24 Hours of Le Mans: Thiriet by TDS Racing, so close to its goal!

A RACE AMONG THE FRONT RUNNERS

The start is given under safety car procedure because the track was too wet. On a drying track, the team decided to call Matthias back to the pit to change tires. The speed and the good strategy of the team allowed the #46 Oreca 05 to be 2^nd. For many race hours, the car did not leave this position. Mathias Beche, Pierre Thiriet and Ryo Hirakawa enchained the stints at an infernal rate and the three of them were really fast. The members of Thiriet By TDS Racing team clearly showed their ambitions. Nothing seemed to stop them ! 

Suddenly, at 1 am, the Oreca 05 Nissan had an issue. In his stint, Mathias lost the power steering. As Jacques Morello did not want to take any risk, he called the driver back to the pit. The mechanics were so quick that two minutes were enough to repair it. The car went back on track, still 2^nd . Alternating the two first places with the future winner, Thiriet by TDS Racing could believe in victory. Unfortunately, at 7.35 am, Pierre went out of the track at Mulsanne Corner. He hit the tires wall but managed to go back to the pits. After quick fixings and a change of the front hood and suspension, Matthias quickly noticed the steering was damaged. The car had to withdraw. 

The 24 Hours of Le Mans are a tough race. The three drivers were remarkable: Mathias was very quick and knew once again how to lead the team in the right direction, Ryo did an amazing job and Pierre set the fastest laptime of the car. As far as the team is concerned, the members were as usual very efficient. 

Now, the team is going to focus on the next European Le Mans Series round, at Red Bull Ring, in Austria (July 17^th ). 

Pierre Thiriet : «It was a super race for my teammates and the whole team. We usually race to win. We managed the race well. As far as I'm concerned, I don't know what happened. I lost the car at the end of my third stint braking at high speed. As soon as I lost it, I knew it was irreversible. I tried to limit the damage and managed to restart. Unfortunately, the damage was too extensive to go again and we decided to withdraw. I want to thank the entire Thiriet by TDS Racing team because this race requires a great deal. Everyone did great work, the team raises the bar every year. They are one of the top teams. We are going to go after the title in the ELMS for them!»

Mathias Beche : «The sessions Wednesday and Thursday were very difficult. We changed our set-up for the warm-up on Saturday morning with Jacques. The car was one of the strongest of the race. We had a good start and a fantastic strategy. We climbed two spots and all the drivers did great stints. We were comfortably in the lead when we experienced a power steering problem which cost us a minute. Meanwhile we were still contenders for victory. It's nice to return to LM P2 since there is a great battle in this class. As for Pierre, sometimes things happen when you play to win and push as much as you can to score the victory. I want to thank the entire Thiriet by TDS Racing team for its work.»