Latest from Le Mans

After last weekend's pre-qualifying, the Synergy Motorport team line up for Le Mans is now confirmed and we are indebted to them for the following report.

At the recent Le Mans 24hrs test weekend, everything went according to plan for the Synergy Motorsport team. The key was to qualify all six drivers, as none had competed in the 24hrs previously. In the number one car was Gareth Evans, Bob Berridge, Chris Stockton.

Now that the number two car has also been invited to compete, we saw the additional line-up of Laurence Tomlinson, Nigel Greensal and Jonathan Coleman - who are currently competing in a 400R in the British GT. So it was a full complement of regular TVR drivers at Le Mans. The morning session ran like clockwork, with all six drivers completing the required 10laps - without so much as a spanner on either of the cars. The team then put the cars back in the garage and had a relaxed hour to prepare the cars, intending to push a little more in the afternoon. Both cars then went faster, in spite of the fact that the cars ran with a full fuel load throughout the day. The number one car recording consistent laps in the 4minute 17s, with the second 400R in the 4m 24s.

The team was delighted with the pace of the two TVRs, fully justifying the work that has been carried out. "We were about three seconds up on the best race time set by one of these cars in DeWalt colours last year, so we're very happy - and we did all our running on race rubber, with full tanks." The cars were both in good shape after the event too. The team had three objectives on Sunday," explains Bob Berridge, " they were to qualify all the drivers, to run the TVRs for as long as we could, and to collect as much data as possible in a number of key development areas. We achieved all three, and more." "We are in a great position now, with drivers and sponsors secure for the Le Mans programme" said team owner Gareth Evans.

The next stop for the number one car will be Monza and the first of the LMES events. Laurence and Nigel will return to compete in BGT at Mondello Park on the same day (9th May). For the 24hour race, the original plan remains in place, with Michael Caine replacing Gareth Evans in the Berridge/Chris Stockton car: "It was fantastic to get some laps around Le Mans in the test session and qualify myself in order to give the team a guaranteed back-up, but with Michael already qualified from last year, he'll be in the car the race." said Gareth at the end of the weekend. "My priority is the best possible result for the team, and Michael is key to that ambition".

​See you all at Le Mans!

​Text by Synergy, photos by Dorset RO Paul Shrimpton.