Following MG's return to the 24 Heures du Mans in 2001, MG returned again this year with high expectations. Having qualified 6th and 12th overall on the grid, 1st and 2nd in the LMP675 class, they performed in the race at the highest level to challenge the more powerful LMP900 favourites.
 photo copyright © Rick Wilson / Maison Blanche From the very beginning of the race, the two MGs displayed significant pace, consistently leading their class and competing with the fastest cars on the circuit for a significant period of the race. The first disappointment came after midnight on lap 129 when the car No. 26 (driven by Anthony Reid, Warren Hughes and Jonny Kane) retired with transmission failure, when running strongly in 4th overall. MG car No. 27 (driven by Mark Blundell, Julian Bailey and Kevin McGarrity) carried on relentlessly through the night gaining positions and by early morning having completed two thirds of the race period suffered an engine problem on lap 219 without warning. Despite all the efforts of the driver and the team the dream was over. Commenting on MG's return Rob Oldaker, managing director, MG Sport & Racing, said: "Our ultimate aim when coming to Le Mans this year was to complete the race. We clearly made improvements over last year and have shown that the MG Lola EX257 is capable of performing with the fastest cars in the race. We are bitterly disappointed that we've not made enough progress in durability and reliability sufficient to complete 24 hours of hard racing. The drivers have done tremendously well to keep the cars in such good shape during the race and to keep the pressure on. A true team spirit with MG, CMS, Lola and AER pulling together was incredible and with the enthusiasm from fans and our sponsors was phenomenal." Mark Blundell, MG motorsport ambassador and driver team leader said: "It's a huge disappointment. We lost car 26 last night when it had been showing tremendous potential - mixing it with the big boys. The squad with car 27 felt very optimistic that they could reach the end of this very special race and win the LMP675 class. It wasn't to be despite the huge efforts made by the MG team and all its partners."  photo copyright © Rick Wilson / Maison Blanche Warren Hughes was the first driver in the seat of car 26 for the initial qualifying session. With a time of the 3:42.835 the car finished 16th overall and 2nd in the LMP675 class. Jonny Kane was the only other driver in the car, which was withdrawn after part one of the session to allow for the engine to be repaired. Warren Hughes: "It's disappointing as we really wanted to tackle qualifying this evening. It was nice to have the time I had in the car tonight and it was like learning a new circuit again. As I didn't get much dry running in the car last year it was great to get some laps in. It was starting to feel really good and I'm pleased with the lap times considering I missed the official test. We'll fix the engine overnight and I'm hoping to be quicker tomorrow to get a good grid position." Jonny Kane: "I was trying to pass a car, he didn't see me and I had to break really hard. I down-shifted too early, trying to slow down, over revved the engine and damaged a valve. Unfortunately, it wasted track time for us but we'll be back tomorrow." Meanwhile, car 27 completed both parts of the first qualifying session and finished 5th overall and 1st in class with Mark Blundell setting the teams fastest lap time of 3:33.254. Mark Blundell: "Very happy and we've replicated our performance from pre-qualifying. We know there's more time in there. The car took some damage when a GT3 car caused me to use too much road but the team have done a tremendous job in putting the car back together." Julian Bailey: "We're pleased with Mark's position and we haven't yet reached our full potential. The car's running really well and were in good shape so far." Kevin McGarrity: "Our objective tonight was to take things easy but qualify the car for the race and that's exactly what we've done. We know we've got the potential to go faster and 5th position tonight is encouraging." Hugh Chamberlain, team manager, CMS: "Obviously the target tonight was to qualify the drivers and the cars. Everything seems so simple but in reality its not. The guys have done a good job tonight. Car 27 and drivers qualified with 5 minutes to spare!" Rob Oldaker, managing director, MG Sport & Racing: "Another strong performance from Mark has again reinforced the potential we demonstrated here in May. But, it's as much about endurance as it is speed, so we will have to wait and see what the weekend holds." With the engine repair complete, Anthony Reid was first to take to the track in car 26 on the Thursday, which completed 'day' qualifying for the team. The night-time session commenced with Jonny Kane at the helm with drivers Hughes and Reid to follow. The team was 12th overall at the final grid position, 2nd in the LMP675 class, with a time of 3:36.694. Anthony Reid: "I'm very pleased with the adjustments the team have made to the car this evening and were looking in strong shape for the race." Jonny Kane: "We've qualified which was top priority. As racing drivers you always want to push yourself for a better lap time, but it's a long race and we're starting from a reasonable position on the grid." Warren Hughes: "The priority was to get the car qualified which we did comfortably and safely. The car has good balance and I have the confidence to push hard in the race." The second qualifying session was looking good for car 27 when a rare engine problem forced the car to retire. A time of 3:33.254 placed the car 6th overall on the grid, qualifying 1st in class. Despite the disappointing evening the trio of Blundell, Bailey and McGarrity remain high-spirited about the MG Lola EX257's ability. Mark Blundell: "I'm frustrated as we weren't able to complete another qualifying run due to technical problems and even more frustrating as the first sector was looking very good and I'm sure there's more time to come from the car. We've done a credible job as we've finished in the top six and I think MG have made an impressive performance." Doug Bebb, CMS: "With car 26 it was our plan to qualify with all the drivers and we're in the race. With car 27 we were 2nd fastest split time on the first section when the car stopped with an engine problem on the circuit. We've achieved our objectives with both cars tonight, that we set at the start of the session." Mike Lancaster, managing director, AER (Advanced Engine Research): "Since last year we've had a good reliability record with this engine and its unfortunate that this is the first 'bottom end' failure we've had. We were trying to get some good laps out of the car (27) and were just unlucky on the day. We're still very optimistic about the race." Rob Oldaker, managing director, MG Sport & Racing: "Disappointing not to have completed the session with both cars but to secure 6th and 12th on the grid and to take top qualifying honours in the LMP675 class is not to be ignored. All the team have worked incredibly hard to be where we are tonight and we look forward to the race with optimism and excitement." |
