Pierre Ragues has completed his first official World Endurance Championship test session of 2015 today as 10,000 fans flocked to Circuit Paul Ricard in the south of France for the traditional Prologue.

 

Pierre joined his new TEAM SARD MORAND team-mates Oliver Webb and Tristan Vautier at the test, with the trio sharing the cockpit of the number 43 Morgan Evo SARD. The car itself was unveiled in a special team presentation on Thursday, revealing Kairos Technologies as title partner, before the Prologue got started on Friday.

 

Run over five sessions and two days, the Prologue is the first opportunity for all WEC competitors to share the track as teams prepare for the opening round of the Championship – the 6 Hours of Silverstone – which takes place next month.

 

The newly formed TEAM SARD MORAND squad put their Dunlop shod car through its paces over the two days, totalling 103 laps, and regularly among the front runners of the competitive LMP2 class. 

 

Despite blue skies and sunshine, strong gusts on Friday made testing conditions difficult but the wind was less intrusive in today’s two sessions. TEAM SARD MORAND focused on its own intensive programme, including aerodynamic evaluation and car settings, allowing the drivers to build a strong working rapport with the team just two weeks before the opening round of the 2015 season.    

 

Pierre was also able to acclimatise to his new car ahead of a full WEC campaign, which will see him compete in an impressive ninth Le Mans 24 Hours. He was able to simulate a qualifying run this afternoon, and although his best lap was disrupted by traffic, he was still able to be on a competitive pace. The team ended the day second in LMP2.

 

Pierre commented: “We have had a great few days at the Prologue and I think we are in a strong position heading to the first race. We started with a team presentation on Thursday, which included revealing Kairos Technologies as title sponsor. We were then quickly down to business on Friday for the first session. Alongside Tristan and Oliver, I got up to speed in the Morgan Evo SARD despite the very windy conditions that we faced. We have enjoyed dry and sunny conditions on both days and the wind, thankfully, was a bit less today, which allowed us to work on aero and car settings in better conditions. We have been regularly in the top three in LMP2 and we even got some qualifying simulation runs this afternoon. Most importantly though, we have worked well as a team, so I am now looking forward to Silverstone where I hope we can compete near the front of LMP2. I would like to thank my partners Group Auto and Sparco for their support as we start an exciting new chapter in WEC together.”