Photo : Frederic GAUDIN - ACO/NIKON

Driver of the No.25 ADR-Delta Oreca Nissan car, John Martin distinguished himself last year by winning the single-seater Superleague Formula championship. At Le Mans, the Australian has quickly learned the intricacies of the Sarthe circuit as he demonstrated clearly last night in claiming the LMP2 class pole position with a fast lap time of 3:38.181.

His team couldn't have hoped to celebrate its return to Le Mans in a better way. In the late 1980s, Alan Docking Racing was involved in the Endurance Mazda programme but it has concentrated on single-seater racing for many years in the interim.

John Martin, driver of the No.25 ADR-Delta ORECA 03 Nissan : "It's crazy! I cannot believe I'm in pole position. We worked for a comfortable car for the race and then we thought we could maybe make pole position. My lap was good; there was some traffic but I had the corners to myself. I was lucky to catch the slower cars on the straights and be alone in the more winding parts. This is my first time at the 24 Hours of Le Mans so I learned the circuit methodically, then gradually increased the pace. On each lap, the big challenge is the Porsche curves. Now the most difficult tasks lie ahead but we have a very good car. "

Julien Hergault

Photo: CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES (LE MANS, SARTHE), 24 HOURS OF LE MANS. Autograph session, June 12, 2012. John Martin (left), Jan Charouz and Tor Graves.