Gruppe M - Spa 24 Hours - [Thursday Qualifying] [Friday Qualifying]

Thursday Qualifying
It was a busy Thursday at Spa. After filling much of the day with two hectic free practice sessions, the teams then knuckled down to an evening of equally frantic qualifying. The first of two periods began at 20.30, but had barely got going before the red flags were out for the #4 Saleen, suffering a major engine bay fire. While disastrous for Franz Konrad, it also provided a major headache for many other teams, not least being GruppeM Racing. Tim Sugden had only managed to complete his exploratory out-lap, return for some fresh boots, and was just heading out on his first flyer when the incident took place.

The session was halted for more than twenty minutes while the fire was brought under control and the car retrieved. The Saleen would take no further part in proceedings. Tim Sugden, meanwhile, sat patiently in the GruppeM Porsche, aware that the best part of the evening was slipping by and the qualifying tyres fitted to his car would have cooled and be well past their best by the time he came through to start another flyer.

At ten past nine the session resumed, and Tim was among the first to be back out on track. An allocation of a further forty-five minutes was confirmed for the session as Sugden swept through to begin his first serious attempt. It was a 2:26.192; the best the car had done all week, and enough to slot the GruppeM Porsche straight in at 17th overall, fourth in NGT. With the #50 Freisinger car already on a 2:21, Tim’s 'offer' was five seconds off provisional pole, but heading in the right direction.

Times were tumbling fast, and the #88 had slipped a couple of places before Tim came through with his next attempt. It was a significant improvement, clocking 2:24.892, and good enough to reclaim fourth once again, but only briefly. The #77 Yukos-sponsored Porsche may have been several seconds behind on the track, but it was almost three seconds ahead on the timing screen. By the time Tim Sugden swept back down the pitlane to hand over to Jonathan Cocker, the GruppeM Porsche was sitting fifth in NGT.

“The car is obviously better now,” declared the Yorkshireman, referring to the handling issues that had dogged them in practice. “We still need to find a lot more, but that was the first time I’d been able to have a reasonable run at it.” It would also prove to be his last. With the session delayed and conditions deteriorating, the need to give Jonathan and the other two drivers plenty of track time would mean that Sugden’s opportunities for a better time were fading with the light.

With just half an hour of the opening session remaining the hierarchy in NGT had the #62 Ferrari as quickest, followed by #99 Porsche, then the #77, the #50 fourth, and GruppeM fifth. Even if Jonathan Cocker wasn’t about to threaten the rankings, it was still vital that he gained as much experience of the track as possible, while the light held. His first flyer was a bit tentative, but his second clocked 2:33.891. On the same tyres that Tim Sugden had used earlier, and with darkness already falling, this was well in line with the kind of times being set by many others in the class, and Cocker could return to the garage feeling mildly satisfied. “It’s very difficult out there,” he said. “Until tonight I’d only done four proper laps around the track, and I’ve never driven at race pace at night before at all. You have to strike a balance between trying to set a quicker time and not doing anything silly.” Wisely, Jonathan had elected not to do anything silly.

There was just enough time left for Tim Sugden to have a second stab at qualifying, and if the light was poor, the air and track temperatures were still favourable. Provisional class pole had been clipped to 2:20.861 by the #62 Ferrari and wouldn’t be bettered, but Tim felt confident that he could shave a second or so off his earlier time. With a set of brand new qualifying tyres fitted, still sporting their Dunlop stickers, he headed back out with seven minutes remaining – enough for two flyers. His first was a 2:27.869, followed swiftly by a 2:27.254. He was clearly disappointed. “There’s oil on the left-hander before Blanchimont, which doesn’t help, but the real problem is the slow cars out there. I must have passed six or more on that last lap. Maybe we could have done a twenty-three, but we could never make up all that [time on the #77, fourth in NGT] even if we dropped the car out of an aeroplane!”

The session ended at ten with the #62 Ferrari on NGT pole with a time of 2:20.861, the #50 Porsche 996 second on 2:20.966, #99 third with a best of 2:21.337, followed by #77 fourth, 2:21.573. The gap to GruppeM Racing in fifth, thanks to Sugden’s 2:24.892, was a tad over three seconds, but this also gave the team a modest cushion of a second and a half over the Seikel Porsche #75 in sixth.

The teams were allowed just a fifteen-minute break before the second session got under way, but nobody seemed very keen to get it started. The lights at the end of the pitlane had been green for some while before anyone headed out, with Warren Hughes leading the way for GruppeM. He achieved a best of 2:28.849 on his third flyer, which stood as one of the quickest times done by anyone in the class for quite some while, and suggested that the team’s pace in the dark was going to be satisfyingly competitive.

After half an hour Warren returned, handing over to Tim Mullen. On a set of well-scrubbed tyres, the Ulsterman came through with a succession of laps in the mid to low thirties. “It’s a nightmare out there with all the traffic,” he said later. “Some drivers are taking it very slow, and I nearly went into the back of someone on the run up out of Eau Rouge. Towards the end I was also running low on fuel, and the warning light was coming on, so I had to come in. The engine started to cough as I came in down the pitlane.”

