Lapierre puts ORECA on Algarve pole
Date published : 31 Jul 2009 - 20:27:31
ORECA driver Nicolas Lapierre claimed pole position for Saturday's Le Mans Series enduro at the Autodromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal.The Frenchman came out on top in a closely-fought qualifying session in which the top five cars were separated by just over a half a second. Lapierre's pole time of 1m32.020s aboard the lead ORECA-AIM 01 was just over one tenth of a second quicker than Stefan Mucke's best in the 007 Lola-Aston Martin."Our car has been competitive since the beginning of the weekend," said Lapierre. "We knew it would be good for this kind of track because we have lots of mechanical grip. It was a tough fight, but in the end we got it, which is good for tomorrow."Bruno Senna lapped the 2.86-mile circuit in the second ORECA one tenth slower than Mucke to claim third. Danny Watts, who had topped two of the three practice sessions, ended up fourth for the Strakka team.Frenchman Yann Clairay claimed class pole for the Luc Alphand Chevrolet team in the poorly-supported GT1 field. Richard Lietz edged out Gianmaria Bruni to claim GT2 qualifying honours for the Felbermayr Porsche squad.Pos Cl Drivers Car Time 1. P1 Panis/Lapierre ORECA AIM 1m31.020s 2. P1 Charouz/Enge/Mucke Lola Aston Martin 1m31.160s 3. P1 Monteiro/Senna ORECA AIM 1m31.236s 4. P1 Watts/Leventis Ginetta Zytek 1m31.468s 5. P1 Primat/Ramos/Turner Lola Aston Martin 1m31.556s 6. P1 Albers/Bakkerud/Mondini Audi R10 TDI 1m32.124s 7. P1 Boullion/Tinseau Pescarolo Judd 1m32.232s 8. P1 Karthikeyan/Meyrick/Zwolsman Audi R10 TDI 1m32.284s 9. P1 Belicchi/Fassler/Prost Lola Aston Martin 1m32.408s10. P2 Amaral/Pla Ginetta Zytek 1m34.296s11. P1 Ragues/Mailleux Oreca Judd 1m34.328s12. P2 Erdos/Newton Lola Mazda 1m34.728s13. P2 Ojjeh/Gosselin/Peter Zytek 1m34.752s14. P2 Ceccato/Francioni/Piccini Lola Judd 1m34.948s15. P2 Kane/Leuenberger/Pompidou Lola Judd 1m35.100s16. P2 Biagi/Bobbi/Piccini Lola Judd 1m35.448s17. P2 Lahaye/Ajlani Pescarolo Mazda 1m37.076s18. P2 Salini/Salini/Jouanny WR Zytek 1m37.088s19. P2 Nicolet/Hein Pescarolo Mazda 1m38.396s20. P2 Jorda/Cortes/Nieto Lucchini Judd 1m39.296s21. P2 Cavailhes/Da Rocha/Ibanez Courage AER 1m39.940s22. P2 Bruneau/Greaves/Sini Radical AER 1m40.820s23. GT1 Clairay/Jousse/Goueslard Corvette C6.R 1m42.052s24. GT1 Berville/Dumez/Lemeret Saleen S7R 1m44.028s25. GT2 Lieb/Lietz Porsche 997 GT3 1m44.804s26. GT2 Bell/Bruni Ferrari F430 GT 1m44.868s27. GT2 Garcia/Mansell/Melo Ferrari F430 GT 1m45.436s28. GT2 Pilet/Narac Porsche 997 GT3 1m45.744s29. GT2 Ehret/Farnbacher/Beltoise Ferrari F430 GT 1m45.808s30. GT2 Ried/Felbermayr/Martins Porsche 997 GT3 1m46.080s31. GT2 Simonsen/Kaffer Ferrari F430 GT 1m46.380s32. GT2 Cocker/Drayson Aston Martin 1m46.636s33. GT2 Campanico/von Thurn/Hartshorne Ferrari F430 GT 1m46.672s34. GT2 Tenchini/Basso/Plati Ferrari F430 GT 1m48.412s
