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Super GT 500
9th and final round (07/08
November), Motegi
Tréluyer misses out on the honours!
 In
spite of the joint efforts of Benoît Tréluyer and his team-mate Satoshi
Motoyama, team Motul-Autech wasn’t able to retain its Super GT 500 title
last weekend. In the final round at Motegi, they ended up falling to
their opponents, literally under a barrage of blows, finishing fourth
and third respectively in the championship.
“We started the F1-style qualifying session having to change driver each
time,” said Tréluyer. “Satoshi took part in Q1 on hard tyres and then I
competed in Q2 on soft tyres before handing the car back to him for Q3.
Unfortunately he was a bit surprised by the grip level of the softer
tyres and could only set the fifth best time.”
For the Motul-Autech drivers, things were made worse by the fact that
their closest rivals, the #36 Lexus of Wakisaka and Lotterer set the
second best time, while its sister cars of #6 Ito and Wirdheim and #38
of Tachikawa and Lyons, were third and fourth.
“For Lexus the objective was clear,” said Benoît, “to prevent us at all
cost from finishing in third place, which would have been enough to give
Motoyama the drivers’ title and for Nissan to retain the constructors’
title. Before the race even started we knew that Tachikawa and Lyons
were going to block us and allow the #36 and #6 cars to escape. What we
didn’t know is that the #38 car would do it in such an aggressive
manner. After repeated contact, I ended up with a puncture during the
last lap of my stint. At that moment we lost everything.”
Ordinarily such contact during the race would draw the attention of the
race stewards, but not this time, as they decided the actions of the #38
car could be classed as ‘racing incidents’.
“We expected to be blocked, but that it would be a good battle, however
this was ridiculous,” said an angry Benoît. “After my puncture I tried
to get back to the pits as soon as possible and slightly damaged the
bodywork. At the end we crossed the line in 25th place. That means
Satoshi finishes in third place in the championship and I end up in
fourth.”
So Tréluyer’s 2009 season has now come to an end, and next year he will
try to bring the crown back to the Nissan’s camp. The long winter break
will see Benoît splitting his time between Japan, where he will take
part in off-season testing, and France, where he will look for a drive
in the Le Mans Series.
“The 2010 LMS calendar fits in well with that of Super GT in Japan, and
I have some good contacts with several top teams,” said Benoît. In
Japan, I am very happy to be with Nissan and they are very happy to have
me, so we will go for another campaign and try to regain the title next
season. As well as that there will also be the Le Mans 24 Hours.”
Before all this, there will be some time off in France and a return to
Benoît’s roots, riding his motorbikes on the country lanes between Lyon
and the village of Gordes where he lives in the Ardèche region.
It means that, even during the winter, our friend “Benoit-poy” – a
cartoon which can be found on
www.benoittreluyer.com – will still be around to chronicle his new
adventures for fans in Japan and beyond. “Benoit-poy,” Tréluyer smiles,
“will remain my biggest success of my season!” In 2010, there is now
doubt that his biggest successes will once again be on the track...
Super GT 500: Round
8 (17/18 October), Autopolis
Tréluyer hangs on for another podium!
 Team
Motul-Autech and its star driver Benoît Tréluyer once again shone at
Autopolis this weekend. After a podium finish at Fuji last month,
Tréluyer climbed to the second step of the rostrum once more to
strengthen the team’s position at the head of the championship
standings.
For the Frenchman and his team-mate Satoshi Motoyama, the weekend didn’t
start too well as they struggled to define their car’s optimum steup.
“We went in a different direction and it proved to be the wrong way to
go, so we had to revert to our base setup,” explained Benoît. “That
meant a lot of extra work for the team’s mechanics.”
Those mechanics did an excellent job, allowing Benoît to produce a super
lap in qualifying, as the car regained its maximum performance.
“They did really well and I was able to set the third best time, just
one tenth of a second off pole position, despite carrying 63kg of
success ballast,” said the Frenchman.
Having qualified the team’s Nissan GT-R, Benoît had the honour of
starting the race, a task he hasn’t performed much this season to avoid
any chance of picking up any more penalty points.
“Rolling starts take quite a bit of practice and because my team-mate
has done most of them this season I messed it up a little bit!”
Benoît lost a place and reached the first corner in fourth position. He
matched the pace of the leaders early on until he began to lose some
grip at the rear of the car.
“The tyres had started to blister,” he explained. “The ambient
temperature was much higher than the previous day and, coupled with the
63kg of ballast we were carrying, the tyres began to suffer.”
As the leaders began to catch the slower GT300 class cars, the team
opted to call Tréluyer into the pits for his pit stop, which included
refuelling, earlier than planned. That quick decision proved to be a
stroke of tactical genius.
“After the top three came in for fuel, Motoyama, who had taken over from
me, leapt up to second place. That is excellent news for the
championship because he now leads with 78 points.”
Having missed one race due to suspension, Benoît has 73 points and sits
joint second in the standings along with the pairing of Lotterer and
Wakisaka.
“If they win the final round, then we have to finish second. We
therefore have a good chance to keep both the drivers’ and constructors’
titles with the team,” concluded Benoît who, after two consecutive
second places, is targeting the top step of the podium for the season
finale at Motegi on 07/08 November.
Formula Nippon: 8th
and final round (26/27 September), Sugo
Tréluyer bids
farwell!
 After
making his debut in 2002, Benoît Tréluyer’s career in Formula Nippon
came to an end at the weekend. The 2006 champion, who has 11 wins to his
name, leaves the category as runner-up in the standings for a third time
having also finishing second in 2003 and 2007.
