Larbre Competition salvaged a second consecutive FIA World Endurance Championship podium finish at the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps last weekend after overcoming a series of dramas at the historic Belgian venue. The result was particularly pleasing for the French squad after its pair of Corvette C6.R GTE Am entries were saddled with a pre-race performance restriction following the opening round at Sebring in March.
Weather conditions were also markedly different with Florida’s warm sunshine replaced by the Ardennes region’s notoriously fickle microclimate that ensured Saturday’s race began in soaking wet conditions.
Having been separated by just eight thousandths of a second in qualifying, the #50 and #70 Corvettes lined up fourth and fifth respectively. Their performance had looked even better during morning warm-up but as the track began to dry early in the race, so both cars struggled to keep pace with the Porsche contingent that had benefitted from a pre-event 25kg weight reduction.
On-track events also conspired against the team when it was powerless to prevent the #50 car losing time after being hit on two separate occasions by prototype machinery. Despite the setback, Patrick Bornhauser’s fast and consistent stint, which had followed that of Julien Canal, ensured the Corvette remained in contention. Even a slight mistake from Fernando Rees on debut could not prevent the team from finishing fourth overall and second of the classified WEC entries.
On the other side of the garage the #70 car’s unfortunate weekend continued when it was forced into retirement with a mysterious engine issue after just 39 laps. Regular drivers Jean- Philippe Belloc and Christophe Bourret were already facing the prospect of competing alone after co-driver Pascal Gibon was forced to withdraw from the round following the sad news of his mother’s passing earlier in the week.
Jack Leconte, Team Owner: “It was satisfying to come away with second position in WEC but fourth in the combined class was the best we could have achieved. One positive was the performance of Fernando whose late resistance against the Luxury Racing Ferrari helped us score important points. We will speak to the FIA and ACO about the balance of performance restrictions ahead of Le Mans as it was very apparent this weekend. We also need to understand what happened to the #70 Corvette’s engine. It will be flown back to America where the GM technicians can assess the problem in time for Le Mans next month. The long gap between Sebring and Spa was noticeable on the team’s performance but we will have plenty of opportunities to fine-tune in the coming weeks, first with Pascal Gibon testing at the Val de Vienne circuit and then the Le Mans official test day on June 3. Finally, on behalf of the entire team, I would like to send my deepest sympathies to Pascal and his family. We look forward to welcoming him back soon.”
Patrick Bornhauser, #50 Corvette C6.R: “Spa is always a difficult race due to the weather conditions and circuit length. Each driver does not have time to complete enough laps during free practice when it takes eight minutes to do one out-lap, a flying run and in-lap. We also had difficulty setting up the car which cost us perhaps three seconds per lap compared to those fighting for victory. At least I was able to produce an almost perfect double race stint in terms of speed and consistency. The only downside was being hit by someone in a Rebellion Lola LMP1 who then didn’t have the courtesy to apologise afterwards. Second place in the WEC is not too bad in the end. I cannot wait for Le Mans.”
Julien Canal, #50 Corvette C6.R: “After qualifying in fourth position the team then trusted me to take the start of the race on a wet track. Along with Jean-Philippe Belloc in the #70 car, I was very cautious during the opening two hours. A Porsche overtook me during the first stint in the rain but I was able to re-pass at the end and fight for third position with a Luxury Racing Ferrari. My team-mates Patrick and Fernando then drove well by being solid and diligent. A small issue with Fernando’s seat potion and belts probably cost us third on the road, which was within our reach. But we still scored some precious points for the championship and are already thinking about the next race, the Le Mans 24 Hours.”
Christophe Bourret, #70 Corvette C6.R: “It was a difficult race weekend and one, in practice at least, where we had to deal with little running time. Jean-Philippe qualified the car for a race that only lasted 39 laps. That creates a lot of frustration. We will have to be more reliable in order to have any impact on the championship.”
Jean-Philippe Belloc, #70 Corvette C6.R : “After conclusive free practice running, we were not able to perform in the difficult conditions faced at the start before breaking down on lap 39, which was very frustrating! Christophe did not even drive the car! We must now conduct thorough analysis in order to improve our performance and reliability if we are to score good results in the future. Hopefully we’ve suffered our season’s worth of luck this weekend.”
Both Larbre Competition Corvette C6.Rs will be at Le Mans for the event’s official test day on June 3 ahead of the great race itself just two weeks later.
Source : Larbre Compétition