Nissan sets the scene for a Le Mans thriller

With all three qualifying sessions completed for the 2012 Le Mans 24 Hours, Nissan is ready to race with the Nissan DeltaWing, Greaves Motorsport and Signatech Nissan teams. While the partner teams played the long game Nissan still powered to pole position with the No.25 ADR-Delta Oreca Nissan.

#28 Gulf Racing Middle East Lola B12/60 Coupe Nissan: Fabien Giroix, Ludovic Badey, Stefan Johansson

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

The No.42 Greaves Motorsport car, piloted by Martin and Alex Brundle and Lucas Ordonez will start the race from 11th position after concentrating on setting the car up for the race today rather than going for an all out qualifying lap. The No.42 is the top Zytek Nissan in the LMP2 class.

"We focused on the race today," said Martin. "It's important that the car is balanced for all three of us and I think we have a good race car now. The pace here is quite something when you consider that the top LMP2 time is only a second off the bottom few LMP1 cars. Our job in the race will be to out perform our competitors over the race distance, rather than try to out pace them. We're totally ready for the race. The car is good on its tyres and all three of us have similar pace. What you need at Le Mans is a driveable car and that's what we have so we are all feeling confident."

Lucas Ordonez had his first taste of Le Mans last year and feels that his experience will stand him in good stead for the challenges he will face this weekend.

"I feel more confident and generally more ready for this than last year," said Lucas. "It was stressful last time but I have a great feeling about this race. We have a car that is easy to drive in race trim and we are all ready for what lies ahead of us. We are a good team and I think we did the sensible thing today and got ourselves prepared for the race, rather than going for pole. We may not be on pole position but we are in a great position for the Le Mans 24 Hours."

While Lucas has the benefit of experience, fellow GT Academy winner Jordan Tresson will start his first ever Le Mans 24 Hours this Saturday and the confident Frenchman is raring to go. The No.23 Signatech Nissan qualified in 13th place.

"We're not in the position we wanted to be in but we are thinking about the race now," said Jordan. "We had a few issues that delayed our programme but we have finished the day with a good race car and we are happy with our strategy. I'm not feeling nervous about the race as I don't put pressure on myself like that. I'm excited to be taking part in my first Le Mans 24 Hours and maybe 13 will be our lucky number!"

Tomorrow is parade day at Le Mans. The teams have all day to prepare the cars for the race while the drivers take to the streets of Le Mans in the traditional driver's parade, led by the Juke-R. The Nissan Juke Box in conjunction with Ministry of Sound will also entertain the crowds when it makes its global debut during the festivities tomorrow.