Franck Mailleux and the Signatech-Nissan team will line up in 13^th place overall on the grid for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo, and sixth in LMP2, following a busy qualifying session at the Interlagos circuit in Brazil this afternoon. 

Franck, who is racing at the Interlagos circuit for the first time, was on qualifying duties for the #23 crew today, and completed a solid run in dry conditions to take sixth and to prepare the team for what promises to be an eventful six hour race on Saturday afternoon.

The Nissan powered car has enjoyed a trouble-free weekend from a technical point of view having completed 134 laps in the three free practice sessions. The drivers have all adapted quickly to the circuit layout and its anticlockwise nature with Franck setting the pace in LMP2 in Thursday’s second practice session.

Track temperatures were vastly different this afternoon compared to free practice in the morning with an increase of some eight degrees Celsius when the sun came out. This affected the handling of the car and made for tricky conditions but Franck coped well to get the team into a podium-challenging position for Saturday afternoon.

Franck has worked hard in the build-up to this race event in order to prepare himself for the physical and technical demands of the Interlagos track. Through a combination of fitness regime and time in the Ellip6 simulator, Franck has been able to get up to speed quickly in Brazil, as the team looks to put the bad luck of the first half of the season behind it.

Franck Mailleux said: “If I am completely honest, I am a bit disappointed with that result because I know we could have challenged for a top three position. I couldn’t quite put a clean lap together and I was surprised by the change in the track and air conditions this afternoon, with the track much hotter than it was earlier in the day. This resulted in some oversteer and made it a bit harder to repeat the performance we had in practice on Thursday. At least we are now ready for any conditions tomorrow and we look forward to fighting for a strong points-scoring position. From sixth in class and 13^th overall on the grid, we just need a good start and hopefully we can carry on with the reliable and competitive performance that our Nissan-powered Oreca 03 has shown in practice. This is a special track and it’s been fun to drive but we have six hours of racing tomorrow in which we can become fully acquainted with Interlagos. I’m confident we can have a good race."