LMS Portimao : Podium finish for the oreca 01
After its excellent qualifying performance, the Team ORECA-Matmut’s aim was to play a leading role in the Algarve 1000kms, and the team fought at the front during the race. At the wheel of no.10, Bruno Senna and Tiago Monteiro finished third giving the ORECA 01 its first podium. In no. 11, Olivier Panis and Nicolas Lapierre had the potential to win. They suffered a technical problem that cost them almost 4 laps, and then the two drivers made an incredible comeback and saw the flag in fourth place, 3 laps behind the leader.
The race :
No. 10 ORECA 01: Bruno Senna started from third on the grid and was hot on the heels of the leaders. But after 10 minutes he went through a gravel trap to avoid hitting one of the Aston Martins. He fell back to fifth and did an excellent job coping with the traffic to rejoin the leading trio as the sun was setting. The Brazilian was in second place when he handed over to Tiago Monteiro. The Portuguese driver kept up the same pace in the darkness maintaining the same gap to his direct rivals. But he spun avoiding a Ferrari and ended his double stint in third spot. Bruno did another very consistent stint before midnight and consolidated the car’s place on the time sheets. Tiago then took over again and went on to finish on the podium.
No. 11 ORECA 01: At the green light, Nicolas Lapierre used his pole position to take the lead, which he held from the 007 Aston Martin. The two cars were locked in battle for several laps. After 14 laps, Nicolas was held up by a back marker and the British car passed him on the straight. Fifteen minutes later no.11 in second place pitted with a leaking fuel line. Olivier Panis went back out in twenty-eighth place almost 4 laps behind the leaders. He began a fantastic fight back, which brought him up to fourteenth at the end of the first hour. He kept up this searing pace and ended his triple stint in fifth spot. Nicolas then took over, and put in a number of quick laps to move up another place at the start of the fifth hour: he saw the flag in fourth position just behind his sister car.
