tried to catch it and I went straight, but then it happened [the contact with the No.8 Toyota). It was a pity that the LMP1 car was next to me at that moment. I am very sorry for the team as we could have had a good race.”
Christophe Bouchut (No.31 Lotus T128): “It is a shame that we had problems with the gearbox during the race. In the sessions before, the balance of the car was good and we could improve ourselves continuously. We wanted to run as much as possible to collect mileage and valuable data for the next races. However, with the issues in the race, it was not possible to have a good result.”
Quotes from team press releases