 [16-08-2010]
FRANCK MAILLEUX READY FOR FIRST LMS TRIP TO HUNGARY
[Full Article]
 [02-08-2010]
PIERRE STORMS TO KARTING VICTORY IN LYON!
[Full Article]
 [26-07-2010]
QUICK Q&A WITH PIERRE RAGUES
[Full Article]
 [26-07-2010]
QUICK Q&A WITH FRANCK MAILLEUX
[Full Article]
 [18-07-2010]
PIERRE RAGUES CELEBRATES MAIDEN SIGNATURE PODIUM IN PORTUGAL
[Full Article]
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[18-07-2010]
PIERRE RAGUES CELEBRATES MAIDEN SIGNATURE PODIUM IN PORTUGAL
 Pierre Ragues and Signature Plus have today achieved their best ever result in the Le Mans Series taking an excellent third place around the Algarve Motor Park in Portugal .
Following the disappointment of the 24 Hours of Le Mans last month which saw the team forced to retire in the 19th hour, this weekend's podium is a jubilant return to form for Signature, who are participating in this season's Le Mans Series as official partners of Aston Martin Racing.
The team has enjoyed an extremely competitive weekend in Portugal, in spite of a number of dramas since Friday's opening practice sessions. In the first practice of the weekend, the team could only amass a couple of laps after suffering from electronics gremlins. All three Signature drivers, including Pierre, were able to become better acquainted with their Lola Aston Martin chassis and Dunlop tyres in the second session, setting the third fastest time overall. The final practice, which took place late in the evening to replicate the night-time aspects of the Portugal event, saw important work on aero configuration and tyres in preparation for the race itself. The competitiveness of the chassis and tyres enabled the team to lead the way for the majority of the session, lapping an impressive 45 times.
With Pierre scheduled to start the race, Saturday's qualifying session was left to Pierre's team-mate Franck Mailleux who demonstrated the performance potential of the Signature package. The car was placed in a strong third place, just 0.292s from the Peugeot pole and a mere 0.04s from the second placed car, which was ultimately demoted for a technical infringement. The decision meant that Pierre would start the race from an LMP1 career best starting position and the team's first ever front row in the Le Mans Series.
Pierre enjoyed a strong start to the race with a competitive triple stint but he was penalised with a 30 second stop/go penalty on lap 40 for exceeding the pit lane speed limit on his first stop. Having dropped out of the top positions, the team had to make a longer than scheduled pit stop on lap 61 to change the steering wheel. These problems were further compounded by the fact that the radio link between car and team was not working for a large percentage of the race. Nonetheless, the team kept their composure to regain the lost positions and to take the final podium position by the chequered flag. The team also set the second quickest lap of the race, 1m32.794s, only 0.4s from the race winners' best lap.
An ecstatic Pierre Ragues said after the race: "I could not be happier right now! We came to Portugal with the aim of overturning the disappointment from Le Mans and we managed to do that in style with our first ever podium as a team. It was a good start to the race from second on the grid and I was able to get into a good rhythm, but unfortunately we were hit first with the stop/go and then with the steering wheel change which dropped us down the field a bit. We came back fighting though and battled hard and competitively right to the end. The team performed supremely and the technical support from Aston Martin and Dunlop was outstanding. Our package was first class and we have a podium to show for our efforts. Hopefully this is the breakthrough that we have been working so hard to achieve, something that will give us rewards in the final races of the season. Thanks to Group Auto Union, my personal sponsor, for their support, and congratulations once again to the team for this result. It's been a weekend to remember."
More information on Pierre Ragues can be found at the Quadra Sports website www.quadrasports.com and www.pierreragues.com
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