Bird wins the battle, Piquet wins the war

What a turnaround this was. Sam Bird won a remarkable final Formula E round of the year from fourth on the grid as Nelson Piquet Jr. recovered from a nightmare qualifying to take the title by just one point.

It was a race which had everything, a fitting finale to the inaugural Formula E season that wasn’t decided until the very last lap.

Bird was triumphant on home soil after Sarrazin's penalty (RW Photography).

Starting sixth, having escaped the worst of the weather in qualifying, Sebastien Buemi was in prime position to overhaul Piquet’s slender five point margin to become the incumbent World Endurance Championship and Formula E champion simultaneously. All went to plan in the opening stages as he passed Bruno Senna off the line to run fifth, behind the pole-sitting Stephane Sarrazin, the two Dragons of Loic Duval and a slow-starting Jerome d’Ambrosio and Bird.

Piquet meanwhile had made an excellent getaway from 16^th to run 12^th at the end of the first lap, but sacrificed enormous amounts of time to the leaders in a bid to save energy. He was ultimately successful in managing to run a lap longer than everybody else and emerged from the pits in tenth, but was in dire need of a Safety Car to close the deficit.

But if luck hadn’t been on his side in qualifying, it certainly was when it most mattered. With team-mate Oliver Turvey taking fastest lap – and the points which came with it – away from Buemi, the gap was reduced to three. It was then further reduced to two when Buemi spun on cold tyres at turn three, losing a spot to Senna and resuming in sixth, right in front of Lucas di Grassi. Then, crucially, debutant Fabio Leimer missed his braking point into the Turn 11 chicane, prompting the arrival of the Safety Car. Piquet’s prayers had been answered, and once Turvey had relinquished ninth, it was only Amlin’s Salvador Duran standing in his way. With far more usable energy, Piquet bravely made it stick around the outside of Turn 11.

Buemi's spin at turn three would cost him the title (RW Photography).

The ball was now firmly in Buemi’s court, but Senna was proving a tough nut to crack. He was being sucked along at a frantic pace by the lead group, now headed by Sarrazin, Bird and d’Ambrosio, as Duval was forced to conserve energy. Sarrazin was in a very similar position, but defended robustly from Bird, the two making contact with one lap to go as Sarrazin held on to the flag. In the end, it was academic – crossing the line with 0% energy remaining, Sarrazin was dealt a 40 second penalty which relegated him to a miserable 15^th and handed victory to an elated Bird, who took fastest lap away from Turvey for good measure.

"It’s been a mixed season for us at Virgin, but what a way to finish. Unbelievable!" he said.

Anxious to avoid a similar fate, Duval slowed dramatically on the final lap, presenting Buemi with his golden opportunity. As Senna tried to pick his way past the struggling Frenchman - who crossed the line with 1% remaining - Buemi barged his way alongside into turn 15, but Senna was not to be denied. Blissfully unaware of the ramifications of the fight, Senna held firm into 16, to score his best result of the year and deliver a grateful Piquet the title.

"I was determined to defend hard today and not let our friend overtake, so I didn’t!" he said afterwards. "I was doing my own race, racing for myself. [Buemi] put himself in that position anyway with the spin after the pitstop, so it’s too bad for him. You know that you don’t go and brake in the same place you normally do unless you have something special in your car. We're just happy that we finished the season with the best result we’ve had so far and hopefully next season we are going to have plenty more of those and maybe even better."

Piquet was in reflective mood after his championship success (Own photo).

As Buemi was left to rue what might have been, Piquet was struggling coming to terms with what he had just accomplished. 

"It’s been an amazing year, to think that two weeks before the championship started I didn’t have a contract and when I signed the contract it was only a five-race contract," he said. "This morning pissing down with rain in group three right when I went out, I thought things couldn’t get any worse. But the team said to me ‘Nelson, don’t ask any questions, just drive, we’ll take care of the rest and tell you what to do, when to push, when to save, don’t ask where Lucas is, where Sebastien is, just drive’ and that’s what I did. I only knew I won the championship when the commentator came on the radio – the team didn’t know!"

"Congratulations to Nelson, in my opinion the most deserving champion," Bird added. "The speed he showed in the middle of the year had us scratching our heads, it was horrible!" 

