YOKOHAMA CONFIDENT IN THE WET
Media information: 14 June 2007
Heavy downpours at La Sarthe gave Yokohama ADVAN's 24 Hours of Le Mans
entry the chance to put its wet tyres to the test and Seikel Motorsport
is now confident of its chances should there be rain on Saturday.
The ADVAN wet tyres were developed in the Japanese Super GT, where they
have proved very successful in damp conditions.
"It's a bit different from last year's tyre; it has stiffer block
allocation and better hydroplaning," said Yokohama Europe Marketing
Manager Kazuyoshi Sekiguchi. "In Japanese Super GT our tyres are good
compared to Michelin; especially, it is very competitive in the damp conditions.
"Although this is the first time in Le Mans for this particular pattern,
we are quite sure that it can be very competitive compared with our competitors."
Yesterday's qualifying session, in which Seikel posted the 12th-fastest
time in the GT2 class, was relatively dry compared to today's, which at
one point saw the track deserted due to torrential rain. The conditions
gave Seikel's Porsche 911 GT3 RSR a slight advantage, finishing 11th in
class, but since all today's times were below yesterday's the qualifying
positions remain the same.
"The rain tyres have worked well but it's so wet that some corners
are too difficult to carry speed through," said Sekiguchi. "The
cars have to go really slow or the four wheels slide. I think for everyone
they had a hard time.
"We got some very good driver comments though and I think that if
the weather is like this in the race and those drivers drive very carefully,
that maybe will bring us some good news."
Yokohama's second Le Mans entry, JLOC, has retired from the famous race
after conceding its Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT was irreparable following
yesterday's accident. Marco Apicella lost control of the GT1 car into the
first chicane on the Mulsanne Straight and collided heavily with the barriers.
The Italian driver was kept in hospital overnight for observation but released
this morning.
The 75th 24 Hours of Le Mans will begin on Saturday at 15:00 CET.
