During their participation in the Six Hours of Imola this weekend, SIGNATECH NISSAN and the ORECA 03 with Nissan engine repeated their Le Mans performance in the province of San Marino.

Claiming a fourth victory from four ILMC races, Soheil Ayari, Franck Mailleux and Lucas Ordonez finished once again on the second step of the LM P2 podium, crossing the line ninth overall and strengthened their lead in the ILMC classification. After difficult free practice sessions, interrupted by rain, Philippe Sinault’s team set the fourth-fastest time in qualifying and started from the second line of the LM P2 cars on the grid. Once again, the Nissan- ORECA 03 had victory within its grasp, like at Le Mans, but lost it due to a pit stop to change the diffuser. After Sebring, Le Mans and Imola, the next round will be at the British circuit of Silverstone, well-known to the SIGNATECH NISSAN drivers.

Philippe Sinault: "This weekend proved to be quite complex, due to the difficult weather conditions and especially due to the traffic. Heavy rain fell during free practice, and these poor conditions prevented Lucas from learning the track. Moreover, since arriving we lacked top speed, and the need to change the extractor during the race lost us around four minutes in the pits. The team worked well, and, as at Le Mans, this podium is for them."

Franck Mailleux : "This was my first time at the Enzo et Dino Ferrari Circuit as, like Lucas, I had never raced here before. The rain made our work difficult during free practice, and we were not able to learn the track properly before starting qualifying. In the end, we were on the right pace during the race despite the extra pit stop to work on the diffuser."

Soheil Ayari : "We started fourth LMP2 in qualifying, quickly climbing up to third, and despite our incident we finished 9th overall, 2nd LMP2 and 1st ILMC. I thought that the traffic on the track was going to be difficult to manage but it all went quite well. Overall, the result is satisfactory even if our goal is to claim an LMP2 win before the end of the season. We have the package, both men and machines, to achieve it !"

Lucas Ordonez : "Imola was quite a difficult weekend as I didn’t know the track at all. The heavy rain prevented me from learning the specific characteristics of the circuit during free practice. In the race, we had to cope with the traffic and the heat. The data acquisition and my co-drivers helped me a lot."  

(Source: Signatech Nissan press information)

Photo : CIRCUIT ENZO E DINO FERRARI (IMOLA, ITALY), 6 HOURS OF IMOLA, FREE PRACTICE, 1st JULY 2011. After the rain-disrupted practice, Signatech-Nissan got a podium finish in the sunshine.