Le Mans Series Final Round - Jarama - Saturday 23rd September 2006

Image Gallery (courtesy of Peter May)

Team Bruichladdich Radical has arrived at the Spanish circuit of Jarama for its third event and the final round of the Le Mans Series. It’s the last chance for a podium and so far it’s looking possible. Tim Greaves and Stuart Moseley have so far spent three hours on track in the Radical SR9 and have finished each session in the top three. Qualifying takes place this afternoon at 3:30pm local time.

Tim Greaves, Team owner and driver, “We made some changes overnight which improved our traction out of the corners. Initially the track was a bit grippier too. Qualifying this afternoon’s going to depend on a good clean lap. I think all the times will be done right at the beginning when the tyres are at their best. Miss that and we could be struggling.”

Stuart Moseley’s lap of Jarama, “Heading down the very bumpy start-finish straight you bring the car over to the left to head through Nuvolari where you then brake from 6th to 2nd. It’s the hardest brake on the circuit for Fangio which is quite a long corner – you have to wait quite a while to get on the throttle to come out. It’s the first of six 2nd gear corners here. Next you accelerate to go through Varzi – not too difficult – flat out in 5th gear before braking and changing down to 2nd gear for Le Mans which has a bit of banking to it. A short squirt on the throttle and then into Farina with a lot more banking.

The exit of Farina is a good place to overtake the GT cars. Accelerate flat out in 4th changing to 5th through Pegoso. There’s a steep climb on the exit which is blind because of the crest. Then change into 6th, still flat out, for Ascari and very hard braking for what I like to call ‘neighbours back garden’. The houses are really close and if you took the time to look you could see what furniture they’ve got – see if they’ve been to Ikea! Portago is another 2nd gear corner and the highest point of the track with really picturesque views.

From there it’s through a left hander very steep down into Bugatti in 2nd gear for the very steep drop – excellent preparation for the Corkscrew at Laguna Seca. Bugatti’s one of the most difficult corners for traction with a steep climb up to Monza. As you go into the corner it’s down to 3rd gear and then 2nd for the last part. Accelerate out downhill into Tünel flat out in 5th leading onto the straight – so not only is the straight long but you’re arriving fast so I think we get speeds of up to 275kph.”

Official race results are available at www.lmes.net
more news & photos available at www.DailySportscar.com
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