The team did not focus on trying to win the class’s pole position. Its primary goal is to finish the race.
“Our car is a bit too neutral, ” said Theys right after the qualifying session of his Michelin-shod mount. “We don’t have good straightaway speed. We have good grip in the corners, but we’re losing a lot under acceleration and at the top end.
“We knew the factory cars would be faster than we are, ” he continued. “If we can have the reliability that we had at the Petit Le Mans last fall, we will be OK. We have a good team that can prepare a reliable car. We need to stay out of trouble and finish. Our goal is to be there at the end of the race. “
The team finished third in class at the Petit Le Mans, a nine-hour race, last year.
Today’s qualifying times were new track records for three of the four classes here. The LMP2 pole went to Penske Racing’s Timo Bernhard, who qualified his Porsche RS Spyder third overall with a record lap of 1:46.046.
The LMP1/LMP2 qualifying session was delayed within its first 5 minutes when Jon Field’s Intersport Racing Creation Judd LMP1 car crashed hard into a tire wall in Turn 17. He was not hurt.
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