Franck Mailleux and the Morand Racing team have spent Saturday evening recovering ground after losing out in the opening hours of this weekend’s 90th anniversary of the Le Mans 24 Hours.

 

Franck returned to the cockpit of the Morand Racing Morgan Judd LMP2, equipped with Dunlop tyres, at the six hour mark and embarked on a successful triple stint to extend the improvements made by the team throughout the evening. 

 

Franck demonstrated competitive pace in his triple stint and handed over to Natacha Gachnang as the night-time conditions descended on the 13.6km La Sarthe circuit. With two thirds of the 24 hours still left to race, there is all to play for as Franck and the team look to catch the LMP2 cars ahead of them on the classification. As of 00:30, the team was 15th overall and eighth in LMP2.

 

Franck said: “After a tough start, we have settled into a nice rhythm now with all three drivers, myself, Natacha and Olivier all enjoying positive triple stints. We have had a couple of safety car periods so far, most recently at the turn of midnight, but I am pleased with the pace of our car in these difficult conditions and we are doing all we can to recover the places lost early on. The night-time period is always the toughest but the team is working well and we will continue to push hard.”