Le Mans Series Official Test – Paul Ricard, France

TEAM BRUICHLADDICH RADICAL SETS PACE IN OFFICIAL TEST

Team Bruichladdich Radical drivers Tim Greaves, Stuart Moseley and Robin Liddell took part in the extensive official LMS test at the Paul Ricard circuit in France yesterday and today completing 271 laps in the 21 hours of possible track time. Two days have been spent getting as much data as possible on set-ups for both the forthcoming LMS Series and the epic Le Mans 24 Hours itself. Paul Ricard is perhaps the closest match test track to Le Mans with a very long straight that’s comparable to the infamous Mulsanne on which the Radical SR9 was pushing 185 mph for the last two days.

By Sunday afternoon the team was holding second place in the LMP2 class behind ASM and ahead of RML in third but the times were close with four tenths of a second between the top three cars. Monday was a different matter with Stuart Moseley setting the LMP2 pace for the day early in the morning stint. After lunch, with less than three hours remaining, he set a blistering time of 1:46.160 – over 1.7 seconds ahead of the nearest LMP2 rival. In the last hour the Barazi-Epsilon team closed the gap but couldn’t take away Bruichladdich Radical’s top spot – hopefully the first of many for 2007.

Over the test several aerodynamic set-ups were tried taking advantage of the characteristics produced by the 1.7km long straight section of the 2.3 mile/ 5.8 km circuit. Also with the 24 Hours in mind the drivers all spent time in the car in the dark allowing them to get comfortable in what is their only opportunity to experience such conditions before the night practices running up to the race in June. Vital ‘housekeeping’ issues were addressed such as headlight position and dash light brightness. The tyre testing programme was also continued with promising results.

Tim Greaves, Team Owner and driver
“ It was my first Paul Ricard test and took me a little while to learn the circuit, coupled with the variations in handling with the many set-ups that we tried. By the end of the testing session I got up to the pace that I’d hoped to. I was a little nervous on my first night drive and the speeds seem so much higher as you’re more focussed on the near vision. I ended the session extremely happy and looking forward to Le Mans for more. The car was very reliable and the new team is coming together well. Robin’s fitting in well and his technical input is proving a bonus as well as his speed.”

Stuart Moseley, Driver:
“ It’s been good to try a low drag set-up and we’ve been working on different aerodynamics options for Le Mans. I feel that we’ve made a step forward with the traction and that will help us for Monza’s chicanes too.”

Robin Liddell, Driver
“ This has been my first opportunity to drive a prototype at a high speed track. It was really good to get to experience the downforce level at such a high speed and I felt very happy with it.”