Gene heads Peugeot 1-2 as Aston Martin takes third !

What other word to describe the performance of the Peugeot Total team in qualifying at the Nürburgring, as Marc Gené snatched pole position from his team-mate Pedro Lamy to put the 908 HDi-FAP diesel prototypes on the front row of the grid. And in third place was the Aston Martin Lola of the Charouz Racing System team after a fantastic performance from Berliner Stefan Mücke, who out-paced Alexandre Premat and Rinaldo ‘Dindo’ Capello in their Audi R10 TDI diesel prototypes.

Warm sunshine is always a treat in the Eifel region, and the Nürburgring is at its best this weekend as 46 car teams prepare for Sunday’s 1,000 kilometre race, which is likely to be run at record speeds as Peugeot, Audi and Lola fight for victory. Nor are the LMP2 category Porsche RS Spyders to be discounted, for Dutchman Jos Verstappen set the seventh fastest time overall in the Van Merksteijn Motorsport team Porsche, closely chased by Casper Elgaard in the Team Essex Porsche and Andrea Belicchi in the Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola-Judd coupe.

Last year Marc Gené started the German round of the Le Mans Series from pole position at 1m 41.867s and in the space of 12 months he has shaved 2.3 seconds off this time, underlining the progress made by the Peugeot team in 2008. Winners of the first three rounds of the Le Mans Series, Peugeot look now to sew up the series and move ahead in the driver championship, with one more round to be held at Silverstone on September 15. "It is our goal to win the series" says Gené, the day after competitions director Michael Barge confirmed that Peugeot would travel to America to contest the Petit Le Mans with two cars at the beginning of October.

Maybe the uphill chicane is a little faster this year as the kerbs have been eased, tempting drivers to widen the track at little. "The chicane is a downforce corner" says Jamie Campbell-Walter, who qualified 14th on his welcome comeback after his big accident at Spa. "Our telemetry shows the Creation is doing 174 km/h in the chicane, which is fiatout in fourth gear!" Stéphane Ortelli also returned to Team Oreca Matmut after breaking his right ankle in an accident at Monza, and although the Monagasque declares himself fit, team director Hugues de Chaunac has drafted Loic Duval into the team as third driver, with Soheil Ayari qualifying 8th, two places behind Oliver Panis in the team’s Courage sister-car.

Team Epsilon Euskadi from Spain’s Basque region set a goal of starting a car in the top 10, and Adrian Valles obliged by qualifying his black, Judd powered coupe in 10th position, having out-paced the two Pescarolo Sport entries, separated by thousandths of a second in 11th and 12th positions.

Porsche’s RS Spyders were first and second in the "LM" P2 category, with Jos Verstappen setting the fastest time in the Van Merksteijn Motorsport entry. The Dutchman’s time was sixth fastest overall in the car that he will share with, Jeroen Bleekemolen.

Half a second behind was Danish driver Casper Elgaard in the Team Essex Porsche. The team worked through a set-up programme in the morning which helped in qualifying. Andrea Belicchi was third fastest aboard the Speedy Racing Team Sebah Lola B08/80 coupé Judd, before he spun the black car. Michael Vergers set the fourth fastest time in Juan Barazi’s Epsilon Zytek 07S, outpacing the Quifel ASM Team’s Lola AER in the hands of Oliver Pla.

"Work in progress" is the expression offered by Jonathan France’s Embassy Racing team, new this season to all the Le Mans Series circuits. "We should qualify in the 1m 44s" said Jonny Kane before qualifying, and he obliged with a 1m 44.928s, seventh in LMP2 and ahead of Tommy Erdos in the RML MG Lola AER.

Tough competition is expected in GT1 with strong teams and cars and stellar driver line-ups. The Luc Alphand Aventures team recruited ALMS GT1 champion Olivier Beretta to help its bid to win the title this year. The Monegasque battled team-mate Guilllaume Moreau for the lead of the class, but all the while, Team Modena played the waiting game, the dark green Aston Martin DBR9 on jacks in the garage with Tomas Enge at the wheel.

With five minutes remaining, hot tyres were bolted onto the Aston Martin, Enge was on the track and then…his flying lap was timed at 1m 52.387s, almost 1.2 seconds faster than Beretta could manage.

