The No. 42 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan LM P2 driven by Alex Brundle, Olivier Pla and Gustavo Yacaman brought home a fourth-place finish in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Fueled by Fresh From Florida, the second round of the Tudor United Sportscar Championship.
After starting in the second position, the No. 42 machine created and built by Onroak Automotive, fought hard throughout the twelve hour endurance race. Despite hours of cautions, and a lot of crashes, the team was able to maintain a strong track position and ran as high as second. All the drivers did a good job. The Prototype cars were extremely competitive with one another and all finished the race on the same lap.
Pla was the first driver to complete his stint in the Nissan-powered car. One of the greatest challenges throughout the race was staying clean in traffic. He was also at the wheel for the last part of the race, after Alex Brundle and Gustavo Yacaman’s stints and he unluckily found trouble due to the restarts in the traffic.
“The key was to survive traffic and stay on the lead lap. On the last restart, I was trying to fight for positions and pass Dalziel,” said Pla. “However, I had to lift because of a GT car and I lost positions. I was right there to fight at the end, but came up a little short at getting the job done. Anyway, we did our best and we are going to work hard for Long Beach because I think there is something to do there.”
Yacaman was the second driver to rotate in for his stint. Despite Sebring being a physical track, the conditions changed drastically throughout the day, which made for a tough race for everyone.
“This was the hardest race I have ever done,” said Yacaman. “We had no grip on the track during the day and we suffered a lack of power compared to DPs and HPDs. As the day went on and nighttime came, it became very tricky because you couldn’t see very well. However, the car came back to us and was very similar to the car we had tested here before. We are still looking okay in the championship points. If we stay consistent and still focus on the big picture, I believe we can win the championship.”
The Morgan-Nissan LM P2 performed very well on this type of circuit. Following four successful practice sessions and a strong qualifying effort, the car maintained that throughout the race.
“The stop-start racing with so many cautions made the race very difficult for us because we were struggling with the tire temperature,” said Brundle. “However, we were very, very strong in the pits, which is positive. In the beginning of my stint in the strait lines, we were holding onto a strong speed. We ran within the top three for a long time. Unfortunately we just got shuffled out at the end. As everyone knows who watches this type of racing, that is often times what it comes down to. Sometimes, that’s just how it is. However, I am proud of everybody on the team.”
OAK Racing team is a bit disappointed with this fourth position. Philippe Dumas, Team Principal, said : “We didn’t expect a race like this. It was very difficult. Since the beginning we struggled with the set up, and the grip. But we were there, at the end. The guys did a really good job and Olivier was unlucky at the restart, but sometimes it is like this.”
The France-based team will move onto The Grand Prix of Long Beach next, which will take place April 12 on the 1.97 mile-long street circuit.