Pescarolo Team's Dome S102.5 (Photo Credit: MacLean Photographic)
Both cars entered by Henri Pescarolo's Pescarolo Team outfit have suffered early mechanical trouble, ruling the team run by the Le Mans legend out of any contention for a top result in the 80th 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The race began without the AMR-One based Pescarolo 03 being driven by Stuart Hull and Emmaunel Collard after the team had put a new engine into the car. Collard took the car out onto the track at the end of the first racing lap – with full wet tyres on as it sprinkled with rain over the start-finish straight.
The tyre gamble failed to pay off the rain blew over and the car returned to the pits, returning to the garage. Latterly – after going back out once more – the car's progress was halted again by a power steering failure.
The other Pescarolo car – the Dome-Judd driven by Sebastien Bourdais, Nicolas Minassian and Seiji Ara – was floored by transmission problems after a promising start in the hands of Bourdais. The Frenchman – a Le Mans native – was battling with David Brabham in the opening laps before being pushed back into the garage after only a handful of racing laps.
The two cars run 49th overall, for the Dome, and 55th overall after three and a half hours.
