WEC

Vector Sport aiming to be in the mix at Monza

WEC
9 Jul. 2022 • 21:13
In scorching temperatures and despite a traction control problem, Vector Sport’s Sébastien Bourdais took the No.10 ORECA 07 Gibson to 7th place on the LMP2 grid for tomorrow’s 6 Hours of Monza, the fourth round of the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship.
Photo : Drew Gibson

All three drivers and the whole Vector Sport team have worked extremely hard throughout the three practice sessions to find a consistent and high performing set up for the No.10. In the red-flag interrupted 10-minute qualifying session Bourdais used just one set of Goodyear tyres and set a best lap of 1:39.481 – despite having a traction control issue which prevented full power delivery. It is the first time the Frenchman has competed at the Autodromo di Monza since 2009, although both his team mates Ryan Cullen and Nico Muller have enjoyed podium successes at the Italian Temple of Speed in differing championships. The 6 Hours of Monza begins at 12h00 local time (11h00 BST) on Sunday 10th July. Follow all the action on the FIA WEC App or watch the full race live on Eurosport in the UK/Ireland.

 

Sébastien Bourdais (FRA) - has not raced at Monza since 2009: “It’s a real shame we had a TC issue during qualifying as the team has worked really hard and we’ve done a lot to try and improve the car.  It seemed to be quite a bit better in qualifying and that 1:39.4 with the TC issue is quite unexpected. “It’s disappointing not to get a real read on the true potential of the car but at the same time I think it’s not a bad place to be.  Set up wise we’ve just got a bit too much understeer but hopefully we won’t destroy the rear tyres too much in the race.  It’s going to be very hot tomorrow and following in traffic and in turbulent air, doing multi-stints on the tyres is not going to be an easy ask.  We’ll give it our best, try and keep our nose clean and see where we end up.”

 

 

 

Ryan Cullen (IRL) – finished 3rd at Monza in 2019 ELMS race in LMP2: “I think it’s hard to tell how we’ll be in the race as it’s going to be quite hot and it will be interesting to see how everyone gets on.  I feel we’ve made a good step forward with the set up but we still aren’t perfect.  We will have a good look at the data tonight and see where we are, work on our own driving between us and see what we can find to make the car better for tomorrow.  We’ve been focusing on that this weekend and it’s been going quite well and I feel our race pace should be pretty good.”

 

Nico Müller (CHE) - won first car title at Monza in 2009 and finished 2nd here in 2021 DTM: “Of course we’d like to make big steps forward from the start and be in the mix for podium positions but I think we have definitely made progress in the right direction and we’ll find out now if it’s really enough.  I love coming to Monza and the atmosphere in this place is unique.  When you get to the track there’s a kind of crackle or buzz in the air and you can feel that.  It carries a lot of history and it’s always great racing here.  I think the 6 hours will not only be hot but also very exciting.  A lot can happen and traffic can be a decisive factor so we’ll give it all to the very end and see where we come out.”

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