|
Larbre Competition’s lead Aston
Martin DBR9 will start Sunday’s crucial Le Mans Series round at
Silverstone well placed on the GT1 grid following today’s qualifying
session.
A lap of 1:45.897 by Christophe Bouchut
was good enough for Car 50, which the Frenchman shares with Gabriele
Gardel and Fabrizio Gollin, to take third on the GT1 grid.
The lap means they will start the race
ahead of the fellow title-chasing Luc Alphand Adventures Corvette C6-R
and immediately behind the championship-leading Team Oreca Saleen S7,
who qualified second. The Team Modena Aston Martin, who are not
involved in the title race, took pole position.
Team Prinicpal Jack Leconte
said: “We went for the conservative option in qualifying and ran with
hard tyres, whereas I think Team Modena went for the softer compound.
Bearing that in mind, it will be more indicative to see where we are
running in relation to our rivals after the first hour of the race. The
gap to the Saleen is the smallest it has been all season and that is
good news because we must beat them on Sunday if we are to win the
championship.”
Christophe Bouchut: “It was a
good session and our best qualifying position since the beginning of
the season. We will work on the car in tomorrow’s warm up, because we
can still improve through club and the second part of Becketts, which
are two important corners where you can gain time.”
Gabriele Gardel: “We’re very
positive about the pace we have. We’ve improved significantly since
Friday and Christophe did a very good lap in qualifying to be so close
to Saleen. I think we are all very confident about this very important
race.”
Fabrizio Gollin: “The fight for
the championship is going to be very interesting. We’re in a good
position on the grid and that leaves us in with a great chance of
victory in the race. We’re extremely focused, because we are so
desperate to win the title, and if we don’t make any mistakes tomorrow
we are in with a good chance.”
Meanwhile, Steve Zacchia’s time of
1:47.228 saw Larbre’s second car, which he shares with Gregor Fisken ad
Greg Franchi, qualify seventh on the GT1 grid.
Jack Leconte: “Qualifying was a
great fight between Steve and Sebastien Dumez in the Corvette. They are
great friends and it went back and forth between the two. Although
Sebastien had the final word, we all enjoyed the battle.”
Steve Zacchia: “Qualifying was
good. I would have liked to have gone a bit quicker but I had some
oversteer which made it difficult. However, it’s a very long race and
so now we need to concentrate on perfecting our race set-up.”
Gregor Fisken: “Steve’s lap was
very good and we are much closer to the Corvette than we have been
previously. We are all looking forward to Sunday’s race immensely.”
Greg Franchi: “Our weekend
didn’t start perfectly because we had some problems during Friday’s
first session. However this morning we have found a good set-up and
Steve did a great job in qualifying. We’ve reduced the gap to the other
cars and I am very positive about tomorrow’s race.”
|
News 
