An untimely Safety Car period put paid to Larbre Competition’s victory chances at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps on Saturday, although a second consecutive podium finish maintained their strong start to the FIA World Endurance Championship campaign.
Spirited performances from Patrick Bornhauser, Julien Canal and Fernando Rees ultimately helped the #50 Corvette C6.R come home third in the GTE Am class after a late-race battle with the #96 AMR Aston Martin. The result, along with second position at the Silverstone season opener, sees the French squad occupy third in the standings.
The team was nevertheless disappointed to miss out on an even better result thanks largely to the unfortunate timing of the Safety Car being deployed just one lap after Larbre’s first pit-stop. In order to pick up the race’s overall leader, the class front-running #81 8Star Motorsports Ferrari was waved through by the Race Director, picking up a lap over its rivals in the process. No further incidents during the remaining five hours ensured there was little chance of making up the deficit.
Jack Leconte, Team Manager: “The accident that triggered the Safety Car ultimately killed our victory chances at the end of the first hour. There’s always a chance that will happen during the season though, especially as European organisers do not use Safety Car intervention as a means of spicing up the racing. I do not like that sort of manipulation and prefer that the talents of the driver and team are the deciding factor. On this occasion events did not play out in our favour, but the wheel keeps on turning.
“Spa’s FIA WEC round was run over two days instead of the usual three, which was very interesting. The reduced format included a pair of two-hour free practice sessions, which is great as they allow us to conduct better work with the drivers. The intensity is higher which calls for greater concentration while costs are also reduced, so I’d like to see this adopted in future.
“Next up is Le Mans, where we have won for the past three years. We’ll be entering our second, #70 Corvette meaning there will be the same number of Chevrolets as Porsches, Ferraris and Aston Martins.
Patrick Bornhauser: “I didn’t have much opportunity to drive during free practice so it wasn’t until the race that I was really able to hit my straps and set good, consistent times. The car was quite well balanced but the high track temperature hurt the tyres. It was almost a perfect race from everyone in the team and the drivers.”
Julien Canal: “Following quite a good qualifying performance I joined the race after good stints from my two team-mates and didn’t make any mistakes. I came out of the pits right behind one of the Aston Martins and, despite making several passing attempts, initially had to settle for fourth place behind it. Then, during my second stint, I managed to overtake it and hold on to third position until the finish.”
Fernando Rees: “It was a difficult race but, in the end, the result was very good. It was the best we could have achieved, so congratulations to the whole team. Everyone gave their all and we did not make a single mistake during the race. I hope we’ll be a little quicker at the next race so that I can achieve my first win of the season.”
Larbre Competition’s attention now switches to the Le Mans 24 Hours, with the Official Test Day taking place at Circuit de la Sarthe on June 9 followed by the race itself two weeks later on June 22/23.
Source : Larbre Compétition