It was towards the Belgian Ardennes, and the circuit of Spa Francorchamps, that Swiss team Race Performance headed in order to compete in the second round of the World Endurance Championship. Despite the good work from the team throughout the weekend, the race did not go as well as had been expected for Michel Frey, Ralph Meichtry and Jonathan Hirschi. Two hours after the start, the team’s Oreca 03 began to suffer from a number of mechanical problems. After the car went off the track, further to a broken brake disc, as well as a crack in part of the engine, the team was forced to retire.
The three free practice sessions took place on Thursday and Friday. Many different settings were tested, making the car more and more competitive. The car was successively 14th, then 12th and finally 9th among the LMP2 cars during the three sessions.
Qualifying took place on Friday afternoon. Ralph was in charge of this task, and set the 13th fastest LMP2 time.
The race started at 14:30 on Saturday afternoon. Ralph did the first two hours. Shortly before the end of his stint, a problem with the fuel filter brought him back to the pits. Jonathan took the car back out, but after fifteen minutes, a broken brake disc sent him off track. Despite some minor contact with the barriers, he was able to get back to the pits. The mechanics tried to repair the car, but a crack in the engine supports forced them to retire. In total, the car completed 45 laps in the race. « It was a terrible weekend for us, » explained Michel Frey. « But we have discovered the source of our problems with the car, which we will solve before Le Mans. I am in contact with Oreca to find the right solution very quickly. We now have one month in order to prepare the car as well as possible, but thanks to our weekend in Spa, we have an accurate work plan. »
There is just one month remaining before the test day for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, which will take place on Sunday June 3rd on the 24 Hours of Le Mans circuit. After that, the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans will start on June 10th with the scrutineering in the Le Mans town centre. It will therefore be a busy month for the Swiss team, who will be working hard to solve the problems with their Oreca 03.
Source : Race Performance