Franck Mailleux will be hoping for a trouble-free race in tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Bahrain as the Signatech-Nissan #23 crew aims for a strong race finish at the Bahrain International Circuit. 

It has been a low-key but productive event for the team so far as they have focussed on race set-up and handling of the Nissan-powered, Dunlop-shod Oreca 03 in the free practice sessions around the 6.299km Bahrain track.

Franck has been able to complete decent mileage in the car throughout the practice sessions and the team has demonstrated good race pace in all rounds of the WEC so far, so the team will be optimistic of making headway in race trim.

During Thursday practice, the team concentrated on its pace on a single set of tyres and were among the LMP2 pacesetters. The circuit’s abrasive surface has resulted in high levels of tyre degradation in practice while the track configuration is also very demanding on the brakes, two areas which will be key in tomorrow’ race.

Jordan Tresson was on qualifying duty for the team this afternoon and his best lap of 1m53.793s was good enough for a top 15 starting position overall and ninth in LMP2. A final warm-up session in the morning will allow the team to finalise its preparations for the debut endurance race in Bahrain.

Franck Mailleux said: “It’s been a busy event for us so far as we have worked hard on setting up the #23 Signatech-Nissan for this challenging Bahrain circuit. It is our first time here so we have had a lot to work on. It has become quickly apparent that the track is hard on tyres and brakes so we will have to take care in these areas. Our learning curve will continue into tomorrow’s race as we look to make up positions from ninth in class but I am still optimistic that we will have a decent race pace. Our main objective is to have a trouble-free race and to get a solid finish as high up in LMP2 as possible, fighting towards the podium. We’ll definitely give it our all and I hope our focus on race pace pays dividends.”