PIERRE AND LARBRE COMPETITION FIGHTING FOR TOP-FIVE

Update: 00:30

Pierre Ragues has returned to the cockpit of the #50 Larbre Competition Chevrolet Corvette C7.R as the Le Mans 24 Hours moved into the night-time phase on Saturday evening.

 

The Frenchman had a strong triple stint to start the prestigious race, and got back into the car with 18 hours of the race remaining. He was immediately back on the pace as he looked to capture positions on the GTE-Am classification. A trouble-free and strong double stint, with lap times again among the pacesetters in class, saw him move back into the top-five.Handing over to Yutaka Yamagishi after eight hours, the team had to pit the car to change the aircon belt. Some excellent teamwork saw the car out on track quickly for Yutaka’s planned double stint.

 

A safety car was deployed in the ninth hour, so the team used the opportunity to make a stop to change brakes. It was a great strategic move by the team, to minimise lost time for the change, and allowed the Japanese driver to retain a top-six position heading into Sunday morning.

 

Pierre said: “My second stint went really well and I was pleased to have a trouble-free run. This car is fantastic to drive and it was a pleasure to experience it as the sun went down. When I handed over to Yutaka, we had to stay a bit longer in the pits to change the aircon belt. The team did an outstanding job to get the car back out quickly. The team then decided to bring the car in under the safety car so we could carry out the planned brake change. This was a great move because we saved a lot of time and we are still firmly in the fight for the top-five as we move into Sunday.”