Status Grand Prix’s Lola-Judd B12/80 Coupe will start the 6 Hours of Donington from sixth place on the grid, courtesy of a lap from Alexander Sims. The Briton was at the wheel for qualifying for the Donington round of the European Le Mans Series. He was just 0.372 seconds slower than the polesitting OAK Racing Morgan-Judd, illustrating how hotly contested the LMP2 class is. Sims set five lap times in the quick 1m21s bracket, ending with a best of 1m21.293s.
His team-mates, brothers Julien and Maxime Jousse, both settled in to the Status GP Lola-Judd during the three free practice sessions, despite the persistent rain. Maxime, the younger of the two, managed to get a strong run in the Saturday free practice session on slick Dunlop tyres, although the track was still damp off line. Julien, the reigning Le Mans Series LMP1 champion, has not yet managed to drive on slicks. He was on intermediate rubber at the beginning of Saturday free practice, the wettest point of the session. All three drivers took turns in the Status GP Lola in the two Friday free practice sessions, but the track was very wet.
Status GP technical director Rob Arnott said: “We’re having a good weekend, and I’m very pleased with my driver line-up. The three of them are working very well together.
“Alexander did a very good job in qualifying. We didn’t want to risk the car too much in the wet sessions on Friday, but we’ve done enough in the dry today for me to be confident that we’re looking in good form for the race. It’s an absolute pleasure to work with the Jousse brothers – and I’m sure they are finding it interesting as well as this is the first time they have shared a car.”
“The championship is so ultra-competitive and it’s great to be a part of it. When you’ve got the top cars so closely matched, the race can go any way. I think it’s going to be an absolutely cracking race – like an LMP2 sprint.” The race, which Status GP starts third in the ELMS points table, begins on Sunday at 1155, running through to 1755.
DRIVER QUOTES
Alexander Sims: “Looking at the teams and drivers involved in LMP2 I expected it to be close, but not as amazingly close as it is! Qualifying was good. I think I did a decent job and the car felt nice. I felt fully on the limit but we’re just missing the last couple of tenths of pace. However, conditions change constantly through a six-hour race so we’ll see how it pans out then. I feel confident of a strong result.”
Julien Jousse: “It was quite difficult at first. We had a misting-up windscreen in the first free practice, which the team solved, and in the second I didn’t drive – but there were rivers on the track anyway! I will do the warm-up on Sunday morning. Hopefully this will be dry and I will be able to get my rhythm back on the Donington track. The car seems great, Alexander did a good job in qualifying and it’s so close that anything can happen in the race.”
Maxime Jousse: “The first sessions were very wet, but we were able to get used to working together. It all worked perfectly and I’m very happy. I did a good run of 12 laps in the wet on Friday afternoon and then 10 laps this morning to learn the track in the dry – that was important as it’s my first race here. It’s been difficult conditions but I am confident for the race.”
Source : Status Grand Prix