Le Mans Series, round 4 on the Nürburgring, Race report
The German debut of the Porsche RS Spyder concluded with a fourth victory at the fourth race of the season. Jos Verstappen and Jeroen Bleekemolen (Netherlands) won the 1,000 kilometre race on the Nürburgring, the penultimate of the 2008 Le Mans Series (LMS). With his third win of the season, ex-Formula 1 driver Verstappen also claimed an early title win in the LMP2 class with Van Merksteijn Motorsport (Netherlands) securing the team championship. In the manufacturers classification as well, Porsche ranks an uncatchable first. Both Danish pilots of the Essex team, Casper Elgaard and John Nielsen, rounded off the Porsche customer teams’ success with third. In the GT2 class, drivers of the 911 GT3 RSR celebrated podium positions with second and third. A total of 22,000 spectators travelled to the Eifel to witness the German LMS round.
Jos Verstappen was beside himself with joy: “I can’t believe it. I’m over the moon to have won the championship already at the penultimate race. This success was made possible thanks to the car, which with its balance is fantastic to drive, and which came through the season without one technical hitch. And of course thanks to our team who also worked impeccably. The squad confirmed their great work by winning the team title. After winning the Le Mans 24 hour race in June, today’s victory and the championship title are another highlight of my racing career.” Jeroen Bleekemolen celebrated a perfect start to the LMS on the Nürburgring – after he had won the 24 Hours of Le Mans in June with Verstappen and team owner Peter van Merksteijn. In the previous Le Mans Series races, Verstappen had shared the cockpit of the 476 hp sports prototype with van Merksteijn.
A touch of disappointment tempered the elation of claiming the third podium result of the season for the Essex driver and team manager John Nielsen. Taking up the race from second on the gird, the team snatched the LMP2 lead after almost an hour and had their sights set on a second win of the season. But a detour off the track by Casper Elgaard threw the pair back to ninth place. “It was my fault,” said a contrite Elgaard. “I pushed really hard to put pressure on Jos. Just before the chicane I had a misunderstanding with an opponent which led to my trip into the gravel. It’s even more annoying because our car was unbelievably good today.” From ninth place, Nielsen and Elgaard put in a spirited chase to finish third. “Congratulations to Jos. He has earned the title. He didn’t make one mistake in the whole season,” said a respectful John Nielsen, overall winner at Le Mans in 1990. “We would have loved to have left the championship open and taken it home to Denmark. Still, we are delighted with our third place. With our lap times we were closer to the Van Merksteijn Porsche than ever before.”
Hope and disappointment also lay side by side in the camp of the Swiss Horag team. In the final third of the six hour race. Jan Lammers had fought his way through to rank second and was on his way to securing the third podium result of the season. In the middle of the final attack, a technical problem with the brake fluid reservoir forced the Dutchman into the pits. Lammers and his team mates Didier Theys (Belgium) and Fredy Lienhard (Switzerland) finished the race in twelfth.
German Porsche works driver Marc Lieb also gave a mixed summary of his race where he claimed second at the wheel of the 911 GT3 RSR in the near-standard GT2 class with his team mate Alex Davison (Australia). “Our car ran very well today, the new four-litre, six-cylinder engine at the rear drove excellently and our team worked brilliantly. The fact that we didn’t have a chance at victory was due to the tyres. On such a twisty circuit like the Nürburgring, they didn’t work optimally.” For Lieb and Davison (Felbermayr-Proton) this marked the third time they had finished second this season. The Austrian works driver Richard Lietz and his French team mate Raymond Narac (IMSA Performance Matmut) were pleased with their third place, the second for the team this year. “The race was incredibly exhausting – and the traffic was sometimes horrific. But we came through and got the most out of it,” said Lietz.
Statistics: Fourth of five races in the 2008 Le Mans Series on the Nürburgring
LMP2 result
1. Verstappen/Bleekemolen (NL/NL), Porsche RS Spyder, 188 laps
2. Lahaye/Ragues (F/F), Pescarolo – Judd, 184
3. Elgaard/Nielsen (DK/DK), Porsche RS Spyder, 184
4. Manning/Foster (GB/GB), WF01 – Zytek, 183
5. Amaral/Pla (P/F), Lola B05/40 – AER, 182
6. Newton/Erdos (GB/BR), MG Lola EX 265 – MG, 181
7. Hughes/Kane (GB/GB), WF01 – Zytek, 180
8. Barazi/Vergers/Rees (D/NL/BRA), Zytek 07S – Zytek, 180
9. Belicchi/Zacchia/Pompidou (I/CH/F), Lola B08/80 Coupé – Judd, 179
10. Ojjeh/Gosselin (KSA/F), Zytek 07S – Zytek, 179
GT2 result
1. Bruni/Bell (I/GB), Ferrari F430 GT, 169 laps
2. Davison/Lieb (AUS/D), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 167
3. Narac/Lietz (F/A), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 167
4. Aucott/Daoudi (GB/F), Ferrari F430 GT, 166
5. Vasiliev/Dumbreck/Kelleners (RUS/SCO/D), Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R, 165
6. Belloc/Lecourt/Balandras (F/F/F), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 164
7. Basso/Kutemann/Scheier (CH/NL/F), Ferrari F430 GT, 163
8. Daniels/Pattala/Sugden (GB/FIN/GB), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 162
9. Ried/Felbermayr Jr./Felbermayr Sen., (D/A/A), Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 157
10. Ehret/Kaffer/Beltoise (D/D/F), Ferrari F430 GT, 156
Points Drivers LMP 2
1. Jos Verstappen, Porsche, 38
2. Casper Elgaard, Porsche, 28
John Nielsen, Porsche, 28
Peter van Merksteijn, Porsche, 28
5. Matthieu Lahaye, Pescarolo, 21
Pierre Ragues, Pescarolo, 21
7. Didier Theys, Porsche, 17
Jan Lammers, Porsche, 17
9. Mike Newton, Lola, 16
Tommy Erdos, Lola, 16
10. Fredy Lienhard, Porsche, 9
Points Drivers GT2
1. Gianmaria Bruni, Ferrari, 30
Robert Bell, Ferrari, 30
3. Alex Davison, Porsche, 27
Marc Lieb, Porsche, 27
5. Ben Aucott, Ferrari, 18
6. Raymond Narac, Porsche, 15
Richard Lietz, Porsche, 15
8. Pierre Ehret, Ferrari, 13
Pierre Kaffer, Ferrari, 13
10. Stéphane Daoudi, Ferrari, 11
The fifth and final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series takes place on 14 September on the Grand Prix circuit in Silverstone (Great Britain).