No doubt the team Lawson-Impul driver would have preferred to say his
goodbyes to the series in slightly more comfortable circumstances than
last weekend, where a nasty muscle tear hampered him throughout the
meeting.
“On Saturday morning during free practice I tore a muscle in my back,”
explained Tréluyer. “The car suddenly oversteered and I made a sharp
movement trying to catch it. It was a bad start to the weekend because I
was unable to finish the session as I could no longer hold my head up
properly.”
For qualifying the French driver had to tape his helmet to his Hans
device just to be able to drive.
“For me, it was out of the question to throw in the towel as that would
have been disrespectful to the fans,” said Tréluyer. “In Q2 I was equal
eighth fastest with another driver and the officials made a mistake and
chose me to take part in Q3 even though the other driver set his time
one lap before me! In Q3 I was seventh fastest, but I was relegated to
ninth on the grid after a very strict application of the sporting
regulations!”
Benoit made a fine start to the race the following day using a non-stop
strategy from the fifth row of the grid and making progress up the field
in his typical style.
“It began to rain lightly,” said Benoit, “and that allowed me to climb
up to second place. When the rain got heavier, everybody pitted for wet
tyres. The team called me in but I couldn’t get into the pit lane as a
car blocked me at the entry. During the next lap the rain seemed to be
much lighter, so I made the decision to stay on slicks.”
Unfortunately, the rain didn’t cease and the Frenchman started to slip
down the order.
“Ten laps from the finish I was still in sixth place when someone tried
to pass me and forced me to run wide into a very wet part of the track.
I lost three more places there and finally finished ninth in the race,
but still second in the championship.”
Tréluyer therefore leaves Formula Nippon at the top of his profession
and by his own volition.
“I’m 32-years-old now and I think it is time to retire from driving
single-seaters,” he admitted. “I have had some wonderful times in
Formula Nippon during the past eight seasons. I have won the title,
finished second three times and won eleven races, but now is the time to
leave it to the younger generation. I will now concentrate completely on
GT racing in Japan and prototype racing in Europe or the United States.”
Benoit also admitted that when he made the decision to stay on slicks in
the rain, it was partly to treat his numerous supporters to a final
spectacle!
“For my last Formula Nippon race I wanted to amuse myself and entertain
the fans. I think I succeeded!”
The toughest job of the weekend for Benoit actually came at the end of
the race, as he revealed his decision to stop racing in Formula Nippon
to his mechanics.
“I said nothing beforehand because I didn’t want the race to turn into a
leaving party,” he explained. “However I admit that there were tears in
my eyes when Igarachi, my chief mechanic for the past six years, fell
into my arms!”
Tears which Benoit’s cartoon character ‘Benoit-poy’ will no doubt shed
in the next episode to be found at
www.benoittreluyer.com
SUPER GT
500: Round 7 (12/13 September), Fuji
Tréluyer’s return hails podium finish
 Benoît
Tréluyer returned to the familiar surroundings of Team Motul-Autech at
Fuji Speedway at the weekend where he helped the reigning champions
regain the championship top spot thanks to a second place finish.
In a show of support following the penalty that kept him out of the
previous round, the squad asked Benoît to qualify their Nissan GT-R that
he shares with team mate Satoshi Motoyama. “Nissan were adamant that I
regain my status as Number 1 driver. I therefore took part in the
qualifying session which was held in rainy conditions. We weren’t
expecting to do that well considering the 48 kilos of success ballast
onboard. I managed the third best time before the #8 NSX, which
qualified second, lost ten places on the grid following an engine
change, promoting us to the front row.”
Sunday morning brought with it the first dry running of the weekend,
prompting the entire field to take part in the warm-up in an effort to
find a good set-up and correct tyre choice, a task hampered by a still
slightly damp circuit.
“My team mate started the race with a full tank of fuel and
hard-compound tyres,” explained Tréluyer. “Despite finding it a bit
difficult to maintain the front runners’ pace during the opening laps he
still coped reasonably well and finished the stint only 10 seconds off
the lead.”
Benoît returned to the action with a new set of hard-compound tyres as
the track continued to dry. He exited the pits nose-to-tail with the
third placed runner.
“He came out in front of me but I managed to get past and reel in second
position. Unfortunately, it was impossible to overtake after Lexus and
Honda, believing that Nissan is too fast, were authorized to use bigger
engine restrictors.”
Despite a straight line speed deficit, Tréluyer was able regain time
lost through the corners. Following the car ahead closely however was
impacting badly on his downforce levels and subsequently hurting the
tyres. To have any chance of finishing the race, he would need to back
off and preserve the rubber.
“With only five laps to go, I started to push as much as possible and
managed to re-catch the Lexus. I think he must have got a bit confused
amongst the GT300 traffic, allowing me to pass on the inside, although
it was quite close until he darted to the left. I just carried on my way
and finished only 1.7 seconds behind the winner, Team Firman-Isawa.”
After the race, Team Tom’s made an official complaint to race stewards
but were unable to prove that contact had been made, leaving the final
result to stand.
“We are 10 points ahead in the championship with two races left. As
there won’t be any ballast applied at the final round we are in a good
position,” added Tréluyer, his attention having switched to the
penultimate race at Autopolis on October 17/18.
Formula Nippon:
Round 7 (29/30 August), Autopolis
Tréluyer concedes the title
 Poor
qualifying and a strategic race-day mistake have ended Benoît Tréluyer’s
hopes of capturing this year’s Formula Nippon crown at Autopolis. During
the season finale in Sugo at the end of September, the Frenchman will
attempt to clinch the runners-up spot for a third time, instead of
fighting for a second title.
