ILMC - RML AD Soldiers On After Serious Le Mans Shunt

Imola, July 4, 2011: Imola in Italy saw RML AD Group's Tommy Erdos make up more than three seconds on the team's best practice time, but the Brazilian was unable to challenge in the highly competitive class, as the team continued to play catch up in the aftermath from the Spa incident.

The weekend's three free practice sessions had been frequently interrupted by bad weather and red flags. The best time achieved by the #36 RML AD Group HPD ARX-01d had been a 1:43.993, so posting a 1:40.642 in qualifying represented a significant improvement. "When the other two get into the car they'll soon sense the difference," suggested Tommy. "It's a leap forward since this morning and we now have a great race car. What we don't have is a car that can compete on outright pace, over a single lap, but I'm confident that the situation will change in the race. Over the course of six hours we will be far more competitive."

Despite the progress, Tommy's time could only claim 13th in LMP2. "I can't help but feel disappointed by that," conceded Tommy, "but we need to make the best of what we have, and what we have is a car that's great to drive." The team faced a similar situation at Le Mans last month, and aimed to prepare a car then that was best suited to the race, rather than qualifying, and finished a creditable fourth.

"This is qualifying. At the end of the day, only one driver can go home with a smile on his face, and only one team can get the extra point," said Phil Barker, Team Manager at RML AD Group. "It's the race that matters, and from the feedback we've been getting, we know we've moved on. The car now has far better balance and is able to deal with the bumps and ride the kerbs more effectively."