European Le Mans
Jarama: Swiss Spirit qualifying report
HIGH FIVE FOR SWISS SPIRIT IN QUALIFYING AT JARAMA The Swiss Spirit team once again demonstrated its pace in this year's Le Mans Series, by qualifying fifth on the grid for this weekend's 1000Km of Jarama, the final round of the Series. This ...
Edited: Dec 11, 2006, 4:20 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
HIGH FIVE FOR SWISS SPIRIT IN QUALIFYING AT JARAMA
The Swiss Spirit team once again demonstrated its pace in this year's Le Mans Series, by qualifying fifth on the grid for this weekend's 1000Km of Jarama, the final round of the Series. This stands the team in good stead as it fights for the second place spot in the championship, which is still open with Swiss Spirit and two other teams vying for the position.
Team Manager Serge Saulnier was happy with the team's performance, despite problems in practice which limited its opportunity to develop the Courage LMP1's set-up for the Spanish circuit. "We lost a lot of time in practice yesterday (Friday) as we were only able to do three laps before the engine coolant temperature rose too high. We found and resolved the problem last night and so we had to start our set-up work this morning in free practice.
"The car was oversteering to begin with, so we worked hard to try to improve that for qualifying this afternoon. I feel that Marcel did a good job qualifying fifth and we are confident for the race itself. We know that our car is very consistent in terms of the way it uses tyres and Marcel's qualifying time was done on old tyres. So we feel we can establish a good rhythm in the race and should be fighting for a podium position if we have a clean run with no problems."
Marcel Fassler was happy with qualifying, although he did feel that a second row position was possible. "I felt that we could have been on the front two rows but the margin was very close. I had a little too much understeer during qualifying in the slower corners, as opposed to oversteer this morning. So perhaps the changes we made went a little too far. Also, it was much windier this afternoon than it was this morning, so that may have had an effect on the car's handling.
"We also know that Pescarolo was on softer tyres while we were on medium compound but we're not sure what the other teams were on. But I'm happy with fifth -- it means we still have a very good chance for second in the championship. It's also good that there are no LMP2 cars ahead of us, because it's very difficult to overtake here at Jarama, particularly the P2 cars. They are slower than us but not so much slower that you can simply drive past them. So I'm happy."
Team-mate Harold Primat carried out most of the set-up work in the morning session and is also looking forward to the final round of the series. "We weren't quite where we wanted to be to start with," he said "but we got back on the right track very quickly. I was sixth fastest in free practice this morning, which I was pleased with, as it showed that we are definitely competitive. The, Marcel qualified fifth, just 0.1sec slower than the RML car, which is another demonstration of our competitiveness.
"But the important thing is that we are in front of both the Creation and Synergy teams, which are the competition for second in the championship, so that gives us a boost. If we can get the laps in and stay out of trouble, then I feel we can be in contention for the podium and second in the series."
-credit: ss
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Jamara: Team Bruichladdich preview
Next article Pescarolo, ASM, Larbre, Autorlando seal 2006 championships
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Marcel Fassler
Three-time Le Mans winner Fassler retires from racing
WEC
WEC
Three-time Le Mans winner Fassler retires from racing
New Corvette C8.R needs work to catch Porsche, say drivers
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24
New Corvette C8.R needs work to catch Porsche, say drivers
Garcia, Gavin uncertain of Corvette C8.R’s Daytona prospects
IMSA
IMSA
Daytona 24
Garcia, Gavin uncertain of Corvette C8.R’s Daytona prospects
Latest news
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
MotoGP
Qatar GP
You Ask The Questions: Jack Miller
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
WEC
WEC WEC
Monza
3 h
Why the anticlimactic WEC title showdown was the worst-case scenario
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Turkish GP
4 h
How Istanbul is revamping its F1 circuit to clinch long-term future
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe