Pierre Ragues and Team SARD Morand were among the contenders for the podium in today’s 6 Hours of Fuji Speedway but had to settle for fifth place at the chequered flag after a thrilling wet-drying race. 

 

The French endurance star, in his fifth FIA World Endurance Championship race of the 2015 season, once again set an impressive standard over all three days of track action, laying claim to some of the fastest laps in the competitive LMP2 category.

 

From Friday’s practice session, which was held in warm and generally sunny conditions against a sensational Mount Fuji backdrop, allowed Pierre and his team-mates Oliver Webb and Chris Cumming to get familiar with their #43 Morgan Evo Sard and Dunlop tyres. 85 laps were completed over three hours of practice with a late red flag, caused by another car, in the second session the only disruption. 

 

Saturday’s practice was held in similar conditions with the team concentrating on establishing a strong race set-up for the car, and conducting tyre and fuel consumption evaluations. It was a trouble-free lead up to qualifying for the team, which has strong support in Japan through the famous SARD name. 

 

Pierre used his previous knowledge of Fuji Speedway to good effect in qualifying, helping the team to third in LMP2. Pierre and Oliver were evenly matched on their respective flying laps, which delivered an optimum average qualifying time from which the grid was formed. 

 

Sunday started in wet conditions with rain leaving the Fuji track sufficiently wet for a safety car start. Oliver, on starting duties, held station behind the safety car until it came in almost 45 minutes into the first hour. From there, the British driver moved into the LMP2 lead and eighth overall until the pit limiter came on unexpectedly, preventing him from defending his position. The track conditions led the team, like its rivals, to continuously monitor and adapt its race strategy, with Webb staying out until close to the halfway point of the race.

 

Unfortunately, just before his scheduled handover, he went wide when allowing a P1 car past and ended up on the escape road. However, while navigating his way back onto the track, he clipped the Armco barrier and had to be rescued. Returning to the garage, Pierre took over – but the delay saw them lose 8 minutes of time and re-join down in 21st overall and eighth in class. 

 

Pierre pushed hard and used his competitive pace to begin an impressive fight back for the team. He was lapping among the three quickest in LMP2 during his stint, which allowed him to move up the classification. Chris completed the race for the team, benefiting from late drama for two LMP2 competitors, to take fifth at the chequered flag. 

 

The team could have fought for overall victory but in tricky conditions at Fuji, a top five result was still encouraging and Pierre, supported again by GroupAuto and Sparco, showed why he is a trusted pair of hands in WEC with a fine performance.

 

Pierre commented: “Racing in Japan is always a fantastic experience with some of the best fan support in the world. The rain conditions today were certainly challenging but as a team we did really well to capitalise on the speed of our car, confidence driving around Fuji and a strong overall package. We had a trouble-free practice, a strong qualifying – in which we finished 3rd in class – and showed excellent pace in the race – despite the conditions, to be genuine podium contenders. Unfortunately, we lost a lot of time when Oliver had to be rescued from a small error, something that can happen very easily, but we pushed hard to salvage a strong top five result. I am pleased with how we’ve worked as a team, particularly to adapt the race strategy today, and we’ve a lot to be satisfied with. Of course, we could have finished even higher but I’m personally pleased with my own performance level, I felt great in the car and can’t wait to get back into action in China. As always, thanks to my personal supporters GroupAuto and Sparco – and to everyone at Team SARD Morand, including Oliver and Chris, who I worked with very well.”