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Le Mans testing wrapup: 54 cars, 24,000 fans, Toyota on top

Davidson,Lapierre, Buemi on top in Toyota TS 040 Hybrid

#8 Toyota Racing Toyota TS 040 - Hybrid: Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre, Sébastien Buemi

#8 Toyota Racing Toyota TS 040 - Hybrid: Anthony Davidson, Nicolas Lapierre, Sébastien Buemi

Eric Gilbert

Sunday, 24 000 spectators attended the 2014 Le Mans 24-Hours test day at the Le Mans circuit. The two Toyotas that have already won the first two races this season showed they are still as quick as ever. In LM P2, Morgan set the quickest time and in GTE Pro and GTE Am this honour went to Porsche and Ferrari respectively.

There were 54 cars ready to go when the lights turned green at 09h00 for the test day two weeks before the Le Mans 24 Hours on 14-15 June. The no.8 Toyota was the first to leave the pits. The Japanese manufacturer stamped its authority on the proceedings. After the two 4-hour long sessions with a 1-hour break the two TS 040 Hybrids topped the time sheets as no 8 lapped in 3m23.014 sec (av. speed: 241,7 km/h), thanks to Sébastien Buemi, 8/10sec off last year’s pole (Duval, no. 2 Audi, 3m22.349sec). It was 14/100ths of a second in front of n°7! Next up were the nos 3 and 1 Audis which set exactly the same time, 3m24.453 sec, 1.4sec off the Toyotas. Porsche, which was making its comeback after 16 years’ absence in the blue riband category finished in fifth (n°14) and seventh places (n°20) with its 919 Hybrids.

In LM P2, the Alpine A450B-Nissan driven by Paul-Loup Chatin was quickest in the morning. However, in the closing minutes of the test Roman Rusinov put in a stunning lap in the no. 26 Morgan in 3m37.795 sec to snatch the best time from the no. 48 Oreca 03-Nissan entered by Irish team Murphy Prototypes. The Russian driver improved the pole position in the category by almost a second. The Alpine A450 finished third just in front of the quickest Ligier JS P2 (n°35), a name that was also making its comeback to Le Mans this Sunday.

As always the gaps were tiny in the LM GTE Pro category in which the no. 92 works Porsche set the fastest lap in 3m57.260 sec thanks to Frédéric Makowiecki. Two Ferraris finished in the same second: the no. 51 works car and the one entered by private team RAM Racing. Fourth 1.2 sec in arrears was the first of the new Corvette C-7s having a promising maiden outing on the Le Mans circuit.

Paolo Ruberti in the no. 90 Ferrari 458 Italia (8 Star Motorsport) was the fastest of the LM GTE Am drivers in 3’57’’403. He finished in front of six more identical Ferraris with no. 72 and 61 in second and third places.

The Nissan ZEOD RC entered in the context of the 56th garage attracted a lot of attention and its best lap was in 3m 54.145 sec (27th time out of 54 cars) at an average speed of 209,5 km/h.

24 000 spectators enjoyed this beautiful day to get a taste of the Le Mans 24 Hours two weeks before the big day. In 2013 the test day attendance figure was 23 000.

There are many rendezvous before the start of the 82nd race. On Sunday 8th and Monday 9th June scrutineering will be held on place de la République followed by the two evenings’ practice on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th June before the kick off on Saturday 14th June at 15h00.

RESULTS: Number, team, drivers, car, classification, session 1 time and lap, session 2 time and lap, best overall time, gap behind quicker car.

1 8 Toyota Racing A. DAVIDSON / N. LAPIERRE / S. BUEMI Toyota TS 040 - Hybrid LMP1 - H 3:25.881 35 3:23.014 9 3:23.014

2 7 Toyota Racing A. WURZ / S. SARRAZIN / K. NAKAJIMA Toyota TS 040 - Hybrid LMP1 - H 3:26.371 11 3:23.156 42 3:23.156 +0.142

3 3 Audi Sport Team Joest F. ALBUQUERQUE / M. BONANOMI Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 - H 3:23.799 42 3:24.453 49 3:23.799 +0.785

4 1 Audi Sport Team Joest L. DI GRASSI / L. DUVAL / T. KRISTENSEN Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 - H 3:27.517 18 3:24.453 43 3:24.453 +1.439

5 14 Porsche Team R. DUMAS / N. JANI / M. LIEB Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 - H 3:27.770 37 3:24.692 5 3:24.692 +1.678

6 2 Audi Sport Team Joest M. FÄSSLER / A. LOTTERER / B. TRELUYER Audi R18 e-tron quattro LMP1 - H 3:26.886 39 3:24.757 34 3:24.757 +1.743