Peter Kox was fourth fastest in GT1 in the IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT shared with Roman Rusinov with a respectable time of 1m 54.712s, the team looking to hold on to its second position in the title standings after three races. Three makes, from Britain, America and Italy prepared to contest the GT1 category on Sunday afternoon.

In only his second Le Mans Series appearance this season, Anthony Beltoise claimed pole position in the Dunlop shod Farnbacher Racing Ferrari 430 GT, his time nearly twotenths faster than Marc Lieb in the Team Felbermayr-Proton Porsche GT3 RSR.

"In Barcelona, the last time I drove this car it suffered from understeer, but this weekend the balance is perfect" said Beltoise. "I have a good feeling with the car, and the team is very happy."

Virgo Motorsport missed qualifying after a fire on Friday afternoon. With new parts due to arrive from Michelotto on Saturday evening, the Virgo team is con�� dent of starting though from the back of the grid, with Gianmaria Bruni and Rob Bell.

Porsche drivers Richard Lietz (IMSA Performance Matmut) and Richard Westbrook (Farnbacher Racing) will start from third and fourth, ahead of Stephane Daoudi in JMB Racing’s Ferrari 430 GT. Peter Dumbreck set the pace for the Snoras Spyker Squadron team from Holland, seventh quickest in the category.

1. N° 7, Team Peugeot Total, Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 1m39.492

2. N° 8, Team Peugeot Total, Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP 1m39.515

3. N° 10, Charouz Racing System, Lola Aston Martin 1m40.951

4. N° 2, Audi Sport Team Joest, Audi R10 TDI 1m40.978

5. N° 1, Audi Sport Team Joest, Audi R10 TDI 1m41.027

6. N° 6, Team ORECA Matmut, Courage-ORECA Judd 1m42.292

7. N° 5, Team ORECA Matmut, Courage ORECA Judd 1m43.519

8. N° 21, Epsilon Euskadi Judd 1m43.649

9. N° 17, Pescarolo Sport, Pescarolo Judd 1m43.654

10. N° 16, Pescarolo Sport, Pescarolo Judd 1m43.946

1. N° 34, Van Merksteijn Motorsport, Porsche RS Spyder 1m43.169

2. N °31, Team Essex, Porsche RS Spyder 1m43.608

3. N° 33, Speedy Racing Team Sebah, Lola B08/80 Coupe Judd 1m43.981

4. N °32, Barazi Epsilon, Zytek 07S Zytek 1m44.013

5. N °40, Quifel - ASM Team, Lola B05/40-AER 1m44.682

6. N °27, Horag Racing, Porsche RS Spyder 1m44.828

7. N° 45, Embassy Racing, WF01 Zytek 1m44.928

8. N° 46, Embassy Racing, WF01 - Zytek 1m45.693

9. N °25, RML, MG Lola EX 265 - MG 1m45.903

10. N° 35, Saulnier Racing, Pescarolo Judd 1m46.033

1. N° 59, Aston Martin Racing, Aston Martin DBR9 1m52.387

4. N° 73, Luc Alphand Aventures, Corvette C6.R 1m53.559

2. N° 72, Luc Alphand Aventures, Corvette C6.R 1m53.604

3. N°55, IPB Spartak Racing, Lamborghini Murcielago 1m54.712

1.N°90, Farnbacher Racing, Ferrari 430 GT 1m57.897

2. N°77, Team Felbermayr Proton, Porsche 997 RSR 1m58.080

3. N°76, IMSA Performance Matmut, Porsche 997 RSR 1m58.189

4. N°91, Farnbacher Racing, Porsche 997 RSR 1m58.227

5.N°99, JMB Racing, Ferrari 430 GT 1m58.769

6. N°98, JMB Racing, Ferrari 430 GT 1m59.459

7. N°85, Snoras Spyker Squadron, Spyker C8 Laviolette 1m59.613

8. N°75, IMSA Performance Matmut, Porsche 997 RSR 1m59.637

9. N°94, Speedy Racing Team, Spyker C8 Laviolette 2m00.132

10. N°88, Team Felbermayr Proton,

- Marine Allainguillaume - aussi photo