Sarrazin delivers as Piquet faces uphill struggle

Stephane Sarrazin benefitted from a turn in the weather to qualify on pole for the final round of the season, as championship leader Nelson Piquet Jr. could only manage 16^th. Drawn in qualifying group one, Sarrazin was able to set a benchmark lap of 1.23.9 to beat Jerome d’Ambrosio by just 0.064 seconds with his final flying lap,  becoming the sixth different pole-sitter of the season. Behind d’Ambrosio, his Dragon team-mate Loic Duval and Virgin’s Sam Bird did well to manage third and fourth respectively as conditions worsened, with Bruno Senna continuing his form from Saturday in fifth.

Piquet faces a difficult afternoon after qualifying deep in the field (Richard Washbrooke).

Crucially, Sebastien Buemi was drawn in the second qualifying group, which meant he missed the worst of the weather. Sixth on the grid was by no means ideal, but left the Swiss far better placed than his championship rivals, who struggled in the slippery conditions. Piquet did well to hold onto an enormous slide over a wet kerb at the turn 6/7 chicane, but could only manage a 1:35.2, almost a full three seconds slower than Lucas di Grassi, who was the quickest of the wet runners in eleventh. First-timers Oliver Turvey and Simona de Silvestro both outqualified their team-mates in 12^th and 13^th respectively, with Jean-Eric Vergne and Nicolas Prost posing further unwelcome obstacles to Piquet’s hopes of title glory.

With a jumbled up grid, uncertain weather conditions and the title on the line, a truly fascinating finale awaits.

Palmer: Formula E “more successful than people were expecting”

Reigning GP2 champion Jolyon Palmer was in the Formula E paddock in London on TV duties, but had time for a brief chat with e-Racing’s James Newbold.

Q. Is Formula E a series you would consider?

A. At the moment I’m focused on Formula One so not really, but it’s definitely an interesting series and I’m always keeping an eye on things. It’s nice to be here as well in my home city, it’s good. I’ve been following it a bit when it’s not been clashing with F1 basically. It’s been a lot more successful than people were expecting, good entertainment really. It’s very different to Formula One and different to any conventional racing series, it’s quite refreshing.

Palmer (left) with fellow second-generation racer Alex Brundle in the paddock (Own photo).

Q. How have you found the step-up from GP2 to Formula One?

A. It’s not huge to be honest. In Formula One these days there is a lot of power and a huge amount of torque, so there’s a lot of performance in a straight line. The biggest difference is the complexity of F1, where you’ve got 70 people at the track on a race weekend compared to 13 in GP2. There’s lots of stuff happening on the steering wheel and loads of procedures to do, but so far it’s gone well. We did the Test Days in Austria and Barcelona and a few FP1s, so I feel pretty comfortable in it now. Obviously not being a race driver the car isn’t designed around me or set up for me so there’s a bit of adapting to do, but it’s been fine.

Q. What are your plans for next season?

A. I don’t want to be a third driver again. It’s a good thing to do for a year to learn the ropes, but the plan is to learn the ropes and then try and get a seat, hopefully with Lotus. We’ll see what happens.

Drivers sound off on Turn One

One of the major talking points of the London e-Prix was the savage bump on the racing line at the first corner, a left-hand kink which caused the cars to bottom out and caused severe damage the floor. After the left-rear suspension of Dragon Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio failed at turn one in Saturday’s First Practice session, an emergency meeting was called and a TECPRO barrier installed, reducing the space afforded to drivers. As a result, the first race was started behind the safety car, before resurfacing work overnight allowed race two to be ran as normal.

Most of the drivers defended the event organisers. Debutant Simona de Silvestro is well accustomed to bumpy street circuits from her time in IndyCar, agreed that a change was necessary.

de Silvestro accepted the changes (FIA Formula E).

“In Indycars we usually run on bumpy tracks but definitely the bump at turn one was massive, we wouldn't have been able to run like this, so I think it was really positive that they changed it,” she said. “For sure it could have been a little bit better, but it's the same for everyone.” 

“I think they were probably more worried about the cars more than us!” added NEXTEV-TCR’s Oliver Turvey. “Running on the outside wasn't too bad, the only problem was it was very narrow, so you have no room and if you get any problems you'll hit the wall, but it seemed to work pretty well in the race.” 

Sebastien Buemi also supported the measure after scoring a lights-to-flag victory in race one.

Buemi defended the series organisers (FIA Formula E).

“That's the first time they've had to change the track because of a bump, they've done a great job all season,” he said.

“When we started I was like wow, it was close to rallying because it was so bumpy everywhere, you were sliding all the time,” added Venturi’s Stephane Sarrazin, who took pole for race two once the barrier was removed. “For me it was great, but from a security point of view I fully support what they did. It would have been a bit messy!”

