Donington: Lister Racing race report

NO RESULT FOR LISTER LMP AT DONINGTON

After a break from racing for the two months following Le Mans, the Lister Storm LMP re-appeared at Donington Park for this weekend's Le Mans Series race.

During this time the front end has evolved - the car has been to the windtunnel which showed a big improvement in front end downforce so it was time to see how it handled on track. It is not ideal to develop a car at a race meeting but there has been no time for testing.

Justin Keen joins Jens Moller for the race this weekend - Saturday's first practice session started damp but was drying out towards the end. Justin was out first in the damp on intermediate tyres and was immediately at the top of the leader board - in these conditions on the intermediate tyres he was fastest on one lap and consistently in the top three. The car had plenty of grip - the changes had worked. As the track dried he changed to slicks; with only a few laps to run before he handed over to Jens, he dropped down the leader board to 8th. Jens was in the car for the final 10 minutes as the track dried out and the times improved.

The afternoon practice was dry - but an airjack failure after 15 minutes (it would not retract) meant an hour was lost and there was not enough time to find a competitive set-up for the car - but it was 'the best it has been in hybrid form'. As anticipated, our qualifying pace was not what it could have been - Justin qualified 9th in LMP1.

The race on Sunday was frustrating - firstly, the front bonnet came loose due to a small contact with another car on the the opening laps and had to be fixed back on again; secondly, Justin had contact with a Ferrari - no damage but he came to the pit to check it out; thirdly, he reported braking problems and all before the end of the first hour! The team brought him in to check the brakes - it turned out to be a stone trapped in the pedalbox. Jens then took the wheel - there were no problems with the car until, after 15 laps, the engine dropped a valve - this was the engine that ran at Le Mans in the second qualifying, warm-up and race.

So, no result for Lister at Donington - the final round of the Le Mans Series is at Jarama in Spain on 24th September.

-credit: lister racing