ORECA Peugeot upstages factory cars
Date published : 07 May 2010 - 11:29:23
Olivier Panis used all of his years of experience and guile to stun the factory opposition and dominate the first practice session for the Spa-Francorchamps 1000km in the sole privateer ORECA Peugeot.The Belgian round of the Le Mans Series is the first time that all three of the major front-runners, Peugeot Sport, Audi Team Joest and ORECA go head-to-head in 2010, and right from the off there have been surprises.The French former Formula 1 driver put the multi-coloured Peugeot 908 HDi FAP more than 2.5s clear of the nearest factory version - driven by Anthony Davidson - with a lap of 2m14.068s in typically changeable Ardennes conditions.Having begun wet, the session became all about who could best release grip and potential from a drying track and the last 10 minutes were all Panis, who initially shot to the top of the times with a 2m16.198s.It looked as if the factory Pugs would push him aside, as first Davidson thumped in a 2m16.673s then Simon Pagenaud in the #3 908 HDi went third with a 2m17.350s.That of course was before Panis produced his 2m14s on the final lap of the hour, putting the matter beyond any doubt.A combination of opportunistic driving and a slick surface allowed Jean-Christophe Boullion to get among the diesels in the Rebellion Lola in fourth, while Olivier Pla was a quite stunning fifth in the LMP2 Quifel Ginetta.Nicolas Prost was sixth in the second Rebellion machine.Indeed you had to look down as far as seventh for the next diesel, the third Peugeot being driven by Stephane Sarrazin who headed the trio of Audi R15 TDI Plus's - which seemingly are still early in their set-up cycle. Tom Kristensen, Roman Dumas and Marcel Fassler completed the top 10 in the German cars.Allan Simonsen was fastest in GT2 in the Farnbacher Ferrari 430 GT, faster by 1.8s than the fastest GT1 entry - Julien Jousse in the Luc Alphand Avantures Corvette.Pos Driver Class/Car Time 1. Panis/Lapierre/Duval P1 Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP 2m14.068s 2. Gene/Wurz/Davidson P1 Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP 2m16.673s 3. Lamy/Bourdais/Pagenaud P1 Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP 2m17.350s 4. Belicchi/Boullion P1 Lola B10/60 - Rebellion 2m17.741s 5. Amaral/Pla P2 Ginetta-Zytek 09S 2m18.166s 6. Prost/Jani P1 Lola B10/60 - Rebellion 2m18.180s 7. Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian P1 Peugeot 908 HDi-FAP 2m18.391s 8. Capello/Kristensen/Mcnish P1 Audi R15 TDI 2m18.715s 9. Bernhard/Dumas/Rockenfeller P1 Audi R15 TDI 2m20.195s10. Fassler/Lotterer/Treluyer P1 Audi R15 TDI 2m20.235s11. Ragues/Mailleux/Ickx P1 Lola - Aston Martin 2m21.504s12. Ojjeh/Greaves/Ebbesvik P2 Ginetta-Zytek 09S 2m22.621s13. Leventis/Watts/Kane P2 ARX-01c 2:27.882 20 2m27.882s14. Erdos/Newton/Wallace P2 Lola HPD Coupe 2m29.044s15. Moreau/Hein P2 Pescarolo - Judd 2m29.340s16. Francioni/Pirri P2 Lola Coupe B09 - Judd 2m29.438s17. Lahaye/Nicolet P2 Pescarolo - Judd 2m30.278s18. Kraihamer/De Crem/Delhez FLM Oreca 2m31.437s19. Frey/Meichtry/Bruneau P2 Radical SR9 - Judd 2m32.293s20. Geri/Piccini/Piccini P2 Lola Coupe B09 - Judd 2m33.167s21. Farnbacher/Simonsen GT2 Ferrari F430 GT 2m33.648s22. Jousse/Gregoire/Hart GT1 Corvette C6.R 2m34.771s23. Holzer/Westbrook GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 2m34.960s24. Noda/De Pourtales/Kennard P2 Lola B08/47 - Judd 2m35.200s25. Enge/Nygaard/Mucke GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 2m35.443s26. Pillon/Verdonck/Capillaire FLM Oreca 2m35.704s27. Bruni/Melo GT2 Ferrari F430 GT 2m35.790s28. Bell/Turner GT2 Aston Martin Vantage 2m35.841s29. Muller/Werner/Alzen GT2 BMW M3 2m36.334s30. Mutsch/Hirschi/Beche GT1 Ford GT 2m36.544s31. Leinders/Palttala/De Doncker GT1 Ford GT 2m36.742s32. Gardel/Goueslard/Rees GT1 Saleen S7-R 2m37.050s33. Allemann/Frey/Zimmer GT1 Ford GT 2m37.716s34. Lieb/Lietz GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 2m37.843s35. Alesi/Fisichella/Vilander GT2 Ferrari F430 GT 2m38.321s36. Ehret/Quaife/Kaffer GT2 Ferrari F430 GT 2m38.367s37. Schell/Da Rocha P2 Courage-Oreca LC75 2m38.407s38. Ragginger/Ried/Long GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 2m38.522s39. Kirkaldy/Mullen GT2 Ferrari F430 GT 2m38.709s40. Companc/Russo GT2 Ferrari F430 GT 2m38.851s41. Dumbreck/Coronel GT2 Spyker C8 Laviolette 2m39.342s42. Zacchia/Kaufmann/Moro FLM Oreca 2m39.643s43. Pilet/Narac GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 2m39.818s44. Barlesi/Cicognani/Chalandon FLM Oreca 2m40.907s45. Priaulx/Mullen/Farfus GT2 BMW M3 2m43.541s46. Splunteren/Hommerson/Machiels GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 2m44.319s47. Schroyen/Van Dam/Lacko GT1 Saleen S7R 2m44.395s48. Kutemann/Basso/Hartshorne FLM Oreca 2m48.984s49. Daniels/Slingerland/Lanik GT2 Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 2m55.918s50. Toulemonde/Zollinger/Zampatti FLM Oreca no time
