Franck was aiming for a top three result in the qualifying session after some solid performances from the team in free practice, but a red flag in the closing minutes meant that Franck was unable to improve upon his time any further. He had carried out a banker lap for his first run, setting the fourth best time and equalling his performance in morning practice, but the red flag meant he was unable to complete his quickest lap and improve on his position.

The French driver and the Signatech-Nissan team will take comfort from a trouble-free build up to the Sebring weekend with two solid and competitive days of pre-event testing on Monday and Tuesday.

The three practice sessions on Thursday, including the all-important night practice, saw the team firmly on the podium pace in LMP2 with their Dunlop-shod Oreca 03 chassis. Franck joined his new team-mates for 2012, Jordan Tresson and Olivier Lombard in the sessions as they prepared their Nissan-powered Oreca 03 chassis for this weekend’s tough 12 hour challenge.

The team, who took LMP2 championship honours last season in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, is aiming to maintain their podium scoring performances into 2012 against stiff competition in the new look World Endurance Championship, and with added competition from the participating American Le Mans Series teams.

Franck will start tomorrow’s 12 hour race with the top three as his goal but looking to maximise the performance and reliability of the Signatech-Nissan car to score the best possible result at the conclusion of the 12 hour race.

Franck commented: “It is disappointing not to have been able to register a top three grid position after today’s qualifying session, but it is going to be a long race and the starting position is definitely not the most important element. We were going well and I set a fourth place on my first lap with plenty left to give for my proper qualifying effort. Unfortunately, the late red flag meant that we were unable to complete that run so we start instead from fourth in LMP2. As always, we will need to get a clean start but then look to make the most of the competitive and reliable performance of the Signatech-Nissan Oreca 03 and Dunlop tyres over the twelve hours. I am hopeful and confident we can challenge for a class podium in this opening round of the new World Endurance Championship after the performances we have shown in practice. I really enjoy this race and I will use the experience from last season to convert our pace into an LMP2 podium result by tomorrow night. The team continue to do an excellent job and it is a pleasure to be driving alongside my new team-mates. The support of Nissan, too, is much appreciated and a big help to our efforts this weekend. ”

The 60^th running of the 12 Hours of Sebring will begin at 10.30 am local time on Saturday morning.