The Lawson-Impul driver’s chances of fighting for victory suffered a
set-back in qualifying when what seemed like a minor inconvenience at
the time would ultimately prove disastrous.
“I was on my flying lap when unfortunately I got stuck behind my team
mate who was warming up his tyres,” says Benoît glumly. “I had to abort
my lap in order to try again next time round…”
Yellow flags during that second attempt however would see his and
championship rival Loïc Duval’s best laps scratched from the
classification.
“I did my best lap under yellow flags which, when disallowed, dropped me
down the classification. I found myself only ninth on the grid, just
ahead of Duval. At that moment, there was still at least a small hope of
fighting for the championship…”
At the start, Benoît made a good getaway to move up to sixth by the end
of the opening lap.
“I got stuck behind a slower competitor,” he continued. “I should have
stopped a bit earlier, but we made a mistake with the strategy.”
Duval, who had stopped five laps earlier, was able to jump his fellow
countryman after the first stint, aided no doubt by Benoît losing time
during his stop.
“In addition to this,” he points out, “the guy who blocked me out on the
track pitted at the same time. I was adamant that I would come out in
front of him so I tried to get the maximum traction when I restarted…and
stalled! That lost us even more time restarting the engine.”
The outcome? 32 seconds adrift of the leaders. Nevertheless, with his
championship chances hanging by a thread, Benoît had to go for broke and
proceeded to mount a stunning comeback. Setting lap record after lap
record and reeling in those ahead at the rate of one second per lap, he
eventually rejoined the leading group, overtaking two rivals on his way
to eighth. Sadly, his effort would ultimately fall agonisingly short.
“I needed to overtake a third car in order to remain in the title chase.
I scored one point but with Duval third, he secured the title. Meanwhile
Takashi Kogure, his Nakajima team mate, won the race and is now only
three points behind me.”
Formula Nippon: Round 6 (8/9 August), Motegi
Tréluyer keeps on fighting!
 The
Lawson-Impul driver has done it again! Despite trailing in raw
performance compared to his rivals at the Nakajima team, the Frenchman
still scored his fifth podium finish of the season at Motegi on Sunday
to remain very much in the championship hunt. For Benoît, whose
confidence is back to its best, anything is possible…
“We arrived at Motegi with new shock absorbers and set-ups to try and
close the gap to the Nakajima team. Unfortunately, the free practice
session was quite disappointing as we only succeeded in matching our old
times. So, for the qualifying session, the decision was made to return
to our basic set-up,” he confirmed post-race on Sunday night.
“In Q1, I only just made it through to second qualifying thanks to a
poor set of tyres. I then set the fifth fastest time in Q2, but then in
Q3 made a mistake in the fast esses and lost at least one tenth. I found
myself seventh on the grid, although I wasn’t too worried as we are
always better in race conditions.”
The next day, Tréluyer made a good start and was running fifth before a
penalty for race leader Takashi Kogure promoted him up to fourth. Having
started with full fuel tanks, Benoît managed to contain the chasing pack
of lighter cars during the opening stages whilst the three drivers ahead
of him pulled away at a rate of three tenths per lap.
“For sure, I started to think that they weren’t running with the same
high fuel load as me so I did everything I could to save my tyres whilst
trying not to lose too much ground. Unfortunately, at my first stop, I
found out that they did have the same level of fuel after all.”
For the second stint, Tréluyer changed his strategy and began to attack.
While pulling clear of those behind however, he was unable to make an
impression on the top three and decided that securing a result might be
a better idea. Indeed, with chief title rival Loïc Duval in second,
damage limitation looked like the best course of action.
“On the last lap, I was cruising in fourth place when the driver ahead
of me started having gear selection problems and was slowing down. I
overtook him and inherited third, meaning that in the end I only lost
two points to Duval. I’m now six points behind him in the championship
but because damper development should be banned for the last two races,
we still have a real chance of getting on terms with the Nakajima team.
I will start with a disadvantage, but I am confident. I have won the
championship before so have nothing left to prove, which is not the case
for Duval. Bar one race where we suffered mechanical problems, I have
been on the podium at every round since the beginning of the season.
Super GT
500: Round 5 (25/26 July), Sugo
Tréluyer dominates
to re-take championship lead
 This
season reigning champions Motul-Autech and its star driver Benoit
Treluyer haven’t had much luck when it comes to penalties and they
received another in the pre-race warm up at Sugo, before winning the
race a few hours later.
For Tréluyer, the trouble started with some on-track debris which was
about to cause him a few problems.
“The yellow flags had been out for five laps because of a small amount
of debris on the track,” explained the Frenchman. “I was following a
GT300 car and just before the green flag, I moved alongside without
overtaking. Unfortunately, the driver slowed down suddenly and I
couldn’t help but pass him before reaching the flag. As a result I was
given a two place grid penalty.”
The Nissan GT-R of Tréluyer and Motoyama therefore dropped from the
second to the third row of the grid, forcing Satoshi Motoyama to take
the start with a bit less fuel in order to make overtaking easier during
the first few laps.
“It was a good strategy, but Satoshi wasn’t able to exploit it as much
as we’d hoped as his tyres quickly were too soft and unstable. He had to
ease off until lap 16 when he was able to find a better rhythm,” said
Benoit.
The race was just 25 laps old when the first drops of rain started to
fall. Motoyama immediately dived into the pits on lap 27 to hand over to
Benoit, with the team opting for hard intermediate tyres in the hope
that the rain wouldn’t get heavier.
