Mixed Fortunes From Le Mans

Team LNT were out in force this weekend 16th -17th June 2007 with a two-car attack on the world’s most famous race – the Le Mans 24 hours in France.

Last year, the Leeds-based outfit ended the Porsche’s 10-year reign of the GT2 winners cup by taking the honours with their #81 Panoz Esperante GTLM.

This year, Team LNT had two entries for their Panoz cars; #81 for last years win, and #82 for coming second in the 2006 Le Mans Series Championship.

Around 50 staff were at the La Sarthe circuit to support last year’s winners Lawrence Tomlinson, Richard Dean and Tom Kimber-Smith defend their GT2 crown. Two further drivers would join the trio; namely Danny Watts and Tom Milner partnering Kimber-Smith in the #81 car, and Rob Bell in the #82 car with Tomlinson and Dean.

Early-race pace and strategy saw the Panoz fans cheering in the grandstands as they crossed the line in 2nd and 3rd place.Rain and an accident caused two safety car periods in the first three hours, delaying racing but at 17:50hrs it would remain uninterrupted until torrential rain in the final two hours.

The race was short-lived for the #81 car, Kimber-Smith having to retire by the side of the track on the run up to Indianapolis due to an electrical problem after almost five and a half hours.

“Accelerating out of Mulsanne, I thought I had a misfire” said Kimber-Smith, “but they cleared and then it just cut out in such a way it wouldn’t let me downshift or anything. I parked it on right of the circuit and could smell burning electrics.

“Al [Mugglestone, race engineer] was telling me what to try, but it just wasn’t getting any fuel pressure in the engine” he explained.

The sole remaining Team LNT Panoz Esperante would continue to finish 5th in class and 23rd overall out of 54 starters, despite a 30 minute unscheduled pit stop to repair a left rear wheel hub.

Consistency and staying out of trouble by the drivers, long-term reliability and teamwork by all gave Rob Bell his first finish in his first ever Le Mans race. This was Dean’s second 24-hour Le Mans finish and Tomlinson his third, but in the end a second 24-hour Le Mans win in succession for Team LNT was not meant to be.

A podium for the Team looked likely towards the closing stages of the race, but a safety car period in heavy rain halted the charge.

 “We had a good chance of certainly getting fourth place and third place looked very promising, but it’s a fantastic achievement just to finish the race” said Tomlinson, who also owns the Team.

“For me personally, I’ve had 3 starts, 3 finishes one of which was a win so I’m delighted. I think the Team have done a fantastic job.

“It’s been a real war of attrition this year and the changing weather conditions have made it very difficult. I’m just delighted to finish. I’m not disappointed in the slightest.”