Photo : Nicolas COUSSEAU - ACO/Nikon

At the Autosport International exhibition at the NEC in Birmingham England, on the main stage the team principal of Silverstone-based Strakka Racing, Piers Philips was joined by drivers Jonny Kane and Danny Watts.

Asked about the highlights of the 2010 season Jonny Kane enthused."The car was fantastic to drive and it has a lot of down-force, Wirth research have a lot of clever people!". That down-force was enough to give the HPD ARX-01c LM P2 a historic pole position and overall victory at the sinuous Hungaroring in the 2010 Le Mans Series, but for driver Danny Watts it was the team's LM P2 class win at the classic of La Sarthe that was the sweetest victory: "The highlight of the season was the Le Mans 24 hours. I went to Le Mans with my dad as a boy and I knew it was what I wanted to do... in the evening, driving through the Porsche curves, you can smell the aroma of burgers cooking wafting into your helmet. I have that treasured memory locked-in now. ". On the subject of Le Mans at night, Jonny Kane mentioned what a challenge it is for LM P2 drivers who have to pass GT's safely, but also be on the look out behind for LM P1 cars: " You get into the car at 3am with 3 hours to race. You have to have your wits about you, there is a lot going on at night!"  

Strakka were the first European team to run HPD, but  they are now joined by RML who have ended their long association with Lola.

Dave Davies

Image: 22nd Aug 2010, Hungaroring Hungary, Jonny Kane, celebrates a historic victory for Strakka racing.