“During the first few laps I had to be careful because it wasn’t that
wet on the racing line,” explained Tréluyer. “Then the rain started
coming down heavier, a bit too heavily in fact, and I found myself in
second place quite a long way behind the Lexus in the lead, which had
come out of the pits on extreme wets during the heaviest of the
downpour. We knew that the really heavy rain wouldn’t last though, so I
stayed out on track and on intermediates I managed to keep in touch,
losing just half a second each lap.”
The rain soon eased off and Benoit started to close the gap by three
seconds per lap. After closing the gap to the leader, Treluyer passed
the Toyota of Ito and soon pulled out a gap of 26 seconds. On the advice
of the team, he backed off to look after his tyres, but still crossed
the finish line in first position to regain the championship lead.
“We now have 43 points which means we’ll be carrying 86 kilograms of
success ballast at the next round. Everyone will then have their
ballasts halved for the last part of the season.”
Another victory should make for some happy adventures for ‘Benoit-poy’ –
a cartoon which can be watched on
www.benoittreluyer.com - where the incident during the warm-up may
be featured!
Formula Nippon
Round 5
(11/12 July), Suzuka
Confidence-boosting podium for Tréluyer!
 After
three weekends marked by misfortune, Benoît Tréluyer enjoyed his return
to the podium at Suzuka, as his luck seems to have finally changed for
the better.
“We found a good set up during free practice and then I did well in Q1,”
said Tréluyer. “In Q2 I wanted to change something but it didn’t work
for me, and then in Q3, due to a misunderstanding between my mechanics,
I ended up with a car which, at the front end, had a ride height which
was higher at one side than the other! I just had to deal with it…..”
Having run third quickest behind the dominant Nakajima cars of Takashi
Kogure and Loïc Duval since the beginning of the weekend, Benoît managed
to salvage sixth place on the grid.
“I made a good start which allowed me to jump into third place at the
first corner,” explained Tréluyer. “I even had the chance to take second
place from Duval but I decided not to take the risk as I knew his car
was quicker than mine anyway.”
While the two Nakajima drivers sailed into the distance at the head of
the field, Benoît was able to pull out an advantage on the rest of the
pack.
“I found myself all alone! At the beginning of my second stint, I was
informed that the leader Kogure was having problems with his paddle
shift. I started to push like crazy and was almost with him when his
gearbox started working again.”
The Japanese driver was then able to return to his previous pace and
pull clear, leaving Benoît to have a solitary run to the finish.
“I was ten seconds clear of my nearest rival so it wasn’t necessary to
push.”
Third place at the chequered flag saw Benoît make a confidence-boosting
return to the podium.
“I’m second in the championship, four points behind Duval, so I’m quite
optimistic for the remainder of the season. The hard work of the last
few weeks is beginning to bear fruit. Even though there’s still a big
gap in performance between us and the Nakajima team, we are reducing it.
We are back on track and the next round at Motegi should confirm that
we’re heading in the right direction. We haven’t had time to test
everything that we wanted to this weekend and we have some further
evolutions in the pipeline that should give us another step forward.”
While the Nakajima team continue to dominate, team Lawson-Impul are
working hard on their riposte!
I
Round 4
(27/28 June), Fuji
Tréluyer’s run of bad luck continues
 Two
weeks after his terrible accident at the Le Mans 24 Hours and just one
since gearbox problems struck in Super GT 500, Benoît Tréluyer endured
another weekend blighted by bad luck.
“Even though qualifying did not go well,” he said after the race, “the
rain gave me an opportunity to make amends, which I was able to do
during the first laps until my gear selector developed a problem…”
Benoît was forced into the pits to have his paddle shift fixed. The
several laps lost as a result put paid to a points scoring finish and
although he did return to the circuit, it was only to make sure that the
gearbox was fully working ahead of the next round.
It was an unfortunate end to what was supposedly a fact-finding weekend.
“Two days earlier,” he insisted, “I arrived here with the firm intention
of discovering the Nakajima team’s secret as their cars are faster by a
second a lap compared to the rest of the grid.”
Free practice’s objective was a simple one: to test new set-ups in order
to reduce the performance gap between his Lawson-Impul team’s single
seaters and those run by the ex-Grand Prix driver.
“Therefore we tried totally different set-ups on the Saturday morning
during free practice and found out some interesting options,” he
continued. “For qualifying, we continued in the same direction. In Q1,
the handling was not so good with a lot of oversteer and no traction. In
Q2, I went out with a new set-up which was unfortunately too different
following a misunderstanding with my engineer. This time, I had a little
bit too much understeer but still without any traction. When I arrived
in the ‘A’ corner, the car understeered so much that I put two wheels on
the grass.”
As a result, eleventh fastest was the best Benoît could manage, leaving
him desperate for the sort of heavy rain only Mount Fuji can conjure.
“For the warm-up, we came back to the set-ups which we had during the
first races. The car was behaving well and I was quicker than my team
mates, but not quick enough to challenge the Nakajimas. Then, at the
start, the heavens opened and I sensed a chance of a comeback.”
Hope quickly turned to despair though for Benoît thanks to his gear
selector problem.
“I didn’t score any points,” he underlined, “but on top of that Loïc
Duval, my closest championship rival, took the point for pole position
and the ten for the win.”
Stopping the Nakajima-run machines, Formula Nippon’s answer to Brawn GP
in F1, now becomes an absolute necessity for Benoît who expects the
upcoming round to be just as difficult.
