YOKOHAMA 24 HOURS OF LE MANS: 150 MINUTES GONE


Media information: 16 June 2007


Rain showers, safety cars and plenty of drama marked the start of the 75th 24 Hours of Le Mans today, with Yokohama ADVAN climbing up the order in GT2 but losing its GT1 entry early on.

JLOC's Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT started from the back of the grid after the team worked tirelessly to repair the car in time for the historic race following a heavy shunt in Wednesday's qualifying practice. Their efforts were to come to nothing, however, when a drive shaft problem stopped the team on lap two.

Seikel Motorsport's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR made a fantastic start, climbing four places in the GT2 class in the first few laps.

"I heard a lot about Le Mans before I came here," said driver Horst Felbermayr Jr, who started the race for Seikel and drove 14 laps before handing over to Philip Collin. "It really is beautiful. I can't explain the feeling of lining up on that grid with all the fans here. It's great!

"The driving was very difficult but at the end of my stint it was very good; I think I was up to eighth."

Felbermayr Jr's drive was dry, but since then the rain has been falling in heavy downpours, drying up quickly in the cool wind.

"In these conditions, tyre choice is difficult for the teams" said Yokohama Europe Marketing Manager Kazuyoshi Sekiguchi. "Timing will be crucial, but the Yokohama engineers are here to offer advice.

"Team boss, Peter Seikel, says he is optimistic for the race if things continue as they are. "The car works well and everything is normal." he said. "The main difficulty is deciding what is the right tyre. The race track is so long that we have sunshine at one point and wet weather at another.

"We try to make as few pit stops as possible and reduce fuel use behind the safety car. We are being very careful and at the moment, it looks very possible that we could finish fifth or sixth."