D’Ambrosio was far happier on Sunday once the track was repaired.

“The change is great,” said the Belgian. “I don’t think in my whole career I’ve been in a corner like that, where you hold your breath and you’re not sure what to expect when you go from off-camber to positive camber. It’s a real challenge.”

Formula One and Formula E incomparable - Todt

President of the FIA Jean Todt has slammed comments made by founder of the Virgin Group Sir Richard Branson that Formula E is set to surpass Formula One as the pinnacle of world motorsport in the next ‘four to five years’.

Speaking at the Battersea Park Formula E round at the launch of the new DS Virgin Racing team, where Branson also predicted that all cars would be battery driven by 2035, Todt sought to stress that Formula One and Formula E are fundamentally incomparable.

Todt (foreground) was speaking in response to comments made by Branson (on stage) (Own photo).

“I think it’s a big mistake to compare them, it’s like comparing London to a city on the beach,” he said. “I really think that you need Formula One, it remains the pinnacle of motorsport, you need Formula E, you need sportscars and rallying and touring cars and F3. Formula One and Formula E are part of the same family. It’s good to have competition in the same category, not in different categories. They are two different shows; on the one side, you have a short race – 45 minutes – with two cars, in the cities, they are different cars, different budgets. You cannot compare the budget in Formula One and Formula E. Do you think the Formula One budget will drop by 20 times or the Formula E budget will multiply by 20?

“You saw in Monte Carlo we used a different circuit – we don’t want to compare Formula E to other categories of motorsports. It is not comparable, it is a different category. For example, here nobody will complain that it’s not making noise; they are not coming to hear noise.”

Todt also railed against the pervading negativity surrounding the sport and called on journalists to report it more positively.

“The media have a very strong responsibility because you can write bad and good – you must write what you think is right to be said, but of course you can encourage a lot of things and we are in a world where there is so much positive to say,” said the Frenchman. “Of course we can do better, but I think Formula One is absolutely fascinating and I am wondering why there is so much negativity – does it help to sell more copy, does it help to attract more people? I don’t think so. It’s just the opposite.

“Formula One is still a great show. Every time I am able to watch a Formula One race I am very excited. There are a few things we need to address, but we are here to concentrate on Formula E. Who would have guessed that we would be able to host on Saturday and Sunday, the end of June, a race in the city with a very open championship, with clearly three guys who can be champions and good racing? I think it’s fantastic.”

Friday Formula E Notes

de Silvestro thankful for Andretti Opportunity

Indycar star Simona de Silvestro was full of praise for Andretti Autosport owner Michael Andretti ahead of her series debut in London. The Swiss, whose only prior experience of Formula E came in a low-speed demonstration run in Geneva, signed a deal to run a fourth Andretti-ran entry in select IndyCar rounds, including the Indianapolis 500, and finished fourth in a weather-affected round at NOLA.

de Silvestro at the TE Connectivity launch (Own photo).

“I’m really fortunate to have had the opportunity with Michael to do the first two races of IndyCar and then 500 and this opportunity came out of it,” she said. “That’s the cool thing about a team like that; there’s so many options. Whenever Michael believes in somebody, he tries really hard to give a chance to that driver, so I’m really lucky and happy that he’s given me that trust.

Indianapolis hasn’t been kind to de Silvestro in the past and, due to form, threw up a plethora of unwelcome obstacles, including a fire in practise that cast an unwelcome reminder of her monumental accident back in 2011. Nevertheless, de Silvestro enjoyed the experience and already looking forward to going back next year.

“Indy was interesting because it was the first time I was with one of the top teams, so it was a really different experience,” she said. “We had a good month; unfortunately we didn’t quite have the speed we wanted, but it was a good experience and I came out of there really happy. Of course we wanted a better result, but it was the first time I would really look forward to going back and doing the race again.”

This weekend will be on less familiar climes, as de Silvestro races in Europe for the first time since an Italian formula Renaul campaign in 2005. But street circuits are where de Silvestro earned her best IndyCar results – a second at Houston in 2013 and a fourth at St. Petersburg in 2011 – and the Swiss is looking forward to taking on the double-header.

