Gavin Cronje tests Le Mans Series LM P1 at Paul Ricard 

Gavin Cronje, a South African motor sport champion in international competition in 2009, completed a successful LM P1 prototype sports car test with French Le Mans 24 Hours winners Team Oreca Matmut AIM in the south of France this week.

The test, which saw the 30-year-old from Johannesburg joined by three other Formula Le Mans winners in a two-day programme at the Paul Ricard circuit at Le Castellet, was Cronje and Belgian co-driver Nico Verdonck’s prize for winning the inaugural Formula Le Mans Cup.  The other two drivers, Valle Makela of Finland and Mathias Beche of Switzerland, were the runners-up.

The six-round series, in which Cronje and Verdonck scored nine victories in 12 races, is a dedicated launch pad for the top echelon of endurance racing and the car Cronje drove is the one campaigned by Bruno Senna, Olivier Panis, Stephane Ortelli and Nicolas Lapierre in this year’s Le Mans Series.

Lapierre, winner of the last Le Mans Series race, the Silverstone 1000 km, was on hand to offer advice and instruct the four drivers.  The aim of the test was not to evaluate their outright speed, but to give them a taste of what it’s like to drive at the highest level of sports car racing.

The first day started with a visit to the French prototype constructor’s workshop, a briefing with technical staff plus seat and driving position fittings.

The next day the four Le Mans Series hopefuls got down to the serious business of sampling the LM P1 Oreca around a 3,8-km version of the main circuit.  In an all-too brief 25-laps during the day, split into three sessions of five, 10 and 15 laps, Cronje warmed to the task at hand as the circuit, slowed by due in the opening session, warmed up and lap times came down.

Gavin Cronje: “It’s been a great pleasure to drive this car. I was very impressed by the performance of the Oreca prototype; it’s obvious that it’s very different to the Formula Le Mans car. It goes a lot quicker and the most striking difference is the aerodynamic package, which generates enormous grip. For safety reasons there was no question of any of us trying to find the limits of the car, and I think we all played fair. Nonetheless, it gave us an opportunity to glimpse this car’s potential and I’m really delighted to have taken part in this test. It’s the result of Nico’s and my great season with the DAMS team. This test is clearly the most interesting experience I’ve had in motor racing so far, and I’d be all the happier if I could orient my career towards an LM P1 programme. It’d be the next step and that’s what I’m working towards, but it’s still a bit too early to say what I’ll be doing next season.”

Jean-Philippe Pelaprat (Oreca race engineer): “We’re very happy with the way the test went. Everybody played the game. For me, they’re a group of serious, dedicated young drivers who all got through the test very well. We used the 3.8-km layout without a chicane, even in the Signes curve, which is a place that really sorts the men from the boys! The drivers had their first taste of the car on soft tyres, then with the medium rubber for the long runs. Nicolas Lapierre helped them to find their marks on the circuit and told them what traps to avoid. Then, after each run, we analysed the data together to help them progress. It was interesting to see the sense of team spirit that prevailed during this test. With single-seater drivers, rivalry often begins straight away. Here you can see that each one worked and respected the aim that was set. They all deserve to go further in endurance.”

The four drivers will all attend the official Formula Le Mans Cup prize giving in Le Mans on December 5 where they will receive their trophies.

Ends