JOTA SPORT IN GOOD SHAPE FOR LE MANS 24 HOUR RACE
Dolan, Tincknell & Turvey lay foundations for successful race
JOTA Sport will line-up in 11th position overall on the 54-car grid for the 82nd running of the Le Mans 24 Hours which starts tomorrow afternoon (Saturday, 2pm BST).
Simon Dolan, Harry Tincknell and Oliver Turvey will share the Zytek Z11SN bidding for LM P2 class honours in the famous annual twice-around-the-clock endurance sportscar race.
Tincknell brilliantly clocked the second fastest time (3m 37.674s) in the 16-car LM P2 field early on in this evening's final qualifying the Le Mans debutant denied class pole by a mere 0.065secs.
Turvey, a last minute recruit to the British team, completed the mandatory 'night' laps around the 8.47-mile track his first laps in the Dunlop-shod JOTA Zytek since last September with Dolan sitting out the entire second session and most of the third to allow Turvey valuable re-acclimatization mileage.
Sunday 1 June (Official Test Day)
Practice 1: 11th o/a / 2nd (LM P2), 3min 41.268secs, Gené (lap 42 of 42)
Practice 2: 16th/7th 3:39.849s, Gené (lap 7 of 27)
Wednesday 11 June
Free Practice: 20th/11th 3:43.148s, Dolan (lap 24 of 37)
Qualifying 1: 20th/12th 3:45.928s, Dolan (lap 5 of 11)
Thursday 12 June
Qualifying 2: 25th/14th 3:44.842s, Turvey (lap 12 of 12)
Qualifying 3: 11th/2nd 3:37.674s, Tincknell (lap 2 of 25)
Simon Dolan (GB). Age 45. Born: Chelmsford, Essex. Lives: Monaco (MC):
Le Mans 24Hr: 2011 DNF (JOTA Sport Aston Martin Vantage GT2 LMGTE Pro); 2012 DNF (JOTA Sport Zytek Z11SN LM P2); 2013 13th o/a / 7th LM P2 (JOTA Sport Zytek Z11SN LM P2). Le Mans History: Début 2011. Other 24Hr races: 1st GT4 2010 Spa 24 Hours (Aston Martin V8 Vantage); 2010 2nd GT4 BritCar 24 Hours (Silverstone).
"The last couple of days were a bit of trial for us it hasn't been easy but by the end of Thursday night we've got the Zytek to where we want it to be. Harry has shown we've got good pace, Oliver settled back in quickly with us on Thursday so by the finish I'm pretty happy and looking forward to a good race."
Harry Tincknell (GB). Age: 22. Born: Exeter, Devon. Lives: Sidmouth, Devon (GB):
Le Mans 24Hr: Début in 2014. Le Mans History: None. Other 24Hr races: None.
"My fastest lap was a good one, one of the rare, traffic free laps over the last two days, but there was certainly more to come. It was the first time we actually went for a time and it was a very good feeling for me considering it's my first time here. We've laid the foundations for a good race."
Oliver Turvey (GB). Age 27. Born & Lives: Penrith, Cumbria.
Le Mans 24Hr: 2013 13th o/a / 7th LM P2 (JOTA Sport Zytek Z11SN LM P2). Le Mans History: Début 2013. Other 24Hr races: None.
"Simon and Harry along with Marc have laid the foundations for a really solid and fast race car. I got back into a good rhythm pretty quickly despite the stoppages. It's fantastic to be back here at Le Mans it's an amazingly fast, challenging circuit."
Sam Hignett. Partner, JOTA Group:
"We've got ourselves a nice, consistent and fast race car with all three drivers performing well and pretty close together in terms of lap times which bodes well for the weekend.
"In general it was a tough couple of days and we've of course also had to make a driver change. Harry did a great job to put it on provisional pole which ultimately became the second fastest LM P2 time by just 0.065secs."
