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Short brief about the Le Mans Series : Since 2004, Le Mans Series organizes races of 1000 km (or a max of 6 hours) at the most prestigious European racetracks (Spa, Silverstone, Monza, Nurburgring...). There are 4 classes of racing cars competing together (Sports-Prototypes LM P1 and LM P2, Grand Tourism LM GT1 and LM GT2), each class following the very same rules as established for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

2008 Le Mans Series Calendar :

Barcelone (ESP) April, 6^th –

Monza (ITA) April, 27^th –

Spa (BEL) May, 11^th –

Nürburgring (GER) August, 17^th

Silverstone (GBR) September, 14^th.

Continued from News

Team Trading Performance

Zytek07S-Zytek #41 (C.-Y.Gosselin/A.Sharpe/K.Ojjeh)

76th Le Mans 24Hrs, June 14-15 2008 

Unbelievable but true! 

Everything seemed to be on track for Swiss team Trading Performance to get a good result in the 76^th edition of the Le Mans 24-Hour Race when cruel luck hit its Zytek car. Accelerating hard out of a fast bend, Claude-Yves Gosselin got shunted by another car when its driver completely lost control. The shock of the shunt sent the Normandy driver into the crash barrier. Thankfully he emerged unscathed from the cockpit of the car but quickly realised that after just 100 minutes of racing there was no way he could continue.  

Yet the Le Mans week had started so well for the Normandy-based team. Two thumbs up in the air would be the best way to describe the way qualifying had gone. Karim Ojjeh said he was well pleased with the way the two qualifying sessions had panned out, with work on setting up the car progressing well. "It all went fine", he said. “We were getting to know Michelin’s soft and medium tyres.  We could easily have got our lap times down to under 3’43 without using our qualifying tyres, and according to the computer readouts I was well on the way to doing it when I got baulked going through the Ford chicane." The midnight blue Zytek qualified 9^th in the LMP2 category, and 29^th overall, after improving lap times by 3’’5 between Wednesday and Thursday night. 

This positive impression was reinforced during the warm up on Saturday morning, as the car moved up three places overall, leading Karim to say emphatically "the car is ace!" 

So as the grid was being set up the team was serene. After the start, Claude-Yves Gosselin executed the cautious instructions handed down by the wise heads in the pits, Lucien Monté / Franck Larue. .. But in the end he called them up on the radio to ask if he could up the pace, because he was lapping easily at 3’52 instead of the 3’58 initially planned! Proof if ever there was that confidence was running high in car No. 41 at that time.  

45 minutes into the race, Claude-Yves completed a slow lap. However, the problem was quickly resolved in the pits by a change of electronic control box and the Zytek Trading Performance car was soon on its way again. 

Still, the curtain was to come down on his hopes less than an hour later. As he was about to complete his 23^rd lap, Claude-Yves got shunted by Lola No. 12, with German driver Klaus Graf at the wheel, just as he was accelerating out of the fast left curve before the Ford chicane. "I was on a normal line, picking up speed out of the bend, when he ran into my real wheel, propelling me into the barrier on the left hand side of the track. Unluckily for me, there are no tyre piles at that point, only concrete! I soon realised the extent of the damage. When the mechanics arrived they could only confirm my worst fears. We had no choice but to sign the retirement sheet." 

Neither Adam Sharpe, who joined Trading Performance especially for this event, nor Karim Ojjeh got a chance to take the wheel in the race. The team was totally dejected. Team Boss Luc André said: "We were expecting all sorts of things, but not that. You can understand when this sort of thing happens if someone breaks too late but in the acceleration phase ... well, it's hard to take. It's a terrible shame because everything was going so well up to that point, and Le Mans was our No. 1 objective this season. So we are left with two more Le Mans Series races in which to repeat the good results we got in Barcelona and Spa." The whole team will be hoping to put this bad luck behind them out on the Nürburgring next August 17.

photo: JM Lemeur

Le Mans Series, Spa 1000 kms – May 11th 2008 

A promising result before the Le Mans Race

Last weekend, the Trading Performance Team was once again successful, finishing 5th in the LMP2 category at the Spa 1000 km, scoring 4 additional points in the process. After the mishaps of Monza, this result gave the team's morale a lift and with Le Mans just around the corner it couldnm't have come at a better time.   