Anything that could be achieved had probably been done, so Jonathan was offered one last chance at bolstering his confidence with some extra track-time. He completed five flying laps, all around the two-forty mark, before the team called it a day. With the race engine already fitted there was no real sense in thrashing around in the dark. “Fifth is OK. We’d have liked to have been closer to the Freisinger cars, of course, and Tim thought there’d be a twenty-three in the car today, but it just wasn’t to be. Even so, it’s quite satisfying to be “best of the rest,” said Steve ‘Doc’ Bunkhall, the team’s Chief Engineer. He and the engineers would have a late night ahead of them, fettling the car. “We’ll be fitting a new gearbox and drive shafts, so the car will go out in the session tomorrow for a shake-down, just to check that those are working OK,” he explained. “We won’t be going for a time. Actually, we’ve used all our qualifying tyres anyway!”

Kenny Chen, team owner at GruppeM Racing, was well satisfied with the day’s events. “With the number of cars we have here this weekend, and the standard of the competition, I feel we’ve done well. If we can maintain our pace, keep out of trouble, and work efficiently through our pitstops, perhaps we can do quite well.”

The engineers worked late into Thursday night, not completing their work until after 3 am. By that time they’d fitted a new gearbox and replaced the Porsche’s driveshafts, as well as completed ninety percent of all their pre-race fettling. If possible, it had always been the plan to get the car race-ready before Friday’s second daylight qualifying session, which could then be viewed as a final shake-down opportunity. With conditions extremely hot and unlikely to generate quick times, this proved to be a sensible strategy, and would ultimately give the team a relaxing evening ahead of a gruelling weekend.

Friday Qualifying
Jonathan Cocker was sent out at the beginning of the Friday session, leaving the pitlane when the period was already well under way. “I was up to do two flyers,” he said, “but ended up doing just the one.” His time, a 2:36.94, wasn’t important. The team wanted to gain valuable experience from this last qualifying session, not only treating it like their final warm-up but also practising pitstop strategy. Cocker headed down the pitlane as if this was the real thing, and pulled up smartly outside the garage. The crew immediately leaped into action. On went the fuel hoses; the air-jack operator pausing, connector in hand, ready to lift the car the moment the nozzles were pulled free. A full set of Dunlops clattered into place all-round, while Cocker made an ungainly scramble to escape the cockpit. With Sugden strapped back in, the car dropped to the ground, and the Yorkshireman sped away down the slope towards Eau Rouge. “That was a complete race simulation pitstop,” explained Steve Bunkhall, the team’s chief engineer. “Jonathan was sent out first, to give him a chance to complete a couple more laps, and then Tim got into the car for just one flying lap. The car was completely fuelled from the overhead rig and fitted with a full set of tyres before being sent out again. That gave Tim a chance to see how the car would feel on full tanks, exactly as it would be for the race.”

The team had appreciated the value of quick pit-work during their recent Donington FIA outing. “On the scheduled stops we were as much as 45 seconds quicker than the other British GT teams,” Steve pointed out. “We were also only losing only about ten seconds to the experienced FIA crews, like Freisinger. Clearly the time we’d spent practising paid off that time, so we’ve been working hard on that again. Having an efficient pit crew can save you a lot of time, and slow work in the pitlane can cost you plenty.”

Under instructions not to push unduly, Tim completed a flying lap in a comfortable 2:34, using the same set of Dunlops he’d last used in Thursday’s final qualifying session. Job done, he headed back into the pitlane, where the RSR was pushed back into the garage and left to cool.

The run had gone well, and there seemed little doubt that the final tweaks to the set-up had achieved a more favourable balance. Almost the entire team then congregated around the back of the car, leaning over the rear wing, resting elbows on the rooftop, to embark upon an impromptu and very relaxed de-brief.

It is a characteristic of GruppeM that anyone and everyone has a valid input, and while drivers may sometimes go off to huddle conspiratorially around a computer screen, discussions are usually open and relaxed. It is some indication of the preparedness of the team that the greatest concern appeared to be driver ventilation – or lack of it - and how this could be addressed. With more of a hint of Austin Powers than James Bond, an undercover agent was despatched to find out how other Porsche teams were dealing with the problem.

The windscreen had been damaged on Thursday night. A car Warren was following spun off, and kicked up enough gravel to craze the glass in two places. Visibility wasn’t unduly affected, and the screen wasn’t about to break, so the cracks had been patched with helicopter tape ahead of Friday’s run. The screen would be replaced during the afternoon as the team completed its preparations. Apart from this, there wasn’t a great deal to do, and everything was wrapped up by early evening.

The team was able to relax in the hospitality unit before heading away for an early night. “It’s been such a long wait,” said Jonathan Cocker, experiencing his first twenty-four hour build-up. “We’ve been here since Tuesday, and all this waiting is just leading up to one thing – and I’m really looking forward to it!” It’s not always clear whether Jonathan appreciates just how unique his position truly is, although the fuss that surrounded his Donington podium must have been a recent reminder. He’s pleasantly unassuming, yet most seventeen-year-olds would still be pestering their parents for a chance at driving lessons. By contrast, here’s Jonathan contemplating a classic 24 Hour endurance race. It’s a sobering thought. “I just need more time in the car,” he says, “but then again, I’m going to get a lot of that during the race!” He’s confident that he’ll be able to improve his pace with each stint, and perhaps go quicker than he has done so far. Missing the test day was unfortunate perhaps but, as he points out; “the British was more important at the time – and, after all, that’s the championship we could win.” For the time being, though, his thoughts are on the challenge ahead - one of the most demanding in motorsport.