7 20 Porsche Team T. BERNHARD / M. WEBBER / B. HARTLEY Porsche 919 Hybrid LMP1 - H 3:26.179 41 3:24.911 32 3:24.911 +1.897

8 12 Rebellion Racing N. PROST / N. HEIDFELD / M. BECHE Rebellion R-One - Toyota LMP1 - L 3:37.495 19 3:31.700 13 3:31.700 +8.686

9 13 Rebellion Racing D. KRAIHAMER / A. BELICCHI / F. LEIMER Rebellion R-One - Toyota LMP1 - L 3:36.637 12 3:33.043 23 3:33.043 +10.029

10 26 G-Drive Racing R. RUSINOV / O. PLA / J. CANAL Morgan - Nissan LMP2 3:42.012 13 3:37.795 28 3:37.795 +14.781

11 48 Murphy Prototypes N. BERTHON / R. GONZALEZ / K. CHANDHOK / A. KAPADIA Oreca 03 - Nissan 3:41.364 3:38.286 3:38.286 +15.272 LMP2 32 19

12 36 Signatech Alpine P. CHATIN / O. WEBB / N. PANCIATICI Alpine A450 - Nissan LMP2 3:39.922 36 3:39.026 34 3:39.026 +16.012

13 35 OAK Racing A. BRUNDLE / J. MARDENBOROUGH / M. SHULZHITSKIY Ligier - Nissan 3:41.924 3:39.191 3:39.191 +16.177 LMP2 30 32

14 47 KCMG M. HOWSON / R. BRADLEY / A. IMPERATORI Oreca 03 - Nissan LMP2 3:41.721 39 3:39.475 25 3:39.475 +16.461

15 34 Race Performance M. FREY / F. MAILLEUX / J. LANCASTER Oreca 03 - Judd LMP2 3:42.320 28 3:39.568 17 3:39.568 +16.554

16 38 Jota Sport S. DOLAN / H. TINCKNELL / M. GENE Zytek Z11SN - Nissan LMP2 3:41.268 42 3:39.849 7 3:39.849 +16.835

17 24 Sebastien Loeb Racing V. CAPILLAIRE / R. RAST / J. CHAROUZ / L. VANTHOOR Oreca 03 - Nissan 3:42.363 3:40.171 3:40.171 +17.157 LMP2 35 24

18 46 Thiriet By TDS Racing P. THIRIET / L. BADEY / T. GOMMENDY Ligier JS P2 - Nissan LMP2 3:44.288 20 3:40.908 25 3:40.908 +17.894

19 37 SMP Racing K. LADYGIN / N. MINASSIAN / M. MEDIANI Oreca 03 - Nissan LMP2 3:42.685 30 3:41.033 3 3:41.033 +18.019

20 42 Caterham Racing T. KIMBER-SMITH / C. DYSON / M. McMURRY Zytek Z11SN - Nissan LMP2 3:46.903 38 3:41.086 40 3:41.086 +18.072

21 43 Newblood By Morand Racing C. KLIEN / G. HIRSCH / R. BRANDELA Morgan - Judd LMP2 3:41.691 33 3:41.656 29 3:41.656 +18.642

22 29 Pegasus Racing J. SCHELL / N. LEUTWILLER / L. ROUSSEL Morgan - Nissan LMP2 3:47.412 31 3:43.156 15 3:43.156 +20.142 23 41 Greaves Motorsport M. MUNEMMAN / A. LATIF / J. WINSLOW / D. NORRIS-JONES Zytek Z11SN - Nissan 3:48.611 3:43.261 3:43.261 +20.247 LMP2 29 11

24 27 SMP Racing S. ZLOBIN / A. LADYGIN / M. SALO Oreca 03 - Nissan LMP2 3:47.766 15 3:43.499 10 3:43.499 +20.485

25 50 Larbre Competition P. RAGUES / R. TAYLOR / K. IHARA Morgan - Judd LMP2 3:48.459 11 3:43.924 10 3:43.924 +20.910

26 33 OAK Racing - Team Asia D. CHENG / H. TUNG / A. FONG Ligier JS P2 - HPD LMP2 3:52.232 4 3:45.260 20 3:45.260 +22.246

27 0 Nissan Motorsports Global W. REIP / T. ERDOS Nissan ZEOD RC CDNT - H 3:52.574 10 3:54.145 2 3:52.574 +29.560

28 92 Porsche Team Manthey M. HOLZER / F. MAKOWIECKI / R. LIETZ Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE Pro 4:00.228 39 3:57.260 42 3:57.260 +34.246