The competitors in the Le Mans Series met up once again last weekend at the Spa-Francorchamps race track for the 3rd round of the 2008 season, the last chance to get in shape before Le Mans. During the three practice sessions on Friday and Saturday, the Trading Performance Team ensured the car was set-up and optimised for the track. It was also the chance for the 3 drivers to get familiar with the track at the wheel of the Zytek 07S.  

Karim Ojjeh who raced here last year in a similar car, quickly found his mark. Claude-Yves Gosselin was not so lucky, having his time at the wheel reduced and to a degree, handicapped by a muscular contraction in his neck. A smilng Julien Schroyen declared, “I am very happy to race here, in Belgium. But we must keep our mind on the job, as there are really many cars on the track. It is a challenge to overtake the GT cars. We also have to be careful with the Audi and Peugeot. With their silent Diesel engine, one can hardly hear them coming!” 

On Saturday afternoon, Karim was in charge of qualifying but was hindered in his task while the session was stopped twice by various incidents. He finally managed to put the  Zytek in 11th position in the LMP2 category by the end of qualifying. 

The race started on Sunday under warm sunshine with a crowd of 35.000 spectators with Julien starting in 21st position overall. The strategy adopted by the team for the first laps was to try and stay close to the leaders in their category. Karim did a double stint in the middle of the race, before passing the wheel to Claude-Yves for the final laps, Julien went through some scary moments when the gearbox obliged him to slow the pace. In front of his public, the young Belgian passed the chequered flag in 5th place in his category (12th overall), adding 4 more points to the Team's single point from Barcelona. With a total of 5 points, Trading Performance is now 7th in the championship. 

The following day, the team went back to work with a test day in Magny-Cours,  to familiarise the car and team with Adam Sharpe who will join the team for the 24 Hours of le Mans. The team will then return to LMS competition in August at the Nurburgring . 

Karim Ojjeh: “I did not have any problem during my first stint and my lap times were good. We were gaining places. Suddenly tremendous vibrations occurred as there was a lot of dead rubber sticking to my wheel arches. It got worst with every lap. I was quite happy as I passed the wheel to Claude-Yves while in 4th position and we eventually finished 5th. This is an excellent result. Let’s forget Monza and get ready for Le Mans!” 

Claude-Yves Gosselin : “Since the start of the week-end I had a strong pain in my neck which also created severe headaches. I was not really fit. I preferred doing only one stint and give the wheel back to Julien for the end of the race. Furthermore I don’t have such a good feeling with the Spa race track as I had a major crash in 1994 at the bottom of the Raidillon in a Opel-Lotus Formula. Since then I have some bad feelings every time I go through that portion of the track. It’s a pity as I quite like the surrounding.” 

Julien Schroyen: “I had a good pace toward the end of the race, when suddenly the gearbox caused some major problems ! I could not downshift. I had to do it the old way, all manually. It is really difficult as you have to split each movement, release the gas pedal and go down the speeds one by one. I lost quite some time. But, we eventually finished in 5th position. So overall this weekend has been very positive for us!”

photos: Jérôme Mugnier / Le Mans Racing

Le Mans Series, 1000 km of Monza - April 27th 2008 

What a let-down after so much effort!

The second round in the Le Mans Series was held at the Monza circuit, in Italy. The Swiss team, Trading Performance, has done a lot of development work on its Zytek 07S LM P2 prototype, and until Saturday its three drivers were very pleased with the car’s potential. But mechanical problems put an end to their hopes when a broken suspension forced them to retire on Sunday, two hours into the race.

In Catalonia, the team had won its first championship point. So the trio of drivers—Claude-Yves Gosselin from Normandy, Karim Ojjeh from Saudi Arabia, and the young Belgian Julien Schroyen—arrived on the great Monza track with plenty of motivation. During the first open practice sessions they found a car that was sound, fast, and easy to handle. They all praised the impressive work done by the engineering crew since Barcelona. For his second race at this level, Julien found his feet very quickly and turned in good times. His team-mates therefore decided to give him the responsibility of qualifying the car on Saturday afternoon. The junior member of the team showed he could handle it by placing 7^th in the LM P2 qualifying session. On Saturday night, Trading Performance’s morale was set fair.

