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Larbre miss Le Mans GT1 pole by narrowest of margins |
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Friday, 13 June 2008 |
Larbre Competition
will start the 91st edition of the Le Mans 24 Hours from second on
the GT1-class grid after missing pole position by just one tenth of a second in
Thursday’s second and final qualifying session.
Having seen both the works Corvettes lower their best laps and the two works
Aston Martins also improve significantly, Christophe Bouchut responded with a
time of 3:47.761, over three seconds quicker than his best from Wednesday’s
session, to take second. However, he felt he could have been even quicker had he
not been blocked by the pole winning Corvette on his best lap. His next flying
lap saw him go faster again in the first and second sectors, but it came to
nothing as he put a wheel on the grass in sector three and saw his attempts to
take a second consecutive Le Mans 24 Hours GT1 pole position foiled.
Nevertheless, his time for the privateer team was eight tenths quicker than the
second works Corvette and over a second faster than the lead car of last year’s
race winners Aston Martin Racing.
Meanwhile, David Hallyday enjoyed
significantly more night time running, having only managed a single lap on
Wednesday due to the session being red flagged, and comfortably completed his
compulsory three laps to ensure his eligibility for the race. Patrick Bornhauser
also impressed, continuing his trend of posting consistent lap times throughout
his stints.
Team Principal Jack Leconte commented: “Our
level of performance was incredible and once again Christophe produced a magical
lap. The fight for pole position was extremely complicated and difficult against
a big opponent like Corvette. I guess, when you see your main rival turning the
timing screen green in the first two sectors, you make sure you’re on track at
the right place! However to be second, so close to the Corvette, and so far
ahead of the Aston Martins, is very pleasing.”
Christophe
Bouchut: “I’m pleased to be second but quite angry with the Corvette.
On my quickest lap he was a long way in front of me on the track, but slowed
down to make sure I caught him and then blocked me from the Porsche Curves all
the way to the end of the start/finish straight. There were plenty of
opportunities to go off line and allow me to pass, but he didn’t. Despite that,
we are four seconds quicker than the Saleen managed here last year, which is a
very good achievement.”
David Hallyday: “When the Aston
Martins went ahead of us, we decided to concentrate on improving our best time
with Christophe and he did a great job. We have a very good car, but we know the
race will be tough. The Astons and Corvettes are quick and reliable, but we’ll
think about our strategy and wait and see what happens.”
Patrick
Bornhauser: “My job was to shake down the race engine and I also did
some work on the gearbox and gave my feedback on the overall set up. Everything
went very well and I’m very happy ahead of the race.”
The Le Mans 24
Hours starts on Saturday 14 June at 15:00 local time and is
LIVE on Eurosport.
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