Signatech-Nissan driver Franck Mailleux has been left dejected following the enforced retirement of car #23 from today’s 6 Hours of Sao Paulo after a wheel came loose following a scheduled pit stop. 

With just under half of the race completed with competitive stints completed by both Franck and Olivier Lombard which put the #23 car into podium contention, Jordan Tresson took to the cockpit of the Nissan-powered Oreca 03 car. Unfortunately, as Jordan was on his out-lap, the rear-left wheel came loose at turn 10 and the driver was unable to complete the lap during the uphill section of the Interlagos track. The cause was a problem with one of the wheel nuts which will be now investigated by the team.

It was another disappointment for the team who had looked confident and competitive in race trim. Having qualified in sixth place in the LMP2 class, Franck enjoyed a fantastic start to vault up into the top three in class and into the top ten overall. He briefly leapt up to second in LMP2 but suffered from poor grip levels and oversteer due to tyre degradation which meant he could not maintain position against his closest rivals. The team made the decision to anticipate the planned tyre and driver swap, so Franck handed over to Olivier Lombard after one hour.

Lombard had a positive double stint to help the team cement its charge for the podium with third in class as he handed over to Jordan Tresson before the wheel nut problem forced the team’s unfortunate retirement. The team will now find strength to draw from the undoubted positive performance from this event in preparation for Bahrain in two weeks’ time.

Franck Mailleux said: “I am really very disappointed and sad that we have had to retire from this race. We definitely had the pace for a podium challenge today and it is frustrating that we have not been able to achieve that today. I had a great start from sixth in class and was able to get as high as second in the opening laps. Unfortunately, I experienced low grip levels due to tyre degradation which made it hard to keep up the pace and I lost time and positions as a result. The team made the correct decision to pit in earlier than scheduled for the tyre and driver swap so we could get back into podium contention. Olivier had a good double stint but then in the process of handing over to Jordan, we experienced this issue with the wheel nut that caused the wheel to come loose. There is nothing a driver can do in that situation, particularly during an uphill part of the circuit, so we were forced to stop. This sort of incident can happen in racing but the team will now investigate the incident to see precisely what occurred. We have to just carry on pushing and I am pleased we can now focus on Bahrain in two weeks’ time. I would like to thank the team, Nissan and my personal partners Sojasun for their support this week. Here’s to the next race.”