But in the Sunday morning warm-up, Karim Ojjeh was unable to repeat his performance of the day before. He had to use his driving skills to make up for the prototype’s poor road holding. Right from the start, Claude-Yves also felt uneasy. He lost more than 2 seconds on the times he clocked in open practice. Karim took over and made up several places in the ranking, but was not pleased with his times. Coming out of the first chicane, he spun out, and upon restarting noticed a problem at the rear of the car. So he came back into the pits early. The report was unambiguous: the suspension was broken, and they had to abandon the race.

Trading Performance hopes to forget this disappointment at Spa, on May 10-11, during the next 1000-km race in this gripping Le Mans Series.

Claude-Yves Gosselin: “As soon as I started I felt that the car was behaving strangely. So I didn’t get into any battles during my turn at the wheel. Since I had driven over some debris scattered on the track, we first thought there might be a slow puncture, and the wheel was changed during the refueling. My impression was then confirmed by Karim, who got into a spin for no reason. He cut short his shift to assess the problem, and we found that two of the right rear suspension joints were broken. "

Karim Ojjeh: “During the race I didn’t recognize the car that I drove in practice. Its rear end moved around, and lost traction: I didn’t feel confident. When I spun out—fortunately in a slow chicane—I realized that there was a problem with the right rear. I brought the car back into the pits and we took the decision to drop out after we’d looked into the matter. I’m disappointed because the team has done an enormous amount of work since Barcelona to give us a car that delivered, and also for Julien, who couldn’t take part in the race.”

Julien Schroyen: “The team showed a lot of confidence in me by letting me take the wheel in qualifying. I had a very good lap because the car was going great, and I felt good. Obviously I’m very disappointed not to have driven on Sunday, especially as we had the right weapon to fight for about 3^rd to 7^th position in the LM P2 class. Monza left me wanting more, but I’m really hoping to catch up at Spa, where I’ll be driving on my home terrain. This will be a big challenge for me!”

Le Mans Series, 1000 km of Catalunya - April 6th 2008 

First round and first point

The Catalunya 1000 km, raced near Barcelona, was the opening round of the "Le Mans Series" Championship of 2008 vintage. This was the first meeting in a 5-race calendar. Trading Performance Team left Spain on a positive note, having earned their first championship point. 

The Swiss team made its grand debut in Le Mans Series, a fast growing championship, with no less than 50 cars on the entry list. During the winter period, the team decided to acquire a Zytek 07S prototype, a very efficient and reliable machine which finished second in the LM P2 category last year. On the pilots side, experience, with Claude-Yves Gosselin and Karim Ojjeh, who have both run a couple of 24 Hours of Le Mans races, was mixed with the youth of Belgian driver Julien Schroyen, who is just 21 years old. 

The three practice sessions of Friday and Saturday were devolved to the learning of the track and optimization of the setup prior to the race. Start was given under a bright sunshine. Claude-Yves went like an arrow and climbed through the field. Alas, by the 34th lap, the blue Zytek with the white Swiss cross was hurt by a GT2 Ferrari and pushed into the gravel pit. Fortunately, the car was not damaged and Claude-Yves so was ready to restart. However the marshals decided to maintain the car behind the safety rails and thus 5 laps were lost. When Claude-Yves could eventually restart, he shortly afterwards let Julien Schroyen at the wheel, whilst at the 27th place. 

The young Belgian driver started then a long stint, determined to follow precisely the team strategy, and set very consistent lap times. He managed to run a double stint and grabbed 24th place. It was then Karim Ojjeh’s turn to take place in the driver’s seat, and finish the job. When he crossed the finish line, he had reached 8th position in the LM P2 category and 17th overall. The team could thus be awarded with its first point of the season, with a little bit of sadness, however, since, without the 34th lap’s incident, a Top 5 finish in the category was probably achievable. In any case, this first race allowed the whole team to take their marks in the Series. The experience gained brings hope and optimism for the next round, scheduled in Monza on April, 27th… and also for Le Mans. 

Claude-Yves Gosselin : "After my season in Belgium last year, I am delighted to drive an LM P2 in Le Mans Series, with a team I know quite well. When you have raced such a car once, your only wish is to come back!” 

Julien Schroyen : "I am very pleased with my first Le Mans Series race. Thanks to the team’s engineers’ technical strategy, the car remained consistent and allowed us to do double stints without the need for tyres change." 

Karim Ojjeh : "Our technical bet should have paid off without the incident which happened in early stages. I am convinced that we are on the right track to great achievements this year. We now have to work and get good results."

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