29 90 8 Star Motorsports F. MONTECALVO / G. RODA / P. RUBERTI Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:01.190 10 3:57.403 35 3:57.403 +34.389

30 51 AF Corse G. BRUNI / T. VILANDER / G. FISICHELLA Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Pro 3:57.982 31 3:57.483 27 3:57.483 +34.469

31 72 SMP Racing A. BERTOLINI / V. SHAITAR / A. BASOV Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:02.745 23 3:57.569 40 3:57.569 +34.555

32 52 RAM Racing M. GRIFFIN / A. PARENTE / F. LEO Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Pro 3:58.537 28 3:57.993 16 3:57.993 +34.979

33 74 Corvette Racing O. GAVIN / T. MILNER / R. WESTBROOK Chevrolet Corvette - C7 LMGTE Pro 3:59.289 17 3:58.403 28 3:58.403 +35.389

34 61 AF Corse L. PEREZ COMPANC / M. CIOCI / M. VENTURI Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:00.578 19 3:58.440 10 3:58.440 +35.426

35 60 AF Corse P. MANN / R. GIAMMARIA Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 3:59.296 13 3:58.565 23 3:58.565 +35.551

36 71 AF Corse D. RIGON / J. CALADO / O. BERETTA Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Pro 4:00.038 20 3:58.905 18 3:58.905 +35.891

37 81 AF Corse S. WYATT / M. RUGOLO / S. BIRD Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:00.410 26 3:58.917 16 3:58.917 +35.903

38 73 Corvette Racing J. MAGNUSSEN / A. GARCIA / J. TAYLOR Chevrolet Corvette - C7 LMGTE Pro 3:59.529 20 3:59.192 38 3:59.192 +36.178

39 58 Team Sofrev ASP F. BARTHEZ / A. PONS / S. AYARI Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:02.519 32 3:59.246 10 3:59.246 +36.232

40 53 RAM Racing J. MOWLEM / A. HAMILTON Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:00.596 28 3:59.248 37 3:59.248 +36.234

41 88 Proton Competition C. RIED / K. ALQUBAISI / K. BACHLER / P. LONG Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE Am 3:59.413 10 3:59.413 +36.399

42 97 Aston Martin Racing S. MÜCKE / D. TURNER / B. SENNA Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Pro 4:02.350 16 3:59.561 15 3:59.561 +36.547

43 75 Prospeed Competition F. PERRODO / E. COLLARD Porsche 911 GT3 RSR LMGTE Am 4:01.491 15 3:59.601 35 3:59.601 +36.587

44 95 Aston Martin Racing D. HEINEMEIER-HANSSON / N. THIIM Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Am 4:02.585 22 3:59.903 15 3:59.903 +36.889

45 77 Dempsey Racing - Proton P. DEMPSEY / J. FOSTER / P. LONG / K. BACHLER Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE Am 3:59.966 5 3:59.966 +36.952

46 99 Aston Martin Racing A. MACDOWALL / D. O'YOUNG / F. REES Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Pro 4:02.733 20 3:59.996 14 3:59.996 +36.982

47 66 JMW Motorsport A. ALFAISAL / S. NEIMAN / S. PUMPELLY Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:00.458 35 4:01.211 12 4:00.458 +37.444

48 98 Aston Martin Racing P. DALLA LANA / P. LAMY / C. NYGAARD Aston Martin Vantage V8 LMGTE Am 4:02.491 29 4:00.571 17 4:00.571 +37.557

49 91 Porsche Team Manthey P. PILET / J. BERGMEISTER / N. TANDY Porsche 911 RSR LMGTE Pro 4:00.846 17 4:00.846 +37.832

50 67 IMSA Performance Matmut E. MARIS / E. HELARY Porsche 911 GT3 RSR LMGTE Am 4:02.292 38 4:03.949 8 4:02.292 +39.278

51 70 Team Taisan M. RICH / S. NAKANO Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:02.499 39 4:03.399 2 4:02.499 +39.485

52 76 IMSA Performance Matmut R. NARAC / N. ARMINDO / D. HALLYDAY Porsche 911 GT3 RSR LMGTE Am 4:10.430 6 4:05.075 25 4:05.075 +42.061

53 55 AF Corse D. CAMERON Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:14.028 11 4:08.608 19 4:08.608 +45.594

54 62 AF Corse Y. MALLEGOL / J. BACHELIER / H. BLANK Ferrari 458 Italia LMGTE Am 4:17.498 4 4:12.276 5 4:12.276 +49.262

ACO

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