The teams competing in the Le Mans 24 Hours at the French track at La Sarthe took part in a pre-event test.

The first hour of the running time today was essentially dry but the dirt on the track, including mud in places, limited speeds and the rain thereafter meant that times could not match those set in better conditions in 2014.

The two four-hour sessions were hindered by mixed changeable conditions but the positives included Dunlop’s squads being able to spend time experiencing the wider operating windows of the 2015 wet and intermediate tyres. Drivers and team managers now have a better understanding of which option to choose across the spectrum of drying track to standing water. Driver feedback was very positive, particularly for the intermediate that was used from damp to very wet conditions that varied from lap to lap around the track.

Fastest in LMP2 was #34 Oak Racing in the Ligier-Nissan in the morning session with a lap time of 3:41.919, some four seconds down on the 2014 fastest test time. The top eleven teams were on Dunlop tyres. In the afternoon session the weather deteriorated with Murphy Prototypes topping the times with a 3:42.405 lap.

In LM GT Am JMW Motorsport had a positive day, finishing the test fourth in class. The Ferrari 458 Italia covered 44 laps in total with their new driver line-up.

Jean-Felix Bazelin, Motorsport Operations Director: “Of course with racing we always want to go faster but it wasn’t to be here today. That does mean though that our teams could test the wet weather tyres that are both improved for this year. For Le Mans, with the very long laps that can feature a variety of weather conditions, it is important to understand how each tyre performs in all conditions to be able to choose the best option during the race. Now the drivers have that experience we can hope for dry conditions for qualifying in ten days.”