Phase 0ne on factory pace at 2007 Albacete 6hrs Race
31 May 2007
NEWSLETTER 132
2007 Albacete 6hrs Race Report
On factory pace for 5 hrs, but a crash prevented a points scoring finish.
Summary
Phase One Endurance entered a team of Warwick Nowland, Glen Richards and Didier Van Keymeulen in the second round of the 2007 world championship held at Albacete on 5th May. The team crashed out of 5th position (Van Keymeulen) after just 20 minutes, losing 11 laps but fought back to 18th at the midnight race finish. During the fight back by Richards and Nowland, the team was, most of the time, second fastest on the track, with Mazuecos on the factory Kawasaki (TKF), being untouchable all weekend.
The team had been on the pace from the start, finishing second in free practice to the factory Kawasaki of Plater/Giabanni/Mazuecos, who had also tested at the circuit earlier in the year. Significantly, both the SERT entry and Yamaha Austria were trailing. Qualification also went well with Van Keymeulen and Richards ending fastest due to Nowland being ‘Albacete rusty’, having not tested at the track in March, whilst the others did. The aggregate qualification time reflected this with the team held back from a top 3 qualifying position, eventually qualifying 5th overall, with a time of 1.33.71 secs (agg)
Individual qualification times were; Van Keymeulen 1.32.53 secs
Richards 1.33.63 secs
Nowland 1.34.97 secs
Fastest individual (SERT) Phillipe 1.31.26 secs
The Race
Didier had set the fastest time so he was elected to start. Conditions were excellent with an air temperature of about 20/22C and a dry track. The team’s slightly hot running at Le Mans had been solved with the use of new 28mm core radiators (up from 22mm) and the suspension set up was good. Spirits were definitely up and expectations high. The team had shown itself to be ahead of YART and on a similar pace to SERT (on the same race tyres) in afternoon warm-up. All the early season testing had paid off, the only uncertainty now was over which rear tyre compound to run; the 7433 or the 7434, a question that would soon become academic!
After an average race start, Didier lay in 8th position and was already challenging for 6th. Witnesses say that he really was on top form, being faster than both Morrillon and Scartano in the bends but losing out on the straights. We were using a road engine for reliability, with both Bolliger and YART using the less reliable, but faster, superbike engines; a decision made remembering Bollinger’s piston failure and YART’s water loss at the previous week’s Le Mans event and the rider’s excellent times on road engines at this circuit.
Didier’s charge regrettably ended at turn one on lap ten when he tried to out brake Scarnato for 4th place, a move which brought both riders off and resulted in Scarnato injuring his ankle and Van Keymeulen, his knee. Also, a move which would never have been successful on such a seasoned campaigner. Both riders returned to their bikes and brought them back to pit lane, Scarnato in three laps and Van Keymeulen in seven laps. Neither rider would play any further part in the race. This serious misjudgement caused, with the subsequent repairs, a loss of 11 laps, the end of any realistic chance of a points scoring finish.
Nowland and Richards rode back-to-back superbly, at a pace that would have been race winning in 2006, eventually finishing 18th.
Race Summary
Stop Off Laps Race Laps Time out Pit time(secs) Work Best Lap Pos.
1 DK 10 10 18.30 527 Crash repair, Fuel, F and R 1.34.78 5th
2 WN 35 45 19.29 21.97 Fuel, F and R 1.35.09 37th
3 GR 39 84 20.30 29.32 Fuel, F and R 1.34.45 32nd
4 WN 40 124 21.35 27.72 Fuel, F and R 1.34.60 28th
5 GR 37 161 22.35 21.39 Fuel, F and R 1.34.53 23rd
6 WN 25 186 23.17 23.92 Fuel, F and R 1.34.56
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