“It’s definitely interesting, I’m really used to street courses, but I’ve never been on a track like this in a park with trees,” she said. “I think it’s going to be really challenging for all of us but street courses are always fun to drive, and as a driver you can always find a little bit more within yourself with all the different lines.”

d’Ambrosio being realistic

Dragon Racing’s Jerome d’Ambrosio was one of six drivers in mathematical contention for the Formula E title coming into the London double header, but was keeping his hopes firmly in check on Friday. Asked if he would be playing the waiting game on the very narrow London streets, the Belgian said, “yes and no: mathematically we’re still title contenders, but you have to be realistic. It would take something pretty radical for me to clinch the title, so the only way to handle this weekend is race by race. Qualifying is going to be crucial here, and the pitstops, so we’ll see tomorrow.”

D'Ambrosio is an outside contender for the title (Own photo).

Coming off a non-score in Moscow – his first since Buenos Aires – d’Ambrosio nevertheless declared himself satisfied with his performance in the inaugural season of Formula E.

“I think since the last few races we’ve really made a step forward, in Miami and again in Monaco,” he said. “For sure we can improve, but it’s been a pretty good first season, we now just have to end it well. It will be interesting to see what happens for year two with the new technologies; we haven’t confirmed anything, but there shouldn’t be any drastic change from my side.”

Turvey eager to get started

Oliver Turvey is another of the drivers to be making his Formula E debut at NEXTEV TCR this weekend, in place of the underperforming Charles Pic. The Briton, who lives locally to the Battersea Park circuit, is optimistic that his six years as McLaren test-driver will help him make up for lost time, having never driven the car before the weekend.

Turvey (centre) speaking to Motorsport.com's Sam Smith (left) (Own photo).

“Being my first weekend, to have two races makes a big difference,” said Turvey. “Hopefully I’ll learn as much as possible tomorrow and try and get a good result in the first race, but Sunday we have a chance to improve further. I’m here to do the best job I can to help NEXT-TV in the teams championship; it’s quite close for second and still possible to even win it, so the goal is to do as well as I can and score as many points as possible.

“I’ve always enjoyed the development side with my engineering background, and working with McLaren you obviously learn a lot,” he added. “I think I’ve developed a lot as a driver in the last six years, so it would be nice to show it in this championship.”

In short

London mayor Boris Johnson also took to the track for a demonstration run on Friday, completing two laps behind the safety car in the Formula E test car. Afterwards, he declared: “it was amazing, amazing. I thought I hit a squirrel at one stage but he was quite nimble! It’s a wonderful event for London and I congratulate Formula E and Alejandro for everything they’ve done. Wandsworth have played a blinder in getting it here in Battersea and let’s make sure we have it every year.”

Berthon in the paddock on Friday (Own photo).

Trulli new-boy Alex Fontana was only announced as GT-Asia bound Tonio Liuzzi’s replacement on Thursday morning.  “I was sitting there eating my Cheerios for breakfast and thought ‘why not,’” he said.

Andretti Autosport Director of Motorsport Development Roger Griffiths was on hand to announce the formation of Andretti Technologies, which will serve as the advanced engineering arm across all Andretti companies. The Andretti team, which will be running in the orange and white of new technical partners TE Connectivity, is set to become a fully-fledged manufacturer in year two and will hence produce its own bespoke powertrain.

Lastly, Nathaniel Berthon and Jon Lancaster were among the interested on-lookers touring the paddock. The European Le Mans Series rivals, both winners in GP2, could be ones to watch as Formula E enters it’s all important second season.

Five reasons why Le Mans 2015 was awesome

Watching from the pits as team-mate Jordan Taylor hunted down the leading Ferrari of Toni Vilander, a breathless Oliver Gavin declared that the 83^rd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours was “one of the best races I’ve been involved in.” And unless you happened to be stood in the Aston Martin camp, which lost a near-certain victory with 45 minutes to go, you might be inclined to agree.  The sight of one of the paddock’s more instantly recognisable figures, Grey’s Anatomy actor turned racing driver Patrick Dempsey, visibly fighting back tears after prevailing in a tussle with the Scuderia Corse Ferrari to finish second in the GTE-Am category, told everything of the emotion invested in this gruelling battle of wits. Here’s why the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours will go down as an instant classic.

The 19 Porsche was a deserved and popular winner (Nick Dungan, Adrenal Media).