“We will suffer in two weeks in Suzuka where the Nakajimas will again be
very competitive. Saying that, this weekend was not a complete waste of
time as we have collected some data which will be very helpful in the
future. I have full confidence in our capacity to root out the thing
which will help us to reduce the gap.”
It’s a challenge which Benoît is prepared to take if and when his recent
spate of poor luck finally deserts him.
“As we cannot test in between races,” he concluded, “we had to take
risks to try and keep pace with the Nakajimas. As we had a comfortable
lead in the championship, we decided it was a risk worth taking.”
With his championship advantage slashed to just a single point by
compatriot Duval at Fuji however, it will be imperative for the team to
bounce back strongly at Suzuka.
Super
GT 500
Round
4 (20/21 June), Sepang
Pole position but no luck for Tréluyer
 It
should have been so much better. Having qualified on pole, Benoît
Tréluyer and Satoshi Motoyama’s hopes of victory in Malaysia were high.
That’s until second gear broke on their Motul-Autech Nissan GT-R during
the installation lap. Determined to make amends after starting from the
pit lane, the pair would battle back through the field to eventually
finish eighth.
Benoît arrived back in Asia just a few days after suffering his terrible
accident at Le Mans. “I arrived in Sepang on Thursday night. After the
accident at Le Mans, the doctors advised me to relax as much as possible
before flying. I delayed my flight and I arrived on Thursday night. It
was a bit hard on Friday, but all went well from Saturday onwards. I put
what happened behind me…”
Free practice went well and when qualifying arrived, Motoyama had his
sights firmly set on pole position.
“He did an excellent lap,” said Benoît. “As we had chosen a softer
compound for the tyres, we should have been third or fourth but Satoshi
managed to do a crazy lap!”
Unfortunately, their hard work would ultimately count for nothing. The
next day, a broken second gear sustained during the installation lap saw
the mechanics called into action earlier than planned as the car was
pushed back into the garage.
“They did an extraordinary job,” continued the Frenchman. “They worked
so fast to change the ratio that we were ready well before the lights
went out.”
Despite the speed of their work, Motoyama, taking the first stint, would
have to start from the pit lane and behind the GT300 field.
“It meant that Motoyama started 50 seconds behind the first GT500
runners,” continued Benoît. “He climbed back up the order step by step
and had already overtaken two of the 16 GT500s by the time I got in.”
Once behind the wheel, Benoît pushed like hell, continuing his team
mate’s impressive work to maintain their recovery back through the field
and eventually cross the finish line eighth.
“During my stint, I was the quickest out there by more than a second per
lap,” he said. “It is a shame we could not start from pole position as
we could have won easily. OK, when you see the circumstances, it is not
too bad. We finished eighth, practically in the gearbox of the seventh
placed car and two seconds shy of sixth. Five more laps and I could have
crossed the line in 6th place.”
Now completely reassured physically after having to drive in the
stifling heat and humidity of the taxing Malaysian weather, Benoît turns
his attentions to round four of the Formula Nippon championship at Fuji,
Japan, this coming weekend.
Le Mans 24 Hours
(13/14 June)
Tréluyer survives massive Le Mans accident
 It
was shortly after 4am when Pescarolo Sport’s Peugeot 908 HDI FAP became
the victim of a serious accident on the run down towards La Chapelle,
just before the S-bends of Tertre Rouge. The extremely violent impact
left the car completely destroyed. Rescue teams were quickly on the
scene and extracted Benoît from the cockpit, although the Frenchman did
not lose consciousness. After being taken to the track’s medical centre,
he was released two hours later miraculously unharmed, save for his
bruised pride.
“Despite the contact with the #7 Peugeot in the pits at the beginning of
the race, which cost us a lap and a half, a place on the podium was
still a realistic opportunity,” explains Benoît.
“We were in fourth after 13 hours of racing with my team mates Jean-Christophe
Boullion and Simon Pagenaud and we could maintain a good, consistent
pace between 3m29s and 3m33s, depending on the traffic. I feel very
sorry for the team who may not be given the same opportunity again, for
the mechanics who worked hard all year, for Peugeot who had believed in
us and for the sponsors.”
Benoît doesn’t speak about his own immense disappointment. Instead, his
eyes begin to well at the sight of an approaching Henri Pescarolo, his
team boss, having been discharged from the medical centre. The four
times 24 Hours winner, a legendary figure of Le Mans, does what he can
to comfort his driver, albeit in vain.
“The team had called me back to the pits for a scheduled fuel stop. They
also took the opportunity to clean out the side pods, as I was forced to
put two wheels on the grass to avoid a GT2 Ferrari,” Benoît goes on.
“While doing this, the engineers noticed the front splitter was damaged
and decided to change it. I knew that the car’s behaviour would change
because of this and as I returned to the track, I remained cautious. The
car’s balance was good with a little more oversteer than before, but not
too much.
“Then I started to get back into a normal rhythm but as I approached the
La Forêt curves the car suddenly went light and snapped sideways. I did
not have the chance to be slowed down by the gravel trap as the car took
off straight away.”
Benoît was lucky, very lucky. During the crash, his car hit the barriers
no less than three times before coming to a halt.
“I
don’t know what happened,” he mumbles. “Maybe I should have been more
cautious for another lap but the car’s behaviour was fine.”
After the impact, Benoit didn’t panic. “It was best not to move. I let
the rescue team do their job and they put me in an inflatable stretcher
before being taken to the medical centre for further checks. I don’t
know if I hit the guard rail with the car’s roof or undertray first. The
aerials on the car are fine, but the windscreen is broken!”
