Peugeot diesel wins again
Despite starting from pole position, Nicolas Minassian was swiftly passed by Stéphane Sarrazin who was quicker off the line. With no fewer than 45 cars on the track, the two 908 HDi FAPs started to come across backmarkers as early as Lap 4 and, after that, spent their time weaving through the traffic round the twisty 4km Valencia circuit. Even so, the gap between the two cars never exceeded 20 seconds until the safety car was sent out on Lap 121 following a tangle between two cars. The teams profited from this neutralization to refuel and Pedro Lamy chose to stay on the same tires, while Marc Gene preferred to fit fresh rubber. This made it possible for the Spaniard to home in on his team-mate, prompting a spectacular stand-off between the Peugeot pair. Gene finally succeeded in passing, but he did so under yellow flags and later received a stop and- go penalty.
By Lap 160, the Spanish driver was beginning to complain about a problem with his clutch which was slipping more and more. When Nicolas Minassian profited from the next stop to take over at the wheel, the Frenchman went little further when the clutch failed for good. This left the second 908 HDi FAP with a lead of almost three laps over its closest chaser and it was able to cruise home to secure victory as the flag came down after six hours of racing (the maximum duration for LMS rounds) before completion of the 250 scheduled laps.
Pedro Lamy: "I am very delighted with this victory, my first both with Peugeot and in the LMS. Our car was very competitive throughout the weekend and I had confidence in it all the way to the end."
Stéphane Sarrazin: "It was our turn to win after Monza and it's a fantastic feeling. It was a tough race with unbelievable traffic. The mechanics did a great job and I would like to say a big thank you to them all."
Bruno Famin (Technical Director): "It was an extremely positive weekend and we achieved our objective which was to collect as much information as we could. As we had hoped, it proved to be a first class full-scale test for us. The race revealed that we haven't yet solved all our problems, that we continue to be on the limit in certain areas and also that we still aren't ready to hold for 24 hours."
Results
Pos N° Drivers Car Class Laps
1 8 LAMY Pedro, SARRAZIN Stephane Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 235
2 15 CHAROUZ Jan, MUCKE Stefan, YOONG A Lola B07/17 Judd LMP1 232
3 5 DELETRAZ Jean-Denis, FASSLER Marcel, ALEXANDER Iradj Lola B07/10 Audi LMP1 231
4 18 BARBOSA Joao, HALL Stuart, SHORT Martin Pescarolo Judd LMP1 230
5 16 BOULLION Jean-Christophe, DUMAS Romain Pescarolo Judd LMP1 229
6 17 PRIMAT Harold, TINSEAU Christophe Pescarolo Judd LMP1 +15.821
7 40 AMARAL Miguel, DE CASTRO Miguel Angel, BURGENO Angel Lola B05/40 AER LMP2 224
8 35 NICOLET Jacques, FILHOL Alain, JOUANNY Bruce Courage LC75 AER LMP2 222
9 21 GREAVES Tim, MOSELEY Stuart, LIDDELL Robin Radical SR9 AER LMP2 +6.789
10 55 ORTELLI Stephane, AYARI Soheil Saleen S7-R LMGT1 +30.078
11 24 PETROV Vitaly, GOUNON Jean-Marc Courage LC75 AER LMP2 220
12 61 PERAZZINI Pier Giuseppe, CIOCI Marco, TAVANO Salvatore Saleen S7-R LMGT1 219
13 50 BOUCHUT Christophe, GARDEL Gabriel, GOLLIN Fabrizio Aston Martin DBR9 LMGT1 218
14 19 EVANS Gareth, BERRIDGE Bob, OWEN Peter Lola B06/10 AER LMP1 217
15 44 BURGESS Tony, DE POURTALES Jean, SIEDLER Norbert Pescarolo Judd LMP2 216
16 25 ERDOS Thomas, NEWTON Mike MG Lola EX264 AER LMP2 215
17 72 ALPHAND Luc, POLICAND Jerome, GOUESLARD Patrice Corvette C6.R LMGT1 213
18 77 LIEB Marc, POMPIDOU Xavier Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 211
19 96 BELL Robert, SIMONSEN Allan Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 210
20 78 CAFFI Alex, ZARDO Denny Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 +1:00.211
21 90 WERNER Dirck, EHRET Pierre, NIELSEN Lars Erik Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 +1:02.688
22 32 BARAZI Juan, VERGERS Michael, OJJEH Karim Zytek 07S Zytek LMP2 209
23 88 RIED Christian, FELBERMAYR Horst Jr, GRUBER Thomas Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 206
24 98 LAMBERT Yves, LEFORT Christian, PALTTALA Markus Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 +10.735
25 59 GARCIA Antonio, HALLIDAY Liz, FITTIPALDI Christian Aston Martin DBR9 LMGT1 203
26 97 DE SIMONE Fabrizio, HERNANDEZ S, BONETTI Alessandro Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 201
27 94 BELICCHI Andrea, CHIESA Andrea, KANE Jonny Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R LMGT2 199
28 99 BASSO Maurice, McCORMICK Bo Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 197
29 85 JANIS Jarek, VAN ES Sander Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R LMGT2 196
30 51 FISKEN Gregor, ZACCHIA Steve, FRANCHI Gregory Aston Martin DBR9 LMGT1 192
31 73 BLANCHEMAIN Jean-Luc, DUMEZ Sebastien, ANDRE Didier Corvette C5-R LMGT1 188
32 84 HARTSHORNE John, McINERNEY Sean, McINERNEY Michael Panoz Esperante GTLM LMGT2 +4.836
33 76 NARAC Raymond, LIETZ Richard Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 184
34 92 HESNAULT Philippe, SMITH Nigel, BELTOISE Anthony Porsche 997 GT3 RSR LMGT2 173
35 20 ROSTAN Marc, BRUNEAU Pierre, PULLAN Simon Pilbeam MP93 Judd LMP2 172
36 7 GENE Marc, MINASSIAN Nicolas Peugeot 908 HDi FAP LMP1 168
37 83 DRUDI Luca, ROSA Gabrio, MOWLEM Johnny Ferrari F430 GT LMGT2 167
38 27 LIENHARD Fredy, THEYS Didier, VAN DE POELE Eric Lola B05/40 Judd LMP2 166
39 82 DEAN Richard, MILNER Tom Panoz Esperante GTLM LMGT2 154
40 10 JOHANSSON Stefan, SHIMODA Hayanari Zytek 07S Zytek LMP1 125
41 12 FREI Alexander, COCHET Jonathan, BESSON Bruno Courage LC70 AER LMP1 124
42 14 LAMMERS Jan, HART David, BLEEKEMOLEN Jeroen Dome S101.5 Judd LMP1 105
43 81 KIMBER-SMITH Tom, WATTS Danny Panoz Esperante GTLM LMGT2 84
44 45 HUGHES Warren, CUNNINGHAM Neil Radical SR9 Judd LMP2 22
45 31 BINNIE Bill, TIMPANY Allen, BUNCOMBE Chris Lola B05/40 Zytek LMP2 +17:23.007
46 29 LONGECHAL Robin, YAMAGISHI Yutaka Dome S101.5 Mader LMP2 +25:36.281