Reactions of drivers at the end of Test Day

Drivers with the fastest time in each class spoke at a press conference at the end of Test Day.

Allan McNish, Joest Racing Audi R18 e-tron quattro n°2 (3’25’’927) : "It was my fault, I made a mistake. On entry to the corner I touched (with the left rear) the grass as I turned in. Immediately you lose the grip and it went into the barriers sideways, so it damaged the bodywork on the left hand side, and I radioed to the team and said basically I could bring the car back but the amount of potential damage would have been quite high, so we said OK stop, and with an hour to go there was not chance to repair the car anyway so that was really it. I'm very angry with myself because I don't like making mistakes. But I have to say the car felt pretty good. I told Dindo after I came back that the balance of the car felt quite nice. I think the ultra cars will be very competitive, and I think the Toyota will be competitive as well. We saw some very very high top speeds from that car, much quicker than we had and we also saw some pink sectors with five minutes to go that could have meant someone else was sitting in this position. "

Olivier Pla, Morgan-Nissan n°35  of OAK Racing (3’41’’291) : "I drove in two different cars as Maxime Martin and Bass Leinders had another race. I made the best time with the car #35 and not with my car (the Morgan-Judd #24), but I could have done just as well with mine. Judd and Nissan engines are different in their operating range. The fight should be intense in LMP2 as the differences are small. We'll have to spend as little time as possible in the pits during the race to have a chance. "

Frédéric Makowiecki, Ferrari F458 Italia #59 of Luxury Racing (3’58’’869) : "We stopped before the end of the session because we had completed our testing programme and we were satisfied. It was unnecessary to do more km and take risks. I think we have a good option for the race. It is difficult to judge the performance of other competitors because everyone has different ways of working. After an hour of racing, we will see more clearly, but I'm confident. "

Allan Simonsen, #99 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8 : "The two cars worked extremely well together, the Pro car and the Am car. I'm very pleased to get the oportunity to race with Aston Martin here and to come away with a good set up is very good. We'll evaluate the data from both cars and then we'll see how we go when we come back to Le Mans on the first day of the event. It's always extremely close in the GTE class and I'm sure this year's Le Mans will be as close as ever but it's such a long race and you've got to be there at the end."

Dave Davies