Signatech-Alpine driver Pierre Ragues has completed a steady day of activity at the La Sarthe circuit today as inclement weather conditions and a number of red flag periods have reduced the possibility to gather valuable track time on the opening day of practice.

 

Pierre, who is taking part in his seventh Le Mans, has had a positive build up to this year’s 90th anniversary event, having shown excellent pace in the official test day and having worked with simulation experts Ellip6 to prepare for the event. Pierre has worked closely with Ellip6 in the past to derive benefit from their state-of-the-art simulation technology to get to grips with circuits and this year’s Le Mans is no exception.

 

Pierre also has the honour of representing the prestigious Alpine brand at Le Mans, the first time that the Alpine name has been at Le Mans for 35 years. In fact, the Signatech-Alpine team and the striking livery of the A450 LMP2 car has generated a lot of buzz with the motorsport fans at La Sarthe so far this week.

 

With changeable track conditions in the first session, the team opted to carry out only five timed laps to carry out a brief assessment of the car and to conserve their efforts for the late evening session. 

 

Nelson Panciatici started in the night time session handing over to Tristan Gommendy. The duo completed 16 laps between them as Pierre was due to take over but unfortunately the session was red flagged just as he was heading out and was not restarted. Pierre will therefore be looking forward to getting back into the cockpit in tomorrow’s two sessions, with the team keen to set a qualifying lap reflective of the pace of the Michelin-equipped Signatech-Alpine A450.   

 

Pierre Ragues commented: “It was great to be out on track in the first session today, in front of the passionate Le Mans crowd and in spite of the difficult conditions. The opening practice was cut short by a red flag and we were not able to get any decent running due to the frequently changing weather. However, Nelson and Tristan got some good laps in this evening and we carried out some system checks and set-up evaluation, which will help us for tomorrow. Still, there is more to come as I have to get my required running in tomorrow night and the team will be looking for a good qualifying performance. I have no doubt that we will be able to achieve that and to start to show the sort of quick pace we demonstrated in the pre-event test. I’ve been fortunate to have worked in the Ellip6 simulator before this event and I am sure my years of experience at this track will help a lot. It’s a long, long week and we are only at the beginning, so we will keep focussed on the job in hand. We are a strong team and will be looking to uphold the Signatech-Alpine name.”