LE MANS SERIES // PEUGEOT WINS 1000KM OF SILVERSTONE

This year at the AUTOSPORT 1000km of Silverstone saw the finale of the 2010 Le Mans Series and the beginning of the newly formed Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, with endurance kings Audi and Peugeot signing up to a full season consisting of three races starting at Silverstone before the teams move on to round two at Petit Le Mans next month... [read more]

What was a perfect day of qualifying for Audi on Saturday with McNish sitting on pole was followed by a disappointing start to their race day. A dramatic beginning to the race saw Alan McNish battle with Anthony Davidson within the early stages of the 1000km race until the Scot succumbed to a mechanical failure after only half an hour of racing. It was not all a lost cause for Audi however, as Timo Bernhard and Rinaldo Capello were able to finish with a podium in third place.

With the Audi #7 car out so early in the game, it was an all Peugeot show as Anthony Davidson and Nicolas Minassian kept their aptly numbered #1 car in the front to take their first P1 class win of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, facing very little competition in the form of Nicolas Lapierre and Stephane Sarrazin’s ORECA Peugeot 908 who took second place.

Diesel runners aside, Aston Martin and their #009 car were able to lead the way on the petrol powered front and finished in front of the Lola coupes of Rebellion Racing.

Misfortunes for pole sitters came in twos as Strakka Racing HPD were expected to breeze to an easy win after a stunning performance during the Saturday qualifying session for the P2 class. However a collision with the Spyker from the GT2 class meant they lost out their lead whilst recovering in the pits. A gruelling fight to the finish with the Quifel ASM team eventually saw Strakka come through and regain the top spot to take the well deserved win in P2.

The GT1 class didn’t see much drama as the Sabre Saleen was the only GT1 competitor of this race. They were able to finish and ‘win’ in the GT1 class with Gabriele Gardel, Patrice Gouselard and Fernando Rees at the wheel.

In GT2 it was a much different story. Pole sitters JMW Motorsport in their Aston Martin V8 Vantage were unable to convert their leading position into a win and lost out to AF Corse Ferrari through their pit stops, with Jaime Melo and Gimmi Bruni taking the victory in GT2. A stop-go penalty for JMW within the last stages of the race meant the Prospeed Porsche snapped up second place, relegating JMW to third.

Last but not least, Jody Firth and Warren Hughes were able to take a win in the Formula Le Mans class, picking up points for DAMS as they fought off Hope Polevision Racing who finished second and third.

And that concludes the 2010 Le Mans Series, but it’s only getting started for the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Round 2 will take place at Road Atlanta as part of Petit Le Mans on October 2 with the final third round taking place in Zhuhai China on November 7.


AUTOSPORT 1000km of Silverstone // Complete Results:

1. LMP1 Minassian/Davidson Peugeot 5h11m41.835s
2. LMP1 Lapierre/Sarrazin Peugeot + 42.920s
3. LMP1 Bernhard/Capello Audi + 1m46.357s
4. LMP1 Barazi/Hancock/Mucke Lola Aston Martin + 3 laps
5. LMP1 Prost/Jani Lola-Rebellion + 5 laps
6. LMP1 Ragues/Mailleux/Ickx Lola Aston Martin + 6 laps
7. LMP1 Mansell/Mansell Ginetta-Zytek + 9 laps
8. LMP2 Leventis/Watts/Kane HPD + 10 laps
9. LMP2 Amaral/Pla Ginetta-Zytek + 10 laps
10. LMP2 Moreau/Hein Pescarolo-Judd + 10 laps
11. LMP1 Drayson/Cocker Lola-Judd + 13 laps
12. LMP2 Erdos/Newton/Collins Lola HPD + 13 laps
13. LMP2 Case/Babini/Leo Lola-Judd + 17 laps
14. FLM Firth/Hughes FLM ORECA + 18 laps
15. FLM Zacchia/Lombard FLM ORECA + 18 laps
16. LMP2 Lahaye/Nicolet Pescarolo-Judd + 19 laps
17. FLM Pillon/Verdonck/Hollings FLM ORECA + 19 laps
18. LMP2 Pirri/Cioci/Perazzini Lola-Judd + 20 laps
19. LMP2 Ojjeh/Greaves/Ebbesvik Ginetta-Zytek + 20 laps
20. FLM Barlesi/Cicognani/Chalandon FLM ORECA + 21 laps
21. LMP2 Ordonez/de Pourtales/Kennard Lola-Judd + 22 laps
22. LMP1 Burgess/Mowlem/Mcmurry Ginetta-Zytek + 22 laps
23. LMGT2 Bruni/Melo Ferrari + 23 laps
24. LMGT2 Westbrook/Holzer Porsche + 23 laps
25. LMGT2 Bell/Turner Aston Martin + 23 laps
26. LMGT2 Kirkaldy/Mullen Ferrari + 24 laps
27. LMGT2 Lieb/Lietz Porsche + 24 laps
28. LMGT2 Pilet/Narac Porsche + 25 laps
29. LMGT2 Dumbreck/Coronel Spyker + 25 laps
30. LMGT2 Muller/Werner BMW + 25 laps
31. LMGT2 Companc/Russo Ferrari + 25 laps
32. LMGT2 Ragginger/Ried/Dumas Porsche + 25 laps
33. FLM Kraihamer/De Crem/Delhez FLM ORECA + 29 laps
34. LMGT2 Giroix/Goethe Lamborghini + 35 laps
35. LMGT2 Alesi/Fisichella/Vilander Ferrari + 36 laps
36. LMGT2 Ehret/Quaife/Kaffer Ferrari + 36 laps
37. LMP1 Belicchi/Boullion Lola-Rebellion + 37 laps
38. LMGT1 Gardel/Goueslard/Rees Saleen + 39 laps
39. FLM Kutemann/Basso/Hartshorne FLM ORECA + 40 laps
40. LMP2 Frey/Bruneau/Rostan Radical-Judd + 46 laps

Retirements:

LMP2 Gates/Garofall/Phillips MG Lola AER 141 laps
LMP1 Fernandez/Meyrick/Primat Lola Aston Martin 131 laps
LMGT2 Farnbacher/Simonsen Ferrari 44 laps
LMP1 Kristensen/Mcnish Audi 15 laps
LMP2 Schell/Da Rocha Courage-ORECA 2 laps

Photo/Editorial: Calvin Chu