Le Mans: RML's countdown to Le Mans begins at Monza

[Plex]

This weekend will see the opening round of the Le Mans series at Monza in Italy. After two successful tests this year, the team are eager to get to grips with the season ahead.RML Group Chief Executive Ray Mallock said "Monza is very much a prelude for Le Mans. We have made a number of changes to the car over the winter months which have been successfully tested but now need to be proved in race conditions. It's fortunate that the set up requirements for Monza are very similar to Le Mans. So,the specification of the car is very much how we expect to be racing in June".

Director of Race Operations, Phil Barker commented "We are looking forward to the first round of the season. This year looks like it will be very competitive with new cars coming into the championship. We have had two very good tests at Valencia and Paul Ricard, we have learnt considerably more about the car and we are now looking forward to getting started in Monza this weekend". Tommy Erdos said "It's hard to believe the LMS season is starting all over again.This year the competition is much stronger and therefore we face a much bigger challenge than in previous seasons. However, I can only feel confident about the season ahead. We have such a strong Team in RML. Our LMP programme is now in its fourth year. This continuity can only make us stronger for 2007. Mike and I have been driving together now for the last four years and we have a great deal of experience in the 1000kms races.
The MG Lola and the AER engine, as a package, is a very potent and reliable combination. Of course, the challenge coming from Zytek, Radical and the Quifel Lola will be very strong indeed. We may not be in the same position we were last year, where we were very competitive in qualifying but I am confident our package will be very reliable and over the 1000kilometers we should be stronger than most.

Monza is a very fast circuit, so we will need to run a very low AERO set-up. The Retifilio and Roggia chicanes are very tight corners where the approach speed is in excess of 180mph. That means we also need a stable car under braking...Not easy to achieve when running a low AERO set-up! Above all, we must finish the race and score points. Podium is our aim....We are all very focused on the task ahead. The weather forecast is good...It should be another Classic Monza 1000kms!"

Planetlemans