What the drivers said after free practice

Filipe Albuquerque, No.38 JOTA Sport Gibson 015S, LMP2: "This morning, I didn’t do much running as the weather was really awful with all the wind and rain. This afternoon, it was better and we had a dry track. However, if it rains tomorrow, what we did this afternoon will have been in vain. We shall see the conditions are tomorrow."

Oliver Pla, No.40 Krohn Racing Ligier JS P2, LMP2: "This morning the car was just fantastic in the wet. We shouldn’t hide the fact that, with Michelin tyres, we have an advantage here.  In contrast, this afternoon, we have to try and understand what happened because I couldn’t stop locking up the front left wheel, no matter which corner I was in.  Perhaps it was an anti-roll bar, we are still checking this. I had a lot of understeer and lost a lot of time each lap. I was surprised to do a lap time of 1:33.6 in these conditions because I was expecting much better. There is something wrong on the car, we just have to find it!  We will see tomorrow how the conditions are."

Nicolas Lapierre, No.46 Thiriet by TDS Racing ORECA 05, LMP2: "It wasn’t bad today. We came across every condition: heavy rain, drying track and dry at the end. We did a lot of laps with slicks to try to see how many laps they’d do, as the degradation will be a key factor here in Estoril. This circuit is very abrasive in the dry as well as on a damp track.  In addition, the amount of tyres available is restricted in the European Le Mans Series. In any case, a positive day before tomorrow which I think will be difficult with the wind and rain.  We have to not make any mistakes and keep going. Without circumstances in our favour, it will be difficult to win the championship.  We have to take opportunities and we should have a good strategy but, that aside, there’s no worry because Thiriet by TDS Racing has already proven itself.”

Kirill Ladygin, No.21 AF Racing BR 01, LMP2: "The conditions were not good today. This morning it was raining a lot, but this afternoon the track was not dry either, with some parts still damp. We finished in the top 3 this afternoon, it is a good result. I think we could have done a little better but there was a lot of traffic on track."

Richard Lietz, No.88 Proton Competition Porsche 911 RSR, LMGTE: "It's always a pleasure to run here in Estoril, this circuit is amazing. This morning, it was not easy in these rainy conditions and, in addition, we must save tyres. We took the opportunity to test the Dunlop wets for the first time. All the drivers ran to get a feeling of what it was like under our belts, and we were glad to do it. This afternoon, the track was dry and we again tested the tires because we don’t know much about the Dunlops here at Estoril. Now we have a lot of information and know what to do tomorrow..."

Dino Lunardi, No.59 TDS Racing BMW Z4, GTC: "It went well overall. We learnt about the car in conditions which were almost apocalyptic; it’s well balanced, competitive and easy to drive. The only downside: one of our drivers, Eric Dermont, wasn’t able to run in this morning’s session because it was cut short. But we remain confident, especially with lots of rain forecast on Sunday. The track is not easy – even this afternoon in the dry, there was little grip and the morning’s dampness popped up again in certain places as hidden patches on both the left and right of the track.  The LMPs were quite aggressive, which suggests it will be quite a competitive race.
We are 13 points ahead which is good. Now it’s up to us to intelligently manage the conditions, do our normal sort of race, without taking risks. Our pace is good and, if there’s a choice, I’d prefer rain tomorrow."

David Bristol / ELMS