Franck Mailleux and the Morand Racing team are battling back up through the field after difficult, drizzly weather conditions caused the Frenchman to spin on the second lap, dropping the Morgan Judd down the LMP2 order. Franck returned to action at 21:00 picking up from where his team-mates Natacha Gachnang and Olivier Lombard left off. 

 

Conditions in the early stages did not necessitate wet weather tyres but the slippery track surface caught Franck out on the opening lap following a good start to the race. He rejoined the race in 21st overall and 12th in LMP2.

 

A serious incident on the second lap, which ended with the terribly sad news of the death of the driver involved, brought out the safety car for much of the first hour. Franck was running ninth in class, and reporting flat spots on his tyres as a result of the spin.

 

At the one hour mark, Franck handed over the reins of the Morgan Judd LMP2 to Natacha Gachnang who resumed the race down in 43rd overall. She made up ground quickly with a solid triple stint that saw her run until after the 3h30 point, when she handed over to Olivier Lombard, who also had a positive triple stint. 

 

The race strategy to triple stint has allowed the team to climb into 19th overall after six hours and in the top ten in LMP2 as they attempt to claw back the lost positions. As the night time conditions set in, the team has lots of work to do but plenty of optimism.

 

Franck commented: “The conditions were not easy, as they haven’t been all week, with rain in places but not others making it hard to build consistency and rhythm. The slippery track caught me out on the second lap and I lost a lot of places when I spun at Tertre Rouge. There was nothing I could do in the conditions, which were extremely difficult to judge. We have fought back since that early setback but it’s going to require us to dig deep and keep focussed. Natacha and Olivier had a good triple stint and we are in the top 20, so we are making progress but there is a long way still to go.”