REAL PANACHE
U
npredictable since the start of the practice
sessions, the weather made life difficult again
for the drivers and teams at the 24 Hours of
Le Mans. On Saturday afternoon, a heavy shower
half an hour before the start forced the teams to
switch to wet-weather tyres for the opening laps.
Having started behind the safety car – the first
time this has happened in 84 years – the race only
really got underway after about fifty minutes. Very
quickly, the two Alpine A460s grabbed the top two
positions in the LMP2 class. After an hour, the
Signatech-Alpine #36 held the lead, just ahead of the
Baxi DC Racing #35.
With the track drying out quickly and more
showers forecast, the team had several strategic
options available to them as regards tyre choice.
Unfortunately, the one chosen proved ill-advised and
the Alpine A460s had to come into the pits again.
The two cars were therefore down in 12th and 15th
places respectively after two hours of racing.
At that point, the weather forecast indicated
that there would be no further showers. Behind the
wheel since the start, Nicolas Lapierre and Nelson
Panciatici wasted no time in making up ground. They
handed over to Gustavo Menezes and Ho-Pin Tung
respectively, and then to Stéphane Richelmi and
David Cheng, who all made valuable contributions.
At 9pm, with a quarter of the race gone, Gustavo
Menezes held second position in the #36, whilst HoPin Tung had fought back into the top 10 in the #35.
The team really laid the foundations for the win
overnight, not hesitating to alter its race strategy in
response to on-track incidents. For example, when
the safety car was introduced, Philippe Sinault’s
team took advantage of the lull to bring the #36 into
the pits for a full check-up, knowing little time would
be lost.