Franck Mailleux has qualified the #23 Signatech-Nissan Oreca 03 for this weekend’s 80th running of the prestigious Le Mans 24 Hours but the team has deliberately focussed on race preparations after a disrupted day of running on Wednesday.

Franck worked mainly on gathering data in race trim concentrating on fuel consumption and tyre wear to make sure that the Signatech-Nissan team are in the best shape possible for what will be a long and gruelling race.

The team completed 23 laps in the early evening two-hour qualifying session and added another 28 in the late evening session, but from 13th on the grid in LMP2, the team is looking to maximise performance of the car over the 24 hour race and to make its way into podium contention.

Franck managed one run on new tyres this evening but lap times were not the team’s strategy as it completed its pre-race programme. Franck will start the race on Saturday afternoon and is looking forward to his fourth participation in the Le Mans 24 Hours. The team has a final pre-race warm up session on Saturday morning in which it will carry out a few final runs with the Oreca 03.

Franck commented: “Following yesterday’s hampered running, we had some important race preparation items to carry out in today’s two qualifying sessions, so we deliberately concentrated on that without compromising too much in pursuit of qualifying laps. As always, reliability will be key this weekend so we couldn’t sacrifice those preparations for grid position this time. It might be frustrating for a driver like me not to be able to go for a qualifying time but based on my experience I know the importance of good race preparations, as was the case today, and especially for a race like Le Mans. We know the car is quick and well balanced, and I hope this approach will ensure we can maximise performance from Saturday into Sunday. I am looking forward to the parade tomorrow and to taking in the amazing atmosphere from this wonderful and traditional event.”

Source : Franck Mailleux