LMP2 pace already faster than 2015
Dunlop’s 27 teams took part in two sessions of testing at the Le Mans track where the legendary 24 hour race will take place on 18th and 19th June. The race is the third round of the FIA World Endurance Championship with double points available.
Unlike 2015, the test day was completely dry, a factor that was very beneficial to the Dunlop teams in the LMP1 and GT classes. In the LMP2 prototype class, Dunlop has a great deal of information and experience of the various chassis on the track from recent seasons, but the LMP1 and GT classes both feature new partnerships. In LMP1 and LMGTE, Rebellion Racing, the ByKolles Racing Team and Aston Martin Racing, all new to Dunlop for 2016, tested car and tyre combinations, enabling the Dunlop and team engineers to amass information from the track for the event which starts in 10 days time.
In the LMP2 category, the largest class, where 20 of the 23 cars are competing on Dunlop tyres, the pace was already faster than in 2015. Eurasia Motorsport’s Oreca-Nissan lapped in 3’36.690, 1.3 seconds faster than the LMP2 pole position time of last year with Tristan Gommendy at the wheel. Four cars beat the previous pole time with the top ten LMP2 times being set by Dunlop teams.
Jean-Felix Bazelin, Motorsport Operations Director: « We have had a very positive day. Of course it’s great to see the LMP2 cars on the pace straight away. That category promises some really close racing with a very strong field. For us, having a dry day was good for maximising the amount of data we could gather for the classes where we don’t have as much recent experience. We now have some time to analyse and can come back with the findings for the practice and qualifying sessions. »
The Le Mans 24 Hours begins with practice and qualifying on Wednesday and Thursday 15th & 16th June. The race begins at 15.00 on Saturday June 18th.
James Bailey,