Feel good winners

It wasn’t the Porsche that was meant to win, but that hardly mattered for Nick Tandy, Nico Hulkenberg and Earl Bamber. Free from the mistakes which blighted their team-mates and the uncharacteristic reliability problems which befell all three Audis, the no. 19 crew in the third Porsche ran like clockwork throughout, belying their inexperience in LMP1 machinery to deliver a memorable and hugely popular win after 24 hard-fought hours. But whilst Bamber and Hulkenberg were busy writing themselves into the history books as the first rookie winners since Laurent Aiello in 1998 – incidentally the last Porsche victory at La Sarthe – and Hulkenberg as the first incumbent Formula One driver to win since 1991, Tandy was the standout performer of the three. It was his sheer pace in the late-night quadruple stint –lapping in the mid to high 3:18s despite the cooler track conditions – which allowed his team-mates breathing room, a trick he repeated when he clambered back into the cockpit at around 8am. It’s been a long time in coming, but at last, as the 30^th British winner of the Le Mans 24 Hours, Tandy should receive the recognition he deserves.

Jani (centre) broke the all-time lap record in qualifying (John Rourke, Adrenal Media).

Record pace

With huge strides made by the leading LMP1 entries over the winter, it was expected that lap-times would tumble, but just by how much was not clear. Neel Jani emphatically answered that question in qualifying, blitzing the field to set a new lap record of 3:16.887, almost 5 seconds faster than Kazuki Nakajima’s pole lap for Toyota last year. But come the race, it was Audi setting the pace; Filipe Albuquerque blew away the fastest lap record with a 3:17.647 on lap 62 – some 4.85 seconds quicker than the car’s best time in qualifying – only for defending winner Andre Lotterer to better it on lap 337 with a 3:17.475 as he fought in vein to catch the leaders.  It was small consolation for the German however; Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and marathon man Marcel Fassler would eventually collect third after an eventful run delayed by a puncture, drive-through penalty and a few spells in the garage.

The lone Corvette took GTE-Pro honours (Nick Dungan, Adrenal Media).

Overcoming adversity

It simply wouldn’t be the Le Mans 24 Hours without tales of adversity, and this year’s edition was no different. After an early delay to resolve gear selection issues, Jota Sport fought their way back to second in LMP2 with stellar turns from Oliver Turvey, Simon Dolan and rookie Mitch Evans – only narrowly missing out on a repeat of their come-from-behind victory of 2014 – while the no. 71 Ferrari of Olivier Beretta, Davide Rigon and birthday boy James Calado collected an improbable second in GTE-Pro after losing four laps changing the starter motor.  But it was for Corvette that the biggest celebrations were reserved. Reduced to one car after a stuck throttle at the Porsche Curves put paid to Jan Magnussen’s no. 63 in Thursday afternoon’s Q2 session, the weight of expectation weighed heavy on the team’s second entry of Jordan Taylor, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner. But whilst they may have lacked the ultimate pace of the Aston Martins and needed gearbox problems for the 51 Ferrari to assure them of victory, the marque’s first victory for the C7.R – and Gavin’s fifth – was no less deserved.

The 22 Nissan made it to the finish, thanks to the efforts of its pit crew (John Rourke, Adrenal Media).

Heroic pitwork

We’ve become accustomed to seeing Formula One pit crews perform lightning-fast pitstops – it took Red Bull a mere 1.923s to service Mark Webber’s car at the US Grand Prix in 2013 – but Audi’s mechanics proved they are no slouches either. It had looked to be curtains for 2013 winner Loic Duval in the third hour after he came upon a wall of traffic at speed and was assisted into the wall by a GTE Ferrari, the front end destroyed. But after returning to the pits, the no. 8 R18 e-tron Quattro was repaired inside three minutes and sent back on its way: a display of German efficiency at its finest. Special mention must also go to the NISMO crew, who put in a herculean effort to keep its trio of troublesome GT-R LMs running through the night and were rewarded by the sight of Michael Krumm bringing the no. 22 car to the flag in its first race.

Scrutineering allows the fans to get close to the cars (John Rourke, Adrenal Media).

Atmosphere

Drawn by the promise of a titanic fight for LMP1 honours and intrigue at the radical new Nissan, the atmosphere in 2015 was one to savour. From the traditional scrutineering in the town centre to the raucous Drivers’ Parade, which followed the announcement that Ford would be returning to contest the GTE category next season with American superteam Chip Ganassi Racing, there was a buzz surrounding the event which suggests Le Mans is firmly on the rise once again. Even Francois Hollande dropped by to check on proceedings, becoming the first President to do so since 1972.  Mark Webber described the record 263,500-strong crowd before the race as the biggest he had ever seen and after this year, don’t be surprised to see that number swell even more next year.

This article originally appeared on Red Bull Motorsports.

