LMP2 IN BRIEF

ROLLERCOASTER RIDE FOR LEGEND

Rally superstar Sebastien Ogier (above) didn’t make a distinguished start to his Le Mans debut aboard his Richard Mille Racing ORECA run by Signatech. He made a mistake entering the pits at the end of his first stint and briefly put the Alpine-gibson A480, also run by Signatech, off track. The Frenchman was handed a one-minute stop/go penalty, but picked up pace through the event on the way to ninth in class in the car he shared with Charles Milesi and Lilou Wadoux.

LOST WHEEL THWARTS IDEC

The IDEC Sport team ended up down in 12th position and eighth in class, but its ORECA was quick enough to have been in the thick of it but for an early problem. Paul-loup Chatin lost the left-front wheel after two stints on the same set of Goodyears. Two laps were lost, but the car shared by Porsche factory driver Patrick Pilet and Paul Lafargue was only three laps down at the finish. “It was a brand-new wheel and nut, so we really don’t know what happened,” said IDEC sporting director Nicolas Minassian. “It’s a shame because we had the speed.”

PANIS HAMPERED BY JAMIN OFF

Panis Racing, third in P2 at Le Mans last year, was in the fight for second until Nico Jamin went off at Mulsanne Corner on Sunday morning. The car shared by Job van Uitert and Julien Canal finished 12th in LMP2.

YE STARS DESPITE TYRE ISSUE

Cool Racing took seventh after being hit by the tyre delamination problem that affected a number of cars in LMP2. Yifei Ye, who set sixth fastest race lap, was hit by the problem on one occasion, Ricky Taylor once and Niklas Krutten twice.

PROBLEMS GALORE FOR BOURDAIS

Vector Sport endured an eventful Le Mans debut. The Silverstone-based squad’s ORECA shared by Sebastien Bourdais, Nico Muller and Ryan Cullen had to start from the back after an engine problem prevented it from setting a time in qualifying. Muller went off at Indianapolis in the morning warm-up with a minor braking issue, while Cullen put the ORECA in the gravel at the same place in the race, necessitating a change of a front-right wishbone, which subsequently had to be replaced a second time. A cracked exhaust was repaired in the closing minutes on the way to 22nd in class.