What a shame it all came down to this. The first round of the 2015 European Le Mans Series was a true classic, but will sadly be remembered for all the wrong reasons. The mood in the press conference afterward ought to have been celebratory. Gibson turned in a remarkable 1-2 finish, while TDS made the podium on the first time out with their new Oreca 05, but instead, tension bristled as Tristan Gommendy described from his perspective the contact at Aintree corner with Greaves driver Jon Lancaster, which removed TDS from victory contention with a mere five minutes of the race remaining, demoting the French squad to an unhappy third.
“From my side it was pretty simple; it took place where it was impossible to overtake,” said a disappointed Gommendy, who shared with Pierre Thiriet and Ludovic Badey. “It was an interesting move. If we have the same spirit in the Le Mans race, I think we can have a big trouble, and injuries to drivers. It’s not in the spirit of endurance. I was once young like him, but never did I do that. If you are a good driver, you don’t have to do that. You don’t need to do that. It’s a shame for him.”
Despite the protests of TDS and much to the relief of the Greaves squad, no further action was taken after the race. But it was a sour way to end a breathtaking day’s racing.
After a solid double stint from Gary Hirsch, Bjorn Wirdheim had built up a healthy gap for Greaves over Jota’s Simon Dolan during the race’s middle stint, only for the arrival of the safety car with just over an hour to go for a collision between two GTC cars to seemingly scupper his plans.
That brought Gommendy back into play in the TDS Oreca, and after Wirdheim’s tyres passed their best, Gommendy was able to build a commanding lead. But if he thought a 14-second gap was enough, then he had reckoned without Lancaster, who had earlier qualified on pole and was driving the race of his life.