There can be no satisfaction at Vista AF Corse, with both Ferraris eliminated from the fight for the HYPERPOLE of the 24h of Le Mans.
The best of the 296 LMGT3s was the #54 driven by Davide Rigon, Francesco Castellacci and Thomas Flohr, which in Wednesday’s Qualifying did not go beyond 13th place, with a gap of 1″5 from the top.
Ford and McLaren certainly amazed the session, while the best of the Maranello cars (the #66 of JMW Motorsport) placed seventh with more than 1″ of delay.
The two free practice sessions taking place today on the Circuit de la Sarthe will serve to fix the silver Prancing Horse car as best as possible, as Rigon explained while speaking to Motorsport.com without hiding a clear disappointment, but above all a concern in race perspective, at least for what the current situation is.
#54 View AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Obviously it’s difficult to be happy after yesterday…
“No, we are not happy. As always it’s a game, because no one was really pushing in Free Practice, but we were doing something about car management, which we’ll do in the race. But we weren’t saving who knows how much. Instead the others went very fast, I was really surprised by the lap times that the leaders achieved. In qualifying we tried to do our best, we used two sets of new tyre, then we fitted a third and we also made a few changes trying to find the limit. The track also got a bit rubbery, but we lack a bit of performance.”
How does the car move?
“As a balance we are quite happy, it’s not bad. But we must also keep in mind that our car must also be driven by gentleman drivers. So we are not happy with the speed we have at Le Mans, but it is the FIA that decides our BoP, so we’ll try to do the best we can with what we have.”
In qualifying, in your opinion, was there anyone who pulled out all the stops, or did someone keep something aside?
“No, that’s the problem. We already have a certain gap and are forced to push to catch up, others immediately set the time with a set of new tires at the start. We must first find the good lap, warming up the tires in a certain way. However, others seem to have managed to find the time easily. We are analyzing to understand what we can do, but for now there is little. We hope that the FIA will help us a little.”
#54 View AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
Photo by: Marc Fleury
In your opinion, is there room to change something along the way at BoP level?
“Before the race, maybe. I think the FIA can take a look and immediately see that we are really in trouble. The positive thing is that we have a good balance in the stint, we are consistent and maybe there is a way to even do a triple stint, even if we haven’t tried it with all these red flags. So I’m happy on the balance and car side, less so in terms of pure speed.”
Triple stint with what compound?
“We have the medium that we mainly use, there is no hard. The average is fine, the heating is quite good even without the heaters. But then you have to manage it, because it’s not a tire that gives you confidence like last year with Michelin, but it guarantees a good level of grip this year.”
How long does the warm-up take? Hypercars take more than one lap, with times up to 10″…
“We are in good shape. We are about 2″ slower in the first sector and on the first lap we are at 1″. On the second there is the peak of the rubber”.
In first sector traffic, are you faster than the prototypes?
“This is the problem: if they are on cold tyres, we are much faster. But even if we start on the same tire out of the pit lane, we arrive wanting to overtake them, and if we do it in a corner, then the straight comes and they pass us again. It’s tough, especially if we think about a restart after the Safety Car or after a stop, it will be complicated. The Michelins have a harder time getting the tires up to temperature.”
#54 View AF Corse Ferrari 296 LMGT3: Thomas Flohr, Francesco Castellacci, Davide Rigon
Photo by: Alexander Trienitz
Regarding traffic, how difficult is it to manage HYPERCAR and now also LMP2?
“I’ve been used to it for many years now. I have to say that, for now, traffic hasn’t been a problem, it was more absurd last year. There are many of us on the track, but for now there has been respect. Obviously everyone is preparing for the race and that’s where everyone will go wild, we know it. Seeing at night is difficult because they come with these big lights and you don’t understand where they are. There will be critical moments in the race, but at the moment it’s manageable.”
How did you feel with the lower temperatures last night?
“Heating the tire is certainly much more difficult. So we also struggle, but not like the Hypercars. The balance has changed a bit, we went with the car more focused on the front and the understeer last night. But it’s part of the game, I don’t think we’ll change the set-up to meet the evening, also because I think our race will be a little more towards daylight hours. At night we will suffer a bit with understeer, while during the day we are more balanced.”
Should it rain?
“It is said to be planned. There’s a disturbance coming, that’s why we’re seeing the drivers’ driving times, let’s try to get Thomas [Flohr], our gentleman, in the area where it doesn’t rain. Maybe let him do the start too and then use me more towards the end of the race to try to get the car as high as possible. Our forecast is for little rain at midday, but the weather should be good at the start of the race. Then at the end it should be wet. But they change every day.”
How much is the minimum driving time for each driver?
“Thomas’s [Flohr]it lasts six hours, as does Francesco [Castellacci]. Instead I am twelve.”
#Mans #Rigon #worried #slow #hope