A
definite cause of the accident won’t be known until a full analysis of
the telemetry has been assessed.
“We were pacing ourselves nicely,” repeats Benoit one last time, his
eyes now watering. “Our pace wasn’t as high as the official Peugeots. We
were happy playing the waiting game...”
“Until 4:03am on Sunday morning,” said Henri Pescarolo, “the team were
following the progress of our cars with great enthusiasm. Our 908 HDI
FAP was then in fourth place with the podium in sight. Jean-Christophe
Boullion, who had started the race, Simon Pagenaud and Benoît Tréluyer
demonstrated themselves to be just as capable as that of the official
team’s drivers. Unfortunately, in the middle of the night, Benoît
suddenly left the track and violently hit the railings at Tertre Rouge,
for reasons that are still unclear. The impact was very violent, but
luckily Benoît came out unhurt. Benoît was fine, but the accident was a
huge disappointment for the whole team...”
Treluyer will be back in action next Sunday, this time at Sepang in
Malaysia for the third round of the Japanese Super GT Championship. It
will be a chance to regain his morale and, perhaps, to heal a scarred
soul.
Formula Nippon
Round 3 (30/31 May), Motegi
Tréluyer extends
championship lead
 Benoit
Tréluyer made it three podiums from the opening three rounds of the
Formula Nippon championship at Motegi at the weekend, as the reigning
Super GT champion extended his lead in the title standings as his
closest rival failed to score points.
Arriving back in Japan on Thursday night from a first test of the
Pescarolo Sport Peugeot 908 HDi at Magny-Cours ahead of the forthcoming
Le Mans 24 Hours, Benoit just had time to visit his home in Tokyo before
heading to Motegi for the weekend’s first practice sessions. Qualifying
proved to be a challenge, with Benoit posting just the 11th fastest
time.
“We had a bad set up and a lack of grip,” said a frustrated Treluyer on
Saturday night. “The situation is made to look even worse as the
Nakajima team is performing like Brawn GP in F1 at the moment and is a
full second faster than anyone else. We knew they’d found something but
we didn’t think it would be that much.”
With Loic Duval, Benoit’s main championship rival, on the front row,
Tréluyer had no other option than to thoroughly analyse his telemetry
until late into the night with his engineers, eventually finding the
heart of the problem behind his relative lack of performance.
Although the weather looked menacing at the start of the race, all the
drivers opted for slick tyres. After ten laps, the heavens opened and
everyone dived into the pits for wets. Already up to eighth position,
Benoit used the conditions to charge up the pack and was up to third
when the rain stopped and he returned to the pits for slicks.
“I
stopped a bit late and I lost a position,” he explained. “Then the rain
came back and we all had to return to the pits. Duval had already
tangled with Lotterer at the start so I didn’t need to do anything silly
at a track that neither the team nor I have a good record at. With Loic
out of the race, my objective was to score points. I didn’t take any
risks on cold tyres when I was exiting the pits and instead of attacking
I just tried to pressurise my rivals into a mistake.”
This proved to be a good strategy as Benoit ended up climbing back into
second place behind the race winning Nakajima driver Takashi Kogure, who
previously had just two championship points.
“I
am now 12 points clear in the championship,” said a delighted Tréluyer
after the race. “It’s an excellent position to be in ahead of the next
round at Mount Fuji, which is a circuit we know we’re good at.”
The Lawson-Impul team are also pulling out all the stops to close the
small technical advantage of the Nakajima team before the race on 26
June.
“We are getting closer,” said Tréluyer. “We have a 12 point lead so we
have some time to react.”
On
Monday morning, Benoit, his wife Melanie and son Jules, are heading back
to France in order to prepare for the Le Mans 24 Hours on 13 and 14
June.
“The coming weeks will be intense,” he laughed. “At the end of the week
we need to practice driver changes, which we couldn’t do at Magny-Cours
and then we have the long Le Mans week. Just after the event we will
have to rush back to Malaysia to compete in Round 3 of the Super GT
championship in Sepang then return to Tokyo before heading to Fuji for
Round 4 of the Formula Nippon championship. I won’t have much time to
breathe, but I am not complaining!! Lots of drivers would love to have
such a programme!”
All this means that the adventures of “Benoit-poy” – the cartoon
starring Tréluyer which can be watched on
www.benoittreluyer.com and which is now also broadcast on a Japanese
TV network, will be very amusing…
Formula Nippon
2nd round
(16/17 May), Suzuka
Tréluyer increases his championship
lead!
 Benoît
Tréluyer increased his lead at the top of the Formula Nippon
championship thanks to a runners-up spot in the second round at Suzuka
on Sunday.
Saturday’s qualifying session had been a closely fought and
unpredictable affair thanks to rain showers in Q1. The reigning Super GT
champion mastered the conditions though to finish fastest before
comfortably making the final knockout session with the fifth fastest
time in Q2.
With the rain having subsided for Q3, Tréluyer was able to go even
faster and topped the session to grab pole position, despite trying to
be conservative! “We made some set-up changes after Q2,” said the
Lawson-Impul driver, “but were careful not to be too aggressive because
we are still learning how the car works.”
Sunday morning brought with it dry conditions which Tréluyer used to
fine tune his race set-up.
“With a full fuel load and used tyres, we weren’t that fast but still
competitive enough to be confident. Ordinarily, it is quite difficult to
find a good set-up at Suzuka because of the diversity of fast and slow
corners, but it is even harder this season due to the phenomenal amount
of grip generated by the new tarmac on the first part of the track.”
