Pescarolo Team Le Mans 24H Race Report

So close, and yet so far…

Henri Pescarolo’s miracle come back to Le Mans began like a dream but ended up in tears… The Pescarolo-Judd n°16 took the lead of the “gasoline” LMP1 pack for most of the race, even outpacing the Peugeot Oreca HDi-FAP n°10 in the middle of the night and several race incidents helped us reaching the fifth position overall.

#16 Pescarolo Team Pescarolo Judd: Emmanuel Collard, Christophe Tinseau, Julien Jousse

Photo by: Eric Gilbert

Our strong performance was entirely build upon “bulletproof” mechanical reliability and a trio of drivers combining speed and consistency. But the miracle comeback transformed suddently into a nightmare, less than three hours before the checkered flag. At exactly 12h53, Emmanuel Collard lost control of his car inside the first Porsche corner. The Pescarolo Judd was stopped by the tire wall and our driver came out unharmed but heavy damages on the suspensions meant an instant DNF for the n°16…

Emmanuel Collard told us what happened when he came back to the pits: “It’s my mistake, the weather was changing and I knew that the first raindrops had started to fall on some parts of the track. I was careful but not careful enough. When I came into “Porsche”, there was no caution flag for slippery condition and I instantly spun on an isolated wet patch of asphalt”.

Despite his disappointment, Henri Pescarolo stays positive: “Of course, it’s a sad end for me and my crew, but that’s how motor racing goes sometimes. It’s a DNF, but during 22 hours, we have shown that we got the best out of the package at our disposal and that Pescarolo Team Autovision must be taken into account for the next edition. Our sponsors and partners have been very supportive after the incident, congratulating us for our strong performance and renewing their trust in the team. Now that Le Mans is behind, we’ll focus on winning the LMS championship and prepare the 2012 season”.

-source: pescarolo