Paul Ricard - LMS: Pescarolo wins race one!

The first hour of the first round of the 2011 Le Mans Series has been an incident-packed one. After the first start was aborted the no. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola Toyota hit the front, but soon ran into reliability glitches with a loss of pressure in the gearbox. At the same time its sister car, no. 13, had a problem with the door fixation that has now been solved. The Quifel-ASM Team’s Zytek 09SC lost precious minutes due to a puncture after which it was immobilized at its pit for a long time. All these incidents helped the no. 16 Pescarolo-Judd that had started from the back of the gird to go into first place. After one hour’s racing, Christophe Tinseau leads Jean-Christophe Boullion by one minute.

In LM P2, the Boutsen Energy Racing Oreca 03-Nissan leads TDS Racing’s similar car and both are running second and third overall behind the LM P1 Pescarolo. In LM GTE Pro, the no. 51 AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia holds first place, and the same team’s Ferrari F430GT dominates the GTE Am category. In Formula Le Mans, the Neil Garner FLM-Oreca 09 is in front.

2nd hour

The Pescarolo team, which took the lead towards the end of the first hour’s racing, continues to dominate. Julien Jousse is currently at the wheel of the leading car. He is keeping up a good pace, but the fastest man on the track at the moment is Nicolas Prost in the no. 12 Lola-Toyota who has set the quickest lap so far after two hours racing. Unfortunately, the Rebellion Racing LM P1 is ten laps behind the leader after suffering a gearbox problem. Its sister car, no. 13, driven by Andrea Belicchi is second in LM P1 and fourth overall.

Boutsen Energy Racing’s Oreca 03-Nissan currently leads the dance in LM P2, and is lying second overall ahead of the Greaves Motorsport Zytek. The no. 51 Ferrari F458 Italia in the hands of Giancarlo Fisichella heads the field in LM GTE Pro. But the Italian team’s No. 61 Ferrari F430 GT is no longer in the lead in GTE Am as it has been overtaken by the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR. Neil Garner Motorsport continues to hold sway in Formula Le Mans.

3rd hour - Pescarolo looking to the finish

Just after the half-distance mark, the Pescarolo Team is still in the lead in the provisional overall classification of the Le Castellet 6 Hours. The French squad is now looking forward to seeing the cheqsuered flag, and scoring a victory to celebrate its return to endurance racing.

Julien Jousse, who broke the 100-lap barrier in the no. 16 Pescarolo-Judd, continues to keep up a steady pace lapping regularly in the 1m 49s bracket and increasing the French car’s lead.

Christope Tinseau, who did the first stint ,is also looking forward to the finish with impatience. “We’ve only just passed the half-distance mark, but we’re counting the time until the hands of the clock come round to 18h00,” he explains. “The car’s running like clockwork and it seems to be a bit quicker than its rivals. The pace is good.”

The Pescarolo-Judd leads with more than a lap in hand over its nearest pursuer, the no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota. In LM P2, the TDS Racing and Boutsen Energy Racing Oreca 03-Nissans have both hit trouble handing the lead to the Strakka Racing HPD ARX-01d.

4th hour

With two thirds of the race gone, the Pescarolo Team is still in the lead in the Le Castellet 6 Hours. Emmanuel Collard is now at the wheel of the no. 16 Pescarolo-Judd with more than a lap in hand over Jean-Christophe Boullion in the no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota.

In third place overall leading the LM P2 category is the Strakka Racing HPD-ARX-01d thirty seconds in front of the Greaves Motorsport Zytek. In first place in the LM GTE pro category (and ninth place overall) putting on a stunning show after four hours racing is the AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia of Giancarlo Fisichella and Gianmaria Bruni. CRS Racing heads the LM GTE Am category from the Felbermayr-Proton’ Team’s Porsche 911 GT3 RSR.

Pegasus Racing currently tops the time sheets in Formula Le Mans with its FLM-Oreca 09.

5th hour

Emmanuel Collard in the no. 16 Pescarolo-Judd is still in first place in the Le Castellet 6 Hours with a lap in hand over Jean-Christophe Boullion in the no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota. There has been a leadership change in LM P2 with the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan taking up the running from the Strakka Racing HPD.

The AF Corse Ferrari F458 Italia, currently twelfth overall, is still in front in the LM GTE Pro category. Ahead of it are the no. 12 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota and the Quifel-ASM Team’s Zytek that are trying to fight their way back up the time sheets.

Genoa Racing has taken first place in the Formula Le Mans category, and in LM GTE Am, the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche leads hotly pursued by four Ferrari F430 GTs.

6th and last hour

Henri Pescarolo’s team made a triumphant return to endurance racing by winning on its first outing in 2011. Christophe Tinseau, Julien Jousse and Emmanuel Collard took first place in the event in the Var.

The no. 16 Pescarolo-Judd ran like a train and saw the chequered flag in front of the no. 13 Rebellion Racing Lola-Toyota in the hands of Andrea Belicci and Jean-Christophe Boullion. The Swiss-entered car lost time at the start because of a problem with a door fixation after which it showed bullet-proof reliability.

In LM P2, victory went to the Greaves Motorsport Zytek-Nissan. In the other categories, the JMW Motorsport Ferrari F458 Italia won in LM GTE Pro and the Felbermayr-Proton Porsche 911 GT3 RSR triumphed in LM GTE Am. In Formula Le Mans, the Pegasus Racing FLM-Oreca 09 came out on top.