The start of the Le Mans Series season began in earnest at the 8 Hours of the Castellet with a hard fought second place for Guillaume Moreau after encountering problems during qualifying. The Pescarolo-Judd OAK Racing No. 35 shared between the Limousin-native and Richard Hein was in contention for victory up until the last half hour. In his return to sportscar racing, Guillaume shined brightly.
Starting with practice, the good overall handling of the Pescarolo-Judd was evident even though the car had only undergone a single shakedown before arriving at the Castellet. Unfortunately, the technical team diagnosed a small issue with the engine in the last practice session, forcing Guillaume to miss qualifying. “I was frustrated to miss my chance to qualify because we did good work on the car with Richard and our engineer Ricardo Divila” . At the back of the starting grid, the challenge seemed difficult to tackle but we know the competitive nature of Guillaume. After taking the green flag in 40th, the No. 35 found itself in 16th (eighth in LMP2) after only three laps! However, a slow leak in one of the tyres slowed the cars rise through the ranks but after a brief stop in the pits, the Limousin driver took to the task of catching the competition one by one. “I really enjoyed the first three laps in the middle of traffic. I’ve always been competitive and I showed it once again. My overtaking was energetic but clean.” After nearly an hour and a half in the car and running in the top five, Guillaume handed over to teammate Richard Hein, who continued the forward progress.
By mid-race, Guillaume had rejoined the race and made his way to second place. Fast lap after fast lap and in less than one hour the Frenchman was in first place, followed by the sister car of OAK Racing. After a triple stint of nearly three hours without problems, Richard took over the wheel to finish the race. But with a final stop for fuel in the last half hour allowed the HPD (Honda) to take the top step on the podium. “Normally, the HPD is almost impossible to get, in that the car is so much more superior to the rest of the grid. For us, this second place feels like a win. I would have gladly signed up for such a result right from the start of the weekend. All told, missing the qualifying session only increased my motivation. Richard and OAK Racing really did a great job and we were rewarded. This result proves that our car is performing well and that the 2010 aero kit is well designed. We are missing just a little mechanical grip and we still need to work but it’s very encouraging for the future.”
Next event in one month at Spa-Francorchamps for a six hour race before all eyes are on the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the high point of the season.
Source : Guillaume Moreau