In
true Suzuka fashion however, the rain returned just two minutes before
the start. With the entire field now opting for wet weather tyres,
Benoît and his Lawson-Impul squad did likewise, adding a minimum risk
set-up to the car to compromise for the lower grip levels.
At
the start, Tréluyer made the most of his pole position to a build a
comfortable cushion in the first 15 laps over the chasing pack. With his
fuel levels getting ever lower however, so the car’s weight decreased,
increasing the ride height which had a dramatic effect on his levels of
grip. Loic Duval’s set-up was better prepared for this and the Frenchman
was able to peg the gap to his fellow countryman.
“I
maintained the gap back to him until the middle of the race before
making a small mistake at the exit of the hairpin due to a lack of
traction,” confessed Benoît at the finish. “Loic was able to get on the
inside where he was quicker and I did not want to take any risk.
Straight away I radioed my pitwall to ask to stop and refuel, although I
had to wait one more lap. I’d asked for a new set of wet tyres as I
didn’t know whether I had blistered the rears. I was stationary for
about twenty seconds, which was a few more than Duval who didn’t change
tyres. I have no regrets as he was quicker towards the end of the race
anyway.”
Holding on to take second, Tréluyer’s excellent result moves him onto 19
points, actually increasing his lead at the top of the standings to four
from Duval.
“Except for the Nakajima team, who seem to have a good understanding of
how to make the Swift more stable over the bumps, everyone else is still
learning,” explained Tréluyer. “The chassis has more aero grip than the
Lola from last year, and we need to integrate the mechanical grip
without destroying that generated by the aero. We’ll be working on this
for the Motegi round in two weeks.”
An
intensive fortnight now follows for Benoît who will be busy again at
Suzuka this coming Wednesday and Thursday for test days with his Nissan
Super GT squad before flying back to native France.
“After a quick visit to the Pescarolo Sport factory in Le Mans to have
my seat fitting, I’ll be at Magny-Cours for my first taste of Peugeot’s
908 HDI,” he added. “We’ll have two days there to run through a
programme, discovering the car and working on set-ups ahead of Le
Mans.”
Super GT500
Round 3 (03/04 May), Fuji
First points and win in 2009 for Tréluyer!
 No
incident nor a slow puncture was going to deny Benoît Tréluyer from
crossing the finish line at the third round of the 2009 Super GT500
championship at Fuji on Sunday. Indeed, any other mishaps at the weekend
had already happened on the Friday before he even entered the
circuit...
“Not very professional to arrive at a circuit without toothbrush or
cash”, laughed Benoît on Monday night at the platform of Gotemba train
station. “Luckily, I was able to remember my helmet...”
Not that he needed it come Saturday. Serving a penalty handed out at the
previous GT race in Suzuka, Treluyer remained sidelined for the opening
practice sessions for his indiscretion.
“I was nevertheless authorised to take part in qualifying so the
stewards could check that I was within the mandatory 107% rule,” he
explained. “But, I was not allowed to do the ‘Super Lap’ which my team
mate, Satoshi Motoyama, did it instead without too many
difficulties!...”
Running with no ballast, Motoyama made the most of his team mate’s
absence by securing pole position in the Motul-Autech-run Nissan GT-R,
although he had to dig deep to keep the group of Toyota SC 430s at bay
around the manufacturer’s home venue.
“I made some set-up changes during Sunday morning’s warm-up to adapt the
car to my driving style and, especially, to the heavier fuel load,”
continued Benoît. “We were okay, but not by much!”
With two mandatory pit stops and driver changes, the Fuji 400kms looked
set to be an unpredictable and competitive race. With Benoît unable to
afford the luxury of incurring more penalties, the team entrusted him
with the long middle stint while Motoyama would take care of the two
shorter runs at the beginning and end.
“Satoshi maintained his lead at the first corner and remained there
until he caught the GT300 backmarkers, when he was overtaken by Oliveira
and Ara’s Yokohama-shod Nissan GT-R. He’d also made contact with another
car while lapping in traffic and decided to come in earlier than
planned. He pitted on lap 26, which turned out to be the same lap as the
lead GT-R, although the team’s good pit work meant that I rejoined just
in front.
“Meanwhile, the Lotterer/Wakisaka Tom’s Toyota had been on a longer
strategy and, having stopped some laps later, managed to rejoin the
track ahead of me. With a car still heavy on fuel and tyres already a
good ten laps old, it was better to take it easy. I tried two or three
overtaking manoeuvres, but I did not want to risk incurring another
penalty, so I concentrated on keeping a high rhythm, relying on the
quality of the team’s final pit stop to find the advantage.
“I eventually pitted a lap after the Toyota and the mechanics did a
fantastic job which allowed Satoshi to rejoin the track with a lead of
10 seconds. In the last stint, he was able to manage the advantage
before being delayed in traffic and caught by the pursuing Toyota with
only two laps to go. It was close, but he held on. The two were running
nose to tail at the line.”
At the end of an enthralling race, Tréluyer and Motoyama’s victory was
enough to hoist them back up to sixth in the championship standings with
20 points. The win comes just in time for the series’ month-long break,
returning a week after the Le Mans 24 Hours in mid-June for the fourth
round at Sepang, Malaysia.
Before returning to Gotemba train station, Benoît, trophy tucked under
one arm, was required at the local police station following an
altercation with a 4x4 in his hotel car park.
