#47 Dallara P217 Gibson
Roberto Lacorte (ITA) / Giorgio Sernagiotto (ITA) / Andrea Belicchi (ITA)
Qualifying practice 2: 3’30”014 (18 laps) P12 LMP2 / P17 Overall
Qualifying practice 3: 3’33”412 (20 laps) P21 LMP2 / P27 Overall
Grid position: P18 LMP2 / P24 Overall (fastest time: 3’30”014 by Andrea Belicchi)
Team Principal Raimondo Amadio: “It was a positive Thursday. We improved our times and our pace quite a lot compared to Wednesday. We did not think a lot about grid position, we concentrated our work on the race without using further tyre sets and trying to qualify Sernagiotto without any problems. These days we have been living and experiencing this incredible event together with other 59 cars and this very demanding track only for the first time so we are happy about the job we did and, above all, to have solved Wednesday’s electrical issues and to have found a good setup. Now we all have only to think about giving our 110% in the race, that is going to be so long, dramatic and exhausting. Our main goal is the checkered flag.”.
Sporting Director Christian Pescatori: “It was a very demanding day. Before getting on track the team changed the cable set of the electical components and then we tested the latest settings on the car during the two sessions. Setup is improved and even if we added more downforce on the rear we managed to keep a good maximum speed. We set our fastest lap in the evening session, when Belicchi found also some traffic on track, but it is ok for us. Then in the night session we thought about the race because starting position is not so important for a 24-hour race and with the high temperatures expected this year. We hope that our strategy will help us for this great appointment”.
Giorgio Sernagiotto: “Personally, I was surprised by the fact that I was fastest in Q2 than in Q3, but in the night session the most important thing was to get qualified and I did it, as a rookie here, running the 5 mandatory laps. Track is keeping to change, I have to say that it is always an emotion”.
Andrea Belicchi: “In Le Mans it is crucial to get the right balance on the prototype. We improved and if I had not find traffic during my attempt I would have set a better time. In the configuration with more downforce we have a bit of oversteering when we reach the highest speeds but we knew it. The car is a lot more drivable and data are telling us that we are on the right way. In the 45-minute warm up we will have the chance to refine certain solutions and hopefully to get a further better balance”.
Saturday, June 17 the 85th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, third round of the 2017 World Endurance Championship: at 9:00hrs 45 minutes of warm up session, start of the race at 15:00hrs
Photo by Paola Depalmas
