Drivers quotes after the qualifications

Nicolas Lapierre, Oreca 05 Nissan n°21 DragonSpeed, pole position: “It was a great qualifying for us. We did a good job, the car was great and I manage to do a clean lap. The car is very competitive since this morning under tricky conditions. We posted the pole position but tomorrow is another day. It will be complicated on track with the traffic and we will have to deal with the LMP3 which didn’t have intermediate tyres and there will be big differences between the drivers performance but it’s the same for everybody. The race is going to be hard with a narrow track with not a lot of run off.”

Dimitri Enjalbert, Ligier JS P2 n°28 IDEC Sport Racing, 6^th LMP2 : "The qualifying went well but it could have ended in a better way. We were really good at the start, in second position. The track dried and the tyres were really bad. The other cars caught up and especially Nicolas Lapierre.  It’s our best qualifying and the all team is happy to start from the front.

The track is not easy. The grip is not uniform because there are various covers. We have to fight with the car and I tried different trajectory."

Léo Roussel, Morgan Nissan n°29 Pegasus Racing, 8^th LMP2 : "It could have went better. We were in the rhythm during all the sessions which is good. Unfortunately, the car had some engine troubles but it’s part of motorsport and we have to accept it. We had the car to finish among the first three. It’s disappointing, but we will find what the problem is and we will solve it for the race. We will see how it goes tomorrow. Today the track was tricky and slippery but I have to say that I like those conditions!

Dino Lunardi, Ligier JS P3 n°19 Duqueine Engineering, 3^rd LM P3: “It was an encouraging qualifying session because we are in front. We did a good job in the rain for the set-up. Having our two cars on the 2^nd row is a really good thing. There are real strong technical skills in the team and a great fighting spirit. We will now try to consolidate this result. We want to end this season on a positive note and be on the podium.”

Mathieu Lahaye, Ligier JS P3 n°17 Ultimate, 12^e LM P3 : "It wasn’t a good session for us at least not what we hoped. We did a good start but we might have done some mistakes concerning the pressure of the tyres. With a drying track, it was hard to attack and we don’t have a lot of experience with those conditions. We are still learning, we will start in the middle of the LMP3 grid. We will see tomorrow, the race will be long.”

Alessandro Pier Guidi, Ferrari F458 Italia n°56 AT Racing, 2^nd  GTE : “The track conditions were really hard. We put new tyres on at the beginning of the session and the car was good. During my second lap, I didn’t manage to improve so I tried to change my tyres because the track wasn’t really wet. I went out with a new set of tyres but this time it was too dry and I didn’t improve. And it’s always to fight against the Porsche with those conditions. So I’m quite happy with this second time.”

Marco Cioci Ferrari F458 Italia n°51 AF Corse, 3e des GTE :  "It was a complicated session because Estoril, on a wet track is never easy. I’m more or less happy because we had a good rhythm for the race I think. But in the qualifying I lost a few tenth and I could have improve. I look forward to the race; we will have to be constant and to stay out of trouble."

Darren Turner, Aston Martin n°99 Aston Martin Racing, 8^e GTE: “It was hard. This morning we had a good rhythm on a wet track during the free practice 2. But since then, it started to dry and we had to put on intermediate tyres. During the qualifications, we didn’t have any grip left at the back of the car. We are looking for some solutions. We are really disappointed but we will find where it comes from and we will find a solution.”