Pierre Ragues concluded a positive day of running at yesterday’s Official Le Mans Test at the legendary La Sarthe track in preparation for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans race, due to take place in mid-June.

Pierre already demonstrated the potential that the OAK Racing team has in the highly competitive LMP1 class this season with an encouraging display at last month’s 12 Hours of Sebring. Sunday’s one-day test session has, however, given the team a useful opportunity to evaluate the Dunlop-shod OAK-Pescarolo against their direct competition a full six weeks before the main Le Mans event.

OAK Racing, whose factory is situated in the Le Mans Technoparc, treat La Sarthe very much like a home track, but it was the first time that the team has hit the track with their 2011 driver line-up of Pierre, Matthieu Lahaye and Guillaume Moreau.

The work plan for the test focussed on every aspect of the car set-up with a particular emphasis on aerodynamic and tyre testing. All three drivers took to the track with only two disruptive issues during the day. After the compulsory lunchtime break, the team experienced a problem with the floor of the car, which kept them sidelined in the garage for around an hour. Then, a front left puncture in the closing hour reduced Pierre’s running, although he did return to the track for the final 15 minutes to ensure one of the OAK Racing cars was present at the end of the long and busy day.

In spite of the small issues, the team was pleased with significant work carried out on aero and the good high speed on the car. The team ended the morning session in 11th place overall having completed 39 laps and also finished the afternoon session in 11th position with a further 29 laps on the board. The best time of the day for car 15 was set in the afternoon with a 3m39.113s.

Pierre said at the end of the day: “It was a great pleasure to be driving behind the wheel of the OAK Pescarolo around La Sarthe. I have participated in the Le Mans 24 Hours race four times previously and twice in LMP1 and you can never underestimate what a special feeling you get from a lap around the track. Our focus was on understanding how the car and tyres behave around the track and to establish an action plan in the run-up to the event in June. We also looked at some areas of the car in preparation for the next ILMC race in Spa next week. I am quite pleased with the base that we have. We showed in Sebring that we have pace in the car but it’s always a question of reliability at Le Mans. Our next big test will actually be the race at Spa, which will give us a further idea of where our strengths and weaknesses lie over the course of a race, and then our attention will be only on Le Mans. Thanks to the team for their continued efforts and to my personal sponsors Group Auto Union.”


For more information about Pierre Ragues, visit www.pierreragues.com or www.quadrasports.com