The 4th race of the 2017 World Endurance Championship took place on the Formula One Nürburgring circuit this weekend. The TDS Racing team made it to Germany with a fully rebuild ORECA07 and the objectives of French driver line-up made of Emmanuel Collard, François Perrodo and Matthieu Vaxivière, were clearly to use the past race experiences and continue progressing. Handicapped by an engine lacking performance, they still finish 8th in the LMP2 class.
Emmanuel and Matthieu did great runs during free practice sessions on Friday, while François was a bit unlucky as he was slowed down in each of his runs by red or yellow flags deployed around the track. He was able to do much better on Saturday in the 3rd free practice session and got himself quickly settled in the new car.
The qualifying duty was given to Matthieu and François, who managed to place #28 ORECA07 on the 8th LMP2 position and Manu Collard started the race on Sunday from 6th row. After 49 laps, he handed the wheel to the youngest and fastest driver of the team Matthieu Vaxivière, who was – like his co-drivers – penalised by the lack of engine power. François Perrodo took then his turn for his 45-laps double stint, where he clearly showed his growing improvement at the wheel of the prototype car, containing even some more experimented drivers behind him during several laps. Matthieu took the car to the chequered flag, 8th LMP2 of the WEC Hours of Nürburgring.
Xavier Combet Team Manager : “The main point we have to look at at the end of this race, is again the wonderful improvements that François has done at the wheel of his ORECA07. He improved greatly his LMP2 driving skills. Run after run, he was getting faster and this is very good news for the future races. Speaking of Manu, he took advantage of his great racing experience to prove that he can perfectly deal with the fuel consumption, which gave us the opportunity to do two of our stops later than our competitors and allowed us to keep our position in the field. This is definitely one of the details that makes a great driver and we are very happy to be able to rely on his knowledge and experience. Matthieu is clearly a very fast driver, but he was unfortunately limited in his search for quick laps, by a significant lack of power of our engine. We had asked for an engine change after free practice, but the motorist preferred to work on a technical adjustment, which sadly did not change the problem we had. We will work to come to Mexico with a good engine.
We now start the second part of the championship which has a very special flavour for us, and that’s exactly what a World Championship is all about. See you in Mexico in just over one month.”
Emmanuel Collard : “During a WEC weekend, we don’t have a lot of time in the car before the race, but we still made it to have enough runs, to prepare for the race. The car’s balance was really good, but we encountered a lack of performance, which made us lose about 5 km per hours in high speeds, and that’s a lot in a 6-hour race. I made a good start from 6th row on the grid (12th general classification, 8th LMP2) and reached a 6th place in a good race rhythm. I even came up to 25 seconds from the leaders at the end of my stint. Matthieu and François did the rest of the race and in the end we are 8th LMP2. It’s not really the place we were looking for, but if we can change the engine for Mexico, we will most certainly better our performances and be able to race in the first half of the LMP2 grid.”
Matthieu Vaxivière: “Our race weekend was a little complicated, be it during the free practice, the qualifying or the race. We are not very far from the quickest times, but with our engine lack of power in the straights, we really are penalised. So the race felt very long and was hard. Our result does not reflect what our team is able to do. Now we can’t wait for the overseas races, and we will do what it takes to be stronger in Mexico.”
François Perrodo: “It was a little difficult here at the Nürburgring, even if I did make some additional progress throughout the sessions. This circuit is physically hard on drivers and it has a very high rhythm. Also, it’s a track where you have to deal with traffic all the time, and as you know I am still in a prototype driving learning process, even if I know I did improve since Silverstone. We are pretty far in the LMP2 classification and of course it’s a little disappointing, but we also have to admit that the LMP2 competition level is very high now. I continue to progress and to learn a lot with Matthieu and Manu, and also to have a lot of fun with them. We will do all we can to get to Mexico with the necessary human and technical power to prove that my teammates are excellent drivers!”
