Loic Duval was the quickest driver in both the morning and afternoon test sessions, posting the fastest lap of the day as he crossed the line to take the chequered flag in the afternoon. The French driver’s time of 3m22.583 was 2.7 seconds ahead of his nearest rival, Lucas Di Grassi in the nr3 Audi R18 and 3 seconds ahead of 2012 World Champion Andre Lotterer in the nr1 Audi.
However, it was not all plain sailing for Loic Duval, Tom Kristensen and Allan McNish after the car had to repaired after it collided with the barriers in the this morning’s session with Duval at the wheel. The Frenchman had just set the fastest lap of the session with a lap of 3m46.277. He was pushing hard to improve the time further, possibly a little too hard, and slid off the track into the barrier.
Audi’s championship rivals Toyota ended the session in 4th and 6th place, sandwiching the nr4 Audi of Marco Bonanomi who was testing the 2014 spec Michelin tyres. The nr8 Toyota TS030 of Stephane Sarrazin was the quicker of the two cars, 4.998s adrift of the lead Audi. Alex Wurz was the faster of the trio in the nr7 car, the Austrian setting a time of 3m29.593.
Loic Duval - nr2 Audi Sport Team Joest Audi R18 e-tron quattro: "It's always nice to do a good lap but it doesn't count for anything. At least we know we have good performance, we feel really good with our car, so it is very good for the confidence, especially after this morning. The team did a good job, I'm really happy. We now have to look forward to two weeks but we know we can do something."
In the LMP1 Privateers Rebellion Racing set the pace ahead of Strakka Racing, with Neel Jani the quickest in the nr12 Lola-Toyota 9.3 seconds behind Duval’s Audi but nearly 3 seconds ahead of Andrea Belicchi in the nr13 Rebellion Lola and 4 seconds ahead of Jonny Kane in the Strakka HPD-Honda.
In LMP2 it the nr24 Oak Racing Morgan Nissan of Olivier Pla which came out on top at the end of the two sessions with a 3m38.801 lap, 0.8 seconds ahead of the fastest car in the morning session, the nr36 Signatech Alpine of Nelson Panciatici. LMP2 is the largest class and, arguably, will be the most difficult to win on the 22/23 June as the competition is so fierce with 2013 FIA WEC race winners Delta-ADR (Silverstone) and Pecom Racing (Spa) having a productive test but finishing the day in 9th and 14th respectively out of the 24 cars taking part in the two 4-hours sessions.
Olivier Pla - nr24 Oak Racing Morgan Nissan: "Our test day was very positive. The changing weather conditions gave us the chance to work on everything we had planned, starting on wet track, and finishing in the dry. In addition, I got a clear lap and could set the best LMP2 time. You cannot really draw any conclusion of such a day, but it's good to be in front. We knew we have a good car, as we already had very good results last year leading the category until 2 o'clock in the morning. The car works very well this year too, we have the right rhythm. What matters is the race to come, and we are going to continue working this week to be even stronger next week".
It was a good day for Aston Martin Racing as the team took the top spot in both LMGTE Pro and LMGTE Am. Peter Dumbreck was the quickest of the three drivers in the GTE Pro class nr97 AMR Vantage V8, three tenths ahead of the nr99 Vantage of Fred Makowiecki and six tenths ahead of Richard Lietz in the nr92 Team Manthey Porsche 911 RSR.
Peter Dumbreck – nr97 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8: “First of all, for me it’s a chance to get time in the Vantage GTE. So far this year I haven’t done many miles in the car. After eight years, I’m back at Le Mans and re-learning the track. I started in the wet, but finished in the dry and got a clear lap. It’s been a great start to my Le Mans.
"It’s so impressive what Aston Martin Racing has done with the new garage set-up - it’s a big year for us, being the centenary year. The race should be interesting - each car has a great driver line-up and each could win its class."
In the LMGTE Am class Jamie Campbell-Walter set a time of 4m00.867 in the nr96 Aston Martin, 0.3s ahead of Allan Simonsen in the nr95 AMR Vantage and 4 seconds ahead of the nearest non Aston Martin, the nr77 Dempsey Porsche of Patrick Long.
Jamie Campbell-Walter - nr96 Aston Martin Racing Aston Martin Vantage V8: “The car is obviously very good. The most important thing here is that the car is comfortable. Yes, speed is important, but you need a comfortable car and we certainly have that. We are here first and foremost to test the car, but to be fastest is great and bodes well for the race in two weeks’ time.”
There is now a week’s break until Scrutineering begins in the centre of Le Mans on Sunday 16 June and the following week the real test begins as the build-up culminates in the start of the 2013 24 Heures du Mans on Saturday 22 June.
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Jeff Carter
