Audi Lead the Way in Le Mans Test Day, Closely Followed by Toyota
At the end of the official test for the 2012 24 Heures du Mans it was the two FIA World Endurance Championship entered Audi R18 e-tron quattros at the head of the field. The nr2 Audi of Allan McNish, Tom Kristensen and Dindo Capello set the fastest lap of the day of 3m25.927 (set by McNish), which was 0.541s faster than the nr1 Audi e-tron. The nr2 Audi spent the last part of the four hour session on the sidelines after Allan McNish made a small mistake and the car hit the barriers.
It was an encouraging day for Toyota with the nr7 TS030 setting the 4th fastest time with Alex Wurz setting a 3:27.204 lap time, 0.6 seconds behind the 3rd placed Audi of World Championship leader Romain Dumas (nr3 Audi R18 Ultra), with the nr8 Toyota in 5th overall ahead of the Audi Sport North America Audi R18 Ultra.
The nr21 Strakka Racing HPD was the quickest petrol entry in 7th overall, with the fastest lap of 3:34.243 set in the morning session by Danny Watts. The all British entry was 1.1 seconds ahead of the nr13 Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota.
In LMP2 the nr35 Oak Racing Morgan-Nissan of Olivier Pla set the pace with a 3m41.291 in the afternoon session, three tenths ahead of their nearest rival, the Level 5 Motorsports HPD Honda.
The fastest LMGTE Pro contender was the nr59 Luxury Racing Ferrari of Frederic Makowiecki with a 3m58.869 lap in the morning session, just 0.102 seconds faster than the nr74 Corvette Racing Chevrolet. In LMGTE Am Allan Simonsen posted a 3m59.938 lap in the nr99 Aston Martin Racing Vantage, which was good enough for the 4th best time in the overall GTE standings and 1.2 seconds ahead of the nearest LMGTE Am competitor.
There is now a week break until the official scrutineering checks which start on Sunday 10 June in the centre of Le Mans. The first track session of the 80th edition of the 24 Heures du Mans gets underway on Wednesday 13 June at 16:00.
Jeff Carter
Photo: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT OF THE 24 HOURS, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, SUNDAY JUNE 3RD 2012, TEST DAY.