The French circuit at Le Castellet hosts the fourth round of six in the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) on 28th August. The four hour race will feature 8 Dunlop teams out of 12 in the headline LMP2 category and all 8 teams in the one-brand LM GTE class. With the circuit being renowned for very changeable track conditions, set-up is critical at this track.
At the mid-point of the series, three teams have pulled ahead in the headlining LMP2 standings: G-Drive Racing (Gibson) is leading on 58 points with the Thiriet by TDS Racing Ligier just seven points behind. The AF Corse-run BR01 is also a serious title contender in third. With three closely fought races already completed this season, there is still plenty of opportunity for drama to shake-up the points table. So far, Dunlop has a 100% 1-2-3 podium-finish record for the 2016 season with the closest rival team lying in fifth.
Dunlop has nominated the medium and medium-plus tyre specifications in LMP2, both known to work well on the high-speed abrasive track. Dunlop is keen to preserve its record of taking all three ELMS podium places following the 100% record from the first rounds at Silverstone and Imola.
The season-standard medium and medium-plus compounds will be used in the LM GTE class, currently led by AT Racing (Ferrari). The #99 Aston Martin Racing car is just one point behind, with JMW Motorsport’s Ferrari in third.
The track provides tyre strategy options due to the left-front loading caused by the fast right-handed Signes and Beausset corners. However the main issue for the teams is difficult fine-tuning of set-ups. Despite testing in March at the track, the conditions are likely to be very different. Not only are the conditions expected to bring higher temperatures, but the track’s changeable characteristics, even lap on lap, make finding optimum performance a big challenge.
Mike McGregor, Dunlop Manager Testing & Track Support
“Paul Ricard holds a lot of unknowns for the teams – even with a lot of testing data available. There are a lot of theories about why, including the Mistral wind, but whatever the causes, it makes it more important than ever to help our teams with set-up. The data we have from earlier in the year is a good start, but with the much higher temperatures and unpredictability of the track all the teams have a lot of work to do in the practice sessions. It’s a much more difficult task for the engineers than for any other track on the calendar and we will be there to support them throughout the weekend.”
The European Le Mans Series 4 Hours of the Red Bull Ring starts at 14.00 CEST on Sunday 28th August.