Traffic was the main problem for the Corvette Racing squads in qualifying for Petit Le Mans, both Jan Magnussen and Olivier Beretta complaining that they were held up on laps that would have moved the forward from sixth and seventh on the GT2 grid for the 10 hour or 1000 mile race.
Both Corvettes went out as soon as the green flag flew on the 25-minute session and soon banked what would turn out to be their fastest time, Magnussen's 1:20.598 just a fraction of second quicker than Beretta's marker (1:20.675). A quartet of Ferraris headed the session and both of the Corvettes took the step of pitting briefly before making their way back out on track to try and climb the order.
This, however, is where traffic intervened.
“It was difficult to get clear laps,” explained Magnussen. “The Ferraris backed up on the laps when I should have had fast lap times, and that messed up my qualifying run a little. When I finally did get a clear lap, the tires were just past their peak.”
“I’m quite pleased with the car, and everything worked well. It’s just a shame that we couldn’t show its full potential, so we’ll do that tomorrow in the race”
Beretta had a similar problem in the no.3 car, as the Monegasque relates; “After I did my good lap, I wanted to improve it. That was my time to go, but I had traffic in front of me and had to slow down. Then I tried again, but it is never the same.”
Petit Le Mans starts at 11:30pm local time, with live radio coverage available from www.radiolemans.com.