Le Mans 24 Hours 2015: Why the LMP2 battle is not to be missed

With so much of the attention in the build-up to the Le Mans 24 Hours understandably focused on the four-way scrap for LMP1 honours, as Nissan join the fray alongside Audi, Toyota and Porsche, it would be easy to overlook the healthy grid of 19 LMP2 cars battling for their own slice of glory. As James Newbold explains, the junior prototype class has more than enough intrigue to merit close attention.

1. Can Jota defend their title?

Jota Sport’s victory in last year’s 24 Hours was a truly remarkable tale, as super-sub Oliver Turvey, Simon Dolan and now factory Nissan driver Harry Tincknell fought back from an early delay to take a memorable win. What could be the chances of them doing it again? Both Turvey and Dolan are back to defend their crown with the updated Gibson 015S, while in Tincknell’s absence, former GP3 champion and Mark Webber’s protégé Mitch Evans joins the team for his first appearance at La Sarthe. His presence proved something of a good luck charm last time out at Spa as Jota came through to win, showing that open-top machinery is still more than capable of mixing it with the newer coupes. 

Evans (left) joins defending winners Dolan and Turvey at Jota (Drew Gibson).

2. Lapierre determined to prove a point

Dropped by Toyota mid-way through last season, officially because of ‘personal reasons’ and seemingly no longer part of their long-term plans with Kamui Kobayashi preferred as reserve, few will have a greater point to prove than Nicolas Lapierre. An astonishing opening stint in the recent Blancpain Endurance Series meeting at Silverstone - up from 33rd to 15th - shows that Lapierre has lost none of his speed, but after crashing in wet conditions at the Porsche Curves in 2013 and again on the Mulsanne last year, he will be hoping that the rain stays away this time around. With Richard Bradley and Matthew Howson both capable partners, the KCMG Oreca 05 could be a decent contender.

Nicolas Lapierre has a point to prove in the LMP2 class (KCMG). 

3. Lancaster out to silence the critics

Rewind the clock back to the electrifying press conference which followed the ELMS 4 Hours of Silverstone. Following a clash with Tristan Gommendy – for the lead of the race no less – in the dying minutes, Jon Lancaster resembled the proverbial naughty schoolboy in the headmaster’s office as the irate Frenchman told him in no uncertain terms just what he thought of the move. Lancaster wisely kept out of his way and out of trouble in Imola, but will be aware that the 24 Hours represents a golden opportunity to silence his critics for good. The Yorkshireman has prior experience of La Sarthe after a mistake-free run to eighth with Race Performance last year and could prove to be one of this year’s dark horses with Greaves, alongside GT Academy winner Gaetan Paletou and fast silver Gary Hirsch.

GP2 convert Jon Lancaster has made a flying start to life in sportscars (John Brooks). 

4. SMP’s new BR01

After skipping the opening round at Silverstone, SMP Racing gave their their all-new BR01 coupes an understated debut at Imola last month. The Russian squad are under no illusions that this will be little more than a learning year, so getting either or both cars to the finish at this early stage in the project would be a considerable achievement. In the meantime, the experienced Nicolas Minassian in #27 and IndyCar convert Mikhail Aleshin in #37 can be relied upon to extract the maximum from Peugeot 908 designer Paolo Catone’s cars. One for the future, certainly.

The BR01 will be looking for a finish on only it's second race meeting (Jean Michel Le Meur).

5.       GT rivals work together

As Ron Dennis will attest, pairing two arch-rivals in the same team rarely pays off - all the more so if they are rookies - but Oak Racing boss Jacques Nicolet may just have pulled off a masterstroke in combining two of the brightest lights in GT racing – Belgian Laurens Vanthoor and Frenchman Kevin Estre – to pedal their proven Ligier JS P2. Works Audi driver Vanthoor, the reigning Blancpain Endurance Series champion, has his eye set on following stablemate Rene Rast into an LMP1 seat and belied his lack of prototype experience with the quickest LMP2 time of all during the Test Day, while works McLaren man Estre is equally adept, as his two wins in consecutive weekends in the BES and Pirelli World Challenge attest. With two Platinums more than capable of challenging the very best,  much will therefore depend on how the Bronze-rated Chris Cummins fares during his stints.

One of the world's top GT drivers, Laurens Vanthoor takes
on the 24 Hours of Le Mans for the first time (Clement Marin).

This article also featured in Speedchills View's guide to the 2015 Le Mans 24 Hours. Check it out here.