Team Nasamax
Sunday At The Le Mans Test Weekend - 04.05.03

For a driver whose stated aim was “to take it easy” for the first five laps, Robbie Stirling raised a few eyebrows (and smiles) when he clocked 300kph on the Mulsanne Straight on his first lap this morning. “Not bad for a green-fuel car,” said the Canadian with a smile, illustrating that bio-ethanol is clearly a credible alternative to the fossil fuels found in all the other runners. That first lap wasn’t a fast one, though, with the engine cutting out in three places around the circuit. Each time, Robbie was able to restart the car (further evidence that the Sebring issue was resolved), and he pitted immediately to allow the Nasamax team to investigate. Brian Richardson, the team ‘sparks’, set about methodically tracing the problem back through his very well prepared wiring-loom, and he eventually tracked it back to the spark box. The team took the decision to replace the box, and that seemed to cure the problem.

Since the Wednesday testing on the Bugatti Circuit, when the car had only had ten dry laps, the team had raised the ride-height. Robbie discovered that this made the car understeer, and so the team put the settings back to those of Wednesday. Robbie completed his required ten laps (he was officially a ‘rookie’ due to the length of time since his last Le Mans) and handed over to Romain Dumas.

The French driver’s first stint was not trouble-free either. The vibrations from the track had broken the main power switch to the starter motor, and this had to be replaced as well. This cost the team more time, but Romain was able to bring the lap times down each time he went out, moving them into the realms of respectability with a 4:04 - before one of the TVRs dropped its oil at Indianapolis and brought out the red flag at 11.45.

It was now time for the team’s third driver to ‘have a go’, and Bryan Herta made the most of his time in the car. With no electrical problems to delay him, he was able to reduce the lap time still further to 3:58.599 with only three flying laps. The delays of earlier in the day meant that there was little further opportunity to make many setting changes before the lunch interval, and so the afternoon session would be the main opportunity for data collection. The decision was made to reverse the driver sequence for the afternoon, with Bryan going first. Further set-up changes were made during the one-hour break, and it would be Bryan’s job to report on any differences in handling or performance.

A busy morning for the team, but this is a test day after all.

A major talking point over the weekend was the ‘white-line’ issue, whereby drivers were forbidden from crossing them anywhere on the track on pain of severe penalty. How did Robbie Stirling cope with the ruling? “I couldn’t even see the white lines – they are all black! I tried to behave myself, but it has certainly made the track a lot narrower!”

After the lunchtime session, alas, things didn’t go according to plan. Bryan Herta was in at the end of his out-lap for a change of the main battery. Fifteen minutes later, on his next out-lap, Bryan touched the brakes at the end of the Mulsanne Straight at approaching 200mph and the car spun into the tyre wall after a long slide / spin, causing considerable damage. The car was brought back in on a flat bed trailer an hour later, and the team started on the long list of repairs. These included the rear and front suspensions, rear crash box, rear wing, diffuser, rear underbody, the ripped-off tail, the side pods and the front underbody section. The chassis appeared to be fine, however, and the team hoped to be out again later in the afternoon.

Twenty-seven and a half laps had been completed by the time of Bryan’s incident. To put that into perspective – a bit further than Herr Schumacher drove that same afternoon in Spain.

The scene in the garage was one of frantic, but well organised, activity, with mechanics leaning over and lying under the afflicted parts of the car, elbows flailing as parts were tightened or loosened. Demands for tools and components were barked, and the response was immediate. Outside, the bodywork was systematically laid out and repairs actioned to the carbon fibre.

Watching the timing screen in the garage was Bryan Herta, thankfully unhurt but clearly disappointed. “I just touched the brakes and the car instantly swapped ends and slid backwards a long way before hitting the tyres. It’s difficult to work out what happened with all the damage, but we’re looking at all the available data on the telemetry.” Five feet away, drivers and engineers were poring over the myriad numbers and lines on the screens of their laptops, extracting every last ounce of information from the data presented.

Gradually, the rear end of the car came back together – the suspension, rear wing and gearbox casing having suffered the most damage – under the authoritative gaze of John McNeil. “Oh dear!” he winked as he hurried past. With an hour of the session left, the pace of work was undiminished, so hopeful was the team of getting back out.

Forty-five minutes later, their optimism was rewarded when Romain Dumas took the Reynard up the pitlane for a systems-checking lap. He pitted, took on new rubber, and returned to the track at 5.55 for a last flying lap. Less than a minute before the chequered flag flew, Romain crossed the line to start his ‘Banzai’ attempt. All eyes turned towards the timing screen, until eventually it flickered and a few lines changed. This signified that the time was indeed better than its previous fastest – a 3:57.472 the result of Romain’s efforts!

“That was a lap to thank the mechanics for all their hard work!” said a contented Romain. John McNeil paid further tribute to the team “It’s a testament to the crew that they managed to get the car back out for three laps. Considering the amount of work that had to be done, it’s a tremendous compliment!” Bryan Herta summed up the mood; “It’s very positive that we got the car back out for three laps, as it’s lifted the whole team.”

A positive end to a trying day, indeed. While the team didn’t gather as much data as they would have liked, it was a successful day in other ways. They had had an invaluable opportunity to test on the full circuit; they had proved that the Sebring problems were behind them, with the car starting perfectly in the Florida-like heat (the temperature at La Sarthe peaking at 32 degrees Celsius); and they had encountered and overcome a whole array of problems that could potentially be encountered in the race itself. Not the least of these being crash-repair. Overall, Team Nasamax showed that they were exactly that – a team.

Most importantly, they were officially in the race. Now the hard work starts!

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