Le Mans (France), 14 June 2018. The intense work bringing Cetilar Villorba Corse closer to the start of the 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours continues. In the first night qualifying sessions of Wednesday 13 June the first positive results came for the Italian crew formed by Pisa-born Roberto Lacorte, the driver from Treviso Giorgio Sernagiotto and the Brazilian former F. 1 driver Felipe Nasr on the Dallara P217 in LMP2 class. The prototype driven by the Gibson engine completed 28 laps of the 13.6 km track which will be the scene of the most famous 24-hour race from 15:00 on Saturday to the same time on Sunday, June 17. An excellent time achieved by Nasr in 3’27″993 at an average 235.8 Km/h. A time set by the F.1 driver on lap 2 of his 2nd stint after fitting a set of new tyres. Lacorte and Sernagiotto focused more on the race pace. Halfway through Giorgio Sernagiotto’s stint, a puncture forced the venetian driver into an extra pit stop, where the team replaced the wheel and returned into pristine order the LMP2 prototype in record time.
– “I drove the car in qualifying configuration with tyres that were already at the end of their performance – explained Lacorte – a difficult condition, but that’s ok because I had to do the mandatory qualifying. All in all the result is satisfying and we are concentrating for the race” –
– “I did some laps with used tyres, working with a view to the race – commented Sernagiotto – we still have something to improve especially on the fast, where the car is difficult to drive. When I felt the puncture I worried for the damage, fortunately it was nothing serious”-.
– “The first qualifying went very well, we used two sets of new tyres – said Nasr – we did a “clean” lap where we did well with a few cars on the track, we are first among the Dallaras, which means that the team’s work is effective “-.
– “We worked on two sides in the first qualifying, the race and then the lap times – explains Team Principal Raimondo Amadio – Nasr did a great lap and set a good 8th time in LMP2, ours is the first Dallara in qualifying: Lacorte and Sernagiotto completed some stints working on the race pace where they showed constance and consistency, improving the driveability of the car without necessarily searching for performance. We have tried some small changes but above all have got accustomed to night driving and the darkness”-.
The 2018 Le Mans 24 Hours programme
Friday 15 june: Crews and cars presentation ceremony at Le Mans
Saturday 16 june: 9:00 – warm-up – 45 minutes
Saturday 16 june: 15:00 – Race start – 24 hours
Sunday 17 june: 15:00 – Finish
