Aston tops first practice at Barcelona
Date published : 03 Apr 2009 - 16:43:10
Aston Martin Racing is predicting a close battle at the front of the Le Mans Series after a ultra-competitive first free practice session at Barcelona.AMR driver Stefan Mucke topped the times in the best of the Lola-Aston LMP1 coupes with a 1m35.014s lap, which was just 0.078s clear of Jean-Christophe Boullion in the revised Pescarolo-Judd 01. The Strakka Ginetta-Zytek was a little over a second behind, while the number one Courage-ORECA was a further 0.004s in arears.AMR team principal George Howard-Chappell said: "It was a problem-free session for us; everything seems fine. The good thing is that it looks incredibly close between us, Pescarolo, ORECA and the Ginetta-Zytek, and I'm sure the [Kolles] Audis are going to get up there too. I'm sure it is going to closethis year."Howard-Chappell singled out the Pescarolo, which had not run in its 2009 configuration prior to the session, for praise."That Pescarolo is a fast car," he said. "It did more 1m35s laps than we did, that's for sure."Strakka driver Peter Hardman ended up on a 1m36.113s after a new-tyre run. Team-mate Danny Watts did a 36.3s on old tyres.The LMP2 times were headed by Olivier Pla in the ASM Team Ginetta-Zytek.The Luc Alphand Aventures Chevrolet Corvette C6, driven by team Yann Clairay, Patrice Goueslard and team boss Alphand, headed the four-car GT1 field, while Tom Coronel jumped to the head of the GT2 times in the factory Spyker C8 right at the end of the session.Pos Cl Drivers Car Time 1. LMP1 Charouz/Mucke/Enge Lola Aston Martin 1.35.014 2. LMP1 Boullion/Tinseau Pescarolo-Judd 1.35.047 3. LMP1 Hardman/Leventis/Watts Ginetta-Zytek 09S-Zytek 1.36.113 4. LMP1 Panis/Lapierre Courage-Oreca LC70-AIM 1.36.117 5. LMP1 Belicchi/Prost/Fassler Lola B06/80 Coupe-Aston 1.36.247 6. LMP1 Primat/Turner/Ramos Lola Aston Martin 1.36.549 7. LMP1 Ragues/Mailleux Courage-Oreca LC70-Judd 1.36.707 8. LMP1 Bakkerud/Albers Audi R10 TDI 1.36.896 9. LMP2 Amaral/Pla Ginetta-Zytek 09S-Zytek 1.37.24110. LMP1 Ortelli/Senna Courage-Oreca LC70-AIM 1.37.32011. LMP2 Francioni/Ceccato/Piccini Lola B08/80 Coupe-Judd 1.38.51212. LMP2 Pompidou/Kane/Leuenberger Lola B08/80 Coupe-Judd 1.38.80613. LMP1 Jouanny/Barbosa Pescarolo-Judd 1.38.93214. LMP2 Erdos/Newton Lola B08/80 Coupe-Mazda 1.38.94615. LMP2 Ojjeh/Gosselin/Peter Zytek 07S-Zytek 1.39.06316. LMP2 Noda/Sini/Marsh Lola B09/86-Mazda 1.40.05417. LMP1 Meyrick/Zwolsman/Krumm Audi R10 TDI 1.40.18818. LMP2 Piccini/Bobbi/Biagi Lola B08/80 Coupe-Judd 1.40.19219. LMP2 Salini/Salini/Gommendy WR-Zytek 1.40.90620. LMP2 Bruneau/Moseley/Greensall Radical SR9 -AER 1.41.93121. LMP2 Lahaye/Ajlani Pescarolo-Mazda 1.44.33122. LMP2 Hein/Nicolet Pescarolo-Mazda 1.44.78023. GT1 Alphand/Goueslard/Clairay Corvette C6.R 1.46.35424. LMP2 Schell/Thirion Courage-Oreca LC75-AER 1.46.46325. GT1 Rusinov/Kox Lamborghini Murcielago 1.46.71026. GT1 Makowiecki/Bornhauser/Smet Saleen S7R-Ford 1.48.20227. GT1 Konopka/Edwards/Daniels Saleen S7R 1.48.75228. LMP2 Moncada/Cortez/Armetta Lucchini-Judd 1.49.13429. GT2 Coronel/Janis Spyker C8 Laviolette 1.49.98430. GT2 Lietz/Lieb Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1.50.08531. GT2 Narac/Pilet Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1.50.49032. GT2 Rosa/Petrobelli/Montermini Ferrari F430 GT 1.50.57533. GT2 Garcia/Mansell Ferrari F430 GT 1.50.73334. GT2 Ehret/Beltoise Ferrari F430 GT 1.50.86335. GT2 Simonsen/Montanari/Schwager Ferrari F430 GT 1.50.89436. GT2 Bell/Bruni Ferrari F430 GT 1.51.66337. GT2 Felbermayr Jr/Ried/Martins Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1.52.00738. GT2 Hartshorne/Lebon/Ianetta Ferrari F430 GT 1.52.38939. GT2 Drayson/Cocker Aston Martin Vantage 1.52.57140. GT2 Vergers/McInerney/McInerney Ferrari F430 GT 1.52.99641. GT2 Basso/Plati/Tenchini Lamborghini Gallardo 1.53.35742. LMP2 Randaccio/Giammaria Lucchini 1.54.01843. LMP2 Ibanez/Cavailhes/da Rocha Courage LC75 no time