“The driver reversed without checking, and his vehicle climbed up the
bonnet of my rental car,” concluded the Frenchman. “After the race, I
had to pay a visit to the police station to sign some paperwork. It was
more like signing autographs as, in fact, the policemen had lost all the
documents…”
The next instalment of the video animation series “Benoit-poy”, which
features characters and stories inspired by Benoît’s real life racing
adventures, looks set to be a classic. Catch it on Benoît’s blog online
at
www.benoittreluyer.com.
Super GT: Round 2 (18/19 April), Suzuka
Slow puncture costs Tréluyer victory
 Three
weeks after the opening round of the series in Okayama, the Super GT
championship returned to action at the weekend in Suzuka. For reigning
champion Benoit Tréluyer, it was the chance to score his first points of
2009 after a number of incidents costs him a result in the season
opener. Unfortunately, a slow puncture ended his hopes of taking the
win.
At one of Japan’s most famous and celebrated circuits, the Frenchman and
his team-mate Satoshi Motoyama showed their race-winning potential in
qualifying by putting their Team Motul-Autech Nissan GT-R on pole
position.
“This weekend it was Satoshi’s turn to qualify and he did a superb job
by setting the best time,” said Benoit. “The following day he found the
early part of the race quite difficult because the car was very heavy as
we were carrying so much fuel, but he found a good rhythm as the GT-R
got lighter. At the driver change he handed over to me with a ten second
lead which I was able to increase as I left the pits. The car was
perfect and our choice of hard tyres meant that I could push without the
rubber degrading quickly and I was able to improve our advantage out
front. It looked like we were cruising to victory, but I wasn’t
expecting a slow puncture ten laps from home.”
A 14 second lead quickly began to melt away as Tréluyer came under
increasing pressure from the Tom’s Toyota SC430.
“I didn’t even try to defend my position,” admitted the Nissan works
driver. “I even lifted off to allow him to pass before 130R.
Unfortunately I didn’t see the Team Cerumo car which was between me and
the grass. They put two wheels off the track and I was accused of a
dangerous manoeuvre!”
As often happens in motorsport, the titleholders, especially if they are
among the favourites to win, receive special attention from the stewards
and issues such as these often turn into penalties.
“I have never done anything to warrant any penalty points in five
years,” said Benoit. “Now I have had seven in the space of just a few
weeks: three during winter testing after a small altercation with
another driver, two during the first round after having contact with a
competitor and two more here! The problem is that the more penalty
points you accumulate, the less you can participate during the weekend.
This weekend I was not allowed to take part in free practice and now at
the next round I will be banned from qualifying. If I am unlucky enough
to be given two more points then I will be suspended altogether!”
As well as the two penalty points given to Tréluyer, the GT-R was handed
a 27 second penalty which saw it slip to last in the classified runners
even though Benoit had managed to hang on to fourth place on the road
with a tyre which, by the chequered flag, was completely deflated.
“We still haven’t scored a single point after two rounds,” concluded
Benoit. “I am not worried though because I know we are the fastest car
in the field. With the new regulations meaning cars have to carry 2kgs
of success ballast per point, we should be strong favourites for the
next round.”
Formula Nippon : Round 1 (04/05 April), Fuji
Benoit Tréluyer back with a victory
 This
weekend’s first round of the Formula Nippon championship at Fuji brought
a first 2009 victory for reigning Super GT champion Benoit Treluyer. The
win was an important one for the Frenchman as it was his first in the
Japanese single-seater series since 2007.
“It was very important for me to be ready for this first race after we
suffered a difficult 2008 season where we had a lot of problems with the
car’s bodywork,” said the Lawson-Impul driver on Sunday evening, “and
also because Formula Nippon, like its big sister F1, has undergone a
large technical revolution over the winter.”
With the championship switching to the new Swift chassis and increasing
engine size from 3 to 3.4 litres, it was crucial for Benoit not to miss
the return of Japan’s most popular single seater series, whose list of
former winners includes the likes of Ralf Schumacher, Pedro de la Rosa
and many others.
A star of the championship which he won in 2006, Benoit used all his
experience to help the Lawson-Impul squad at the opening round of the
new season. All the teams took a jump into the unknown at Fuji after
restricted testing in winter which was also unsettled by difficult
weather conditions. After a laborious, hard working free practice,
Benoit was plunged straight into a qualifying session which follows the
F1 model with Q1, Q2 and Q3.
“Everything was going well in Q2, but then I decided to try out a slight
adjustment which made me lose four tenths of a second. As the times are
so tight, I nearly didn’t make it into Q3,” explained Benoit.
Having squeezed through into the final qualifying shootout, and not
wishing to take any further risks, Benoit reverted to his initial set-up
and set the third fastest time.
“I had to limit the damage with the intention of using Sunday morning’s
warm-up to refine and specify our set-up. We filled the tanks up with
petrol and fitted new tyres with the intention of getting in as many
kilometres as possible to assess what the tyre degradation would be
like. With the extra weight due to the full tanks, the car didn’t react
well. The balance wasn’t good and I stopped in the pits to make changes
which unfortunately didn’t really work. By chance, after assessing the
data, we ended up finding a better race set-up.”
After a good start, Benoit held third place at the first corner and then
played a waiting game, matching the pace of his rivals.
“When I realised that I was fuelled heavier than the leaders and that,
despite everything, my tyres were still fairly fresh, I closed in on the
leader Takuya Izawa. I pitted one lap before him and put in a great out
lap to found myself right on his gearbox as he came out of the pits. On
cold tyres he had no chance and I passed without any problems in turn 1.
Once in front I managed to escape.”
Tréluyer crossed the line first and, after a difficult 2008 season,
re-affirmed his status as a potential favourite for the 2009
championship.
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