Peugeot claims pole at Silverstone with Audi right behind

Posted: 10 Sep 2011 08:02 AM PDT

Audi R18 #1 (Audi Sport Team Joest) Timo Bernhard, Marcel Fassler

The weatherman was right, rain was headed to Silverstone and it made its appearance during ILMC qualifying today. Tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Silverstone should see the same.

Peugeot’s Simon Pagenaud would lay down a 1:43.924 on the damp Silverstone circuit and take pole. The rain was only coming down in certain spots which made it extremely difficult to put in a strong lap Pagenaud said.

Allan McNish was able to split the two Peugeots with a 1:44.856. The gap to Pagenaud was 0.932 seconds.

“It’s great to be back in the UK, particularly at Silverstone and its fantastic race track. Yesterday and today the weather has been very changeable and that will continue to be the case tomorrow. We need to closely watch the weather forecasts with respect to the set-up of our cars. We tried out various options in the past two days. It looks like there may be more rain tomorrow – and I’m hoping for us to be perfectly prepared for it. Allan – McNish – did a good job in qualifying. Now we’re exactly between the two Peugeot on the grid. That could mean that we’re in for a thrilling 6-hour race tomorrow.”

Stephane Sarrazin would round out the top three in the no8 Peugeot with a 1:45.102. The two Peugeot 908′s have been at the front all weekend.

The no1 Audi R18 TDI driven by Timo Bernhard ended up 4th after a spin in the rain. A 1:46.621 would end up just under 3 seconds off the pole position time.

“That was a difficult qualifying session. Just before the start, rain set in. On both of the two timed laps when the track offered the highest grip level I had to overtake two or three cars. At the end of my third flying lap the rain was really pouring down. It wasn’t possible to improve any more. So we were a bit unfortunate. But I think we can make up for that in the race – because our performance is right.”

6 Hours of Silverstone Qualifying results

1 Bourdais/Pagenaud – Peugeot – 1:43.924s
2 Kristensen/McNish – Audi R18 TDI – 1:44.856s
3 Montagny/Sarrazin – Peugeot – 1:45.102s
4 Bernhard/Fässler – Audi R18 TDI – 1:46.621s
5 Jani/Prost – Lola-Toyota – 1:47.684s
6 Lahaye/Moreau/Ragues – Oak-Pescarolo-Judd – 1:47.785s
7 Nicolet/Prémat/Pla – Oak-Pescarolo-Judd – 1:47.890s
8 Belicchi/Boullion – Lola-Toyota – 1:48.287s
9 Collard/Tinseau/Jousse – Pescarolo-Judd – 1:48.624s
10 Laventis/Watts/Kane – HPD – 1:49.619s

LMS: Audi R18 TDI defeated in race debut at 1000k of Spa

Peugeot claims pole at Silverstone with Audi right behind

W Racing Team wins 2011 24 Hours of Zolder

Posted: 04 Sep 2011 02:06 PM PDT

ONEIGHTURBO

Belcar 24H Zolder Audi WRT

This year, there were 31 participants in the 33rd edition of the 24H of Zolder. The high temperatures in the early stages caused a lot of attrition. Bert Longin, Enzo Ide, Francois Verbist, Xavier Maassen and the W Racing Team would go on to win the 2011 24 Hours of Zolder.

Oneighturbo Belcar 24H Zolder Prospeed Competition 090311 1

ProSpeed Porsche would lose 23 laps when their driveshaft broke early on. They would go on the counter attack knowing very important points could be had after six, twelve and twenty-four hours. In the end they came in second at the finish of the 24 hours. Final victory can be theirs in the Belcar. Goossens, Soulet, Loix, Palttala could not be unhappy with their amazing performance or that of the entire team during the 24 hours of Zolder.

Oneighturbo Belcar 24H Zolder Omnilevel 083111 5

The battle in the front was at that time primarily between the WRT Audi and Mercedes SLS KRK closely followed by the Play About Omni Level 997 and Level Racing Porsche 997.

Around midnight, a strong thunderstorm moved through which was clearly in favor of the Audi. The hot weather that gave them brake problems were also gone.

During the rain, W Racing Team chose to attack the KRK Racing Team which would give them the lead.

Belcar 24H Zolder Audi WRT

During the last hour of the race, the track was drying very quickly which gave KRK Racing the upper hand. As they went on to pressure the W Racing Team, a collision with a slower competitor sent them backwards and the connection with the leading group.

From that moment on, the W Racing Team held the lead and went on to win with 18 laps on the second place ProSpeed Competition. KRK Racing Team completed the podium.

2011 24 Hours of Zolder Final Result

1. W Racing Team – 818 laps
2. ProSpeed Competition – 800 laps
3. KRK Racing – 790 laps
4. Omnilevel/Speedlover – 777 laps
5. Level Racing – 768 laps
6. Scuderia Monza – 757 laps
7. Belgium Racing – 755 laps
8. Accent Racing – 742 laps
9. Mc Donald’s Racing – 696 laps
10. Skylimit Race Team – 691 laps