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[11-09-2011]
PIERRE RAGUES TAKES FANTASTIC FIFTH AT SILVERSTONE AS OAK RACING SHINES
 Pierre Ragues has registered his first race finish of the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup season with a competitive performance in today’s Autosport 6 Hours of Silverstone which saw the French racer take a tremendous fifth place.
Pierre, along with his team-mates Guillaume Moreau and Matthieu Lahaye, eradicated thoughts of their difficult start to the season with a mighty performance in their #15 OAK-Pescarolo that resulted in them being in strong contention for the podium for much of the race. Moreau had qualified the car in a strong sixth position in Saturday’s qualifying session, giving Pierre Ragues an encouraging starting slot for the six hour race.
The team had already shown competitive pace in the free practice sessions with Pierre setting very quick laptimes during his time in the cockpit. Unfortunately, the race got off to a negative start as an extra formation lap resulted in the race starting under safety car conditions. As the race got underway on the second lap, Pierre was the innocent victim of an incident into the first corner which pushed him off the track and lost eight positions.
Pierre made the most of the performance from his car and Dunlop tyres to set a string of competitive laps and a sensational double stint that moved the team into fourth place as Matthieu Lahaye took over driving duties. Lahaye, in his first race for the team since Sebring, continued the positive progress moving the team into a podium position before Guillaume Moreau took over.
The #15 car was still in third place at the two-thirds part of the race, embroiled in a fascinating and ultra-close inter-team battle with the #24 OAK Racing car. With less than two hours to go, Moreau was hit with a 30 second stop-go penalty for speeding in the pitlane that lost him a few positions. Pierre took over the reins for the final 80 minutes of the race and a solid, professional double stint allowed the team to claim fifth place overall, just a lap down from the podium, and most importantly to score their first championship points of the year.
Pierre Ragues: “I am really thrilled with this result. Our aim for this race was to finish the full six hours and to score our first strong result of the year. We were able to do this very comfortably and with a fantastic fifth place, which is a testament to the hard work we as a team have put in over the summer. The OAK-Pescarolo was quick and was clearly able to finish on the podium today. Unfortunately, we were victims of an incident on the opening lap that lost some positions and then we had the stop-go later in the race, which stopped us from being able to chase for third place, but fifth place is still an incredible result for us today. It was fun out there and Silverstone is a truly great racing circuit. We worked well as a team and the result speaks for itself. We can take many positive aspects away from this weekend as we prepare to move forward and improve even more for the final two races of the season. The car is reliable and competitive, the tyres are good and we have shown what we are capable of. The support of my partners at Group Auto Union has also played a key role in my season so I am pleased that they have been able to share a positive result with us this weekend.”
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