OAK Racing's disappointment
OAK Racing decided to concentrate all its efforts on the LMP2 category for the 6 Hours of Silverstone, leaving its LMP1 OAK-Pescarolo in the workshop for this round. After a solid start to its race, the French team lost all hope of victory following a safety car period but consoled itself with (LMP2) fastest race lap, set by Olivier Pla, and fourth place points in the Championship. Although classified sixth in class (13th overall), the Le Mans-based team took the 10 points awarded for fourth place since the two competitors ahead of them weren’t entered for the whole FIA World Endurance Championship season and don’t therefore score points.
The weekend had nevertheless started well for OAK Racing who featured regularly at the top of the time sheets during the free practice sessions. After a disappointing qualifying, Matthieu Lahaye started the No.24 Morgan-Nissan from the 10th row on the grid and finished his stint in fourth place. Olivier Pla, on top form, took a firm hold on the class lead before being held by a red light at the pit exit while the safety cars took to the track. In spite of all the team’s efforts, the No.24’s lost time couldn’t be made up, whilst the No.35 sister car was never in a position to challenge for a podium following starter motor problems at the beginning of the race.
Sébastien Philippe, Team Principal: “The timing of the safety car was really bad for us. We stopped just before it was deployed so there was a red light at the end of the pit-lane that we were held at for a long time. We lost two laps which undid all of our hard work having been a net 20 seconds behind the leader. But what can we do? The pace was good and all three drivers were excellent. Olivier was fast, Jacques didn’t put a foot wrong and kept us in contention while Matthieu did a great job to climb up from 12th to fourth. The same can be said for the No.35 car which unfortunately didn’t stand a chance after its early problem. The standard in LMP2 is just too high.”
Olivier Pla, No.24 Morgan-Nissan: “Everything was going well before the safety car. We had the pace for victory so it’s a huge shame. We have to accept it but I can’t understand why we were held for so long at the end of the pits. I think both safety cars went past while I was waiting there. It’s frustrating of course but we shouldn’t forget that the new package of Onroak Automotive chassis, Dunlop tyres and Nissan engine worked very well.”
Dominik Kraihamer, No.35 Morgan-Nissan: “We lost so much time changing the starter motor which cost us any chance today. The driver line-up showed plenty of speed though, especially David (Heinemeier Hansson) who set some very impressive times. We can’t change the result so I’ll just look forward to the next one. The team tried a few different things and I gained some experience, which is important to me personally.”
OAK Racing will continue with two cars in the LMP2 category for the Brazilian and Bahrain legs, before returning to the LMP1 class for the final two rounds of the Championship in Japan and China with an HPD engine (see article).
Fiona Miller (quotes from team press release)
Photo: TOWCESTER (NORTHAMPTONSHIRE, GREAT BRITAIN), SILVERSTONE CIRCUIT, 6 HOURS OF SILVERSTONE, SUNDAY 26TH AUGUST 2012, RACE.