Jos Verstappen on pole position in Monza

Published on 27 April 2008 by Niels Hendrix

The team Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur continues its successful streak in the Le Mans Series. In qualifying for tomorrow's second round of the season at Monza, ex-Formula 1 driver Jos Verstappen set a fastest lap time of 1.36.842 minutes at the 5.793 metres long circuit, putting the team's Porsche RS Spyder on pole position in its class for the second time this season.

In the overall classification, the Van Merksteijn Motorsport-Porsche RS Spyder ranked in tenth place as the fastest car from the LMP2 category, even in front of five cars from the more powerful LMP1 class.
The three Porsche RS Spyders dominated proceedings in the 20 minutes' qualifying session for the LMP2 prototypes and went on to take a clean sweep of the first three places in the category on the starting grid for tomorrow's race. Just like in Barcelona three weeks ago, the white and purple Van Merksteijn Motorsport-Porsche was fastest of them all. Jos Verstappen, who knows the Monza circuit very well from his days in Formula 1, beat his fellow countryman Jan Lammers in the Horag-Porsche to pole position in the class by 1.003 seconds.

As it was expected, the Grand Prix circuit of Monza with its long straights and its subsequent emphasis on top speed left the less powerful LMP2 prototypes without a realistic chance against the LMP1 cars with their bigger engines. "Our car is more suited for short and twisty tracks, but in general, the balance was good", said Jos Verstappen after qualifying. "You can gain some time under braking when the balance of the car is good and that is what we focussed on during the free practice sessions. My qualifying lap was good as well, I didn't make any mistakes." Asked for his expectations about the race, Verstappen commented: "Our car is particularly good in corners and under braking, although it is fast in terms of speed as well. The battle in the class will be very hard, especially with the other Porsches."

Team principal, Peter van Merksteijn was also quite happy with the results achieved by the team in Monza so far. "We were fastest in our category in all the three free practice sessions and I am confident that we have worked out a good set-up for the race." The Dutchman is quite impressed by the Monza circuit with its great tradition: "Driving here is an incredible experience."

The 173 lap race with a maximum duration of six hours will start tomorrow at 12.50 pm. Eurosport will be reporting from 12.45 till 13.30 h. A review will be broadcast at 11 pm by the pan-European sports channel. Motors TV is broadcasting the entire race live.

The results of the qualifying of the 1000 km of Monza:

Overall:

 1  7 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  1:31.470  -
 2  8 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  1:31.957  0.487
 3  1 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  1:33.193  1.723
 4  2 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  1:33.330  1.860
 5 10 Charouz Racing System      Lola Aston Martin         LMP1  1:34.170  2.700
 6  6 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  1:35.303  3.833
 7 14 Creation AIM               Creation Aim              LMP1  1:35.869  4.399
 8  5 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  1:35.891  4.421
 9 16 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:36.117  4.647
10 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport  Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  1:36.842  5.372
11 20 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1  1:37.022  5.552
12 15 Creation AIM               Creation - Aim            LMP1  1:37.062  5.592
13 17 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:37.229  5.759
14 27 Horag Racing               Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  1:37.845  6.375
15 31 Team Essex                 Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  1:37.957  6.487
16 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah   Lola Judd                 LMP2  1:38.180  6.710
17 32 Barazi Epsilon             Zytek 07S                 LMP2  1:38.570  7.100
18 18 Rollcentre Racing          Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:38.619  7.149
19 25 RML                        Lola MG                   LMP2  1:38.697  7.227
20 41 Trading Performance        Zytek 07S                 LMP2  1:39.861  8.391
21 40 Quifel ASM Team            Lola AER                  LMP2  1:39.998  8.528
22 35 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP2  1:40.174  8.704
23 46 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  1:40.196  8.726
24 45 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  1:40.385  8.915
25  4 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:40.865  9.395
26 44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport  Lola Mazda                LMP2  1:41.007  9.537
27 26 Bruichladdich Radical      Radical AER               LMP2  1:41.785  10.315
28 72 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 1:44.102  12.632
29 59 Team Modena                Aston Martin DBR9         LMGT1 1:44.389  12.919
30 30 Racing Box                 Lucchini Judd             LMP2  1:44.471  13.001
31 73 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 1:45.507  14.037
32 55 IPB Spartak Racing         Lamborghini Murcielago    LMGT1 1:46.243  14.773
33 96 Virgo Motorsport           Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:49.006  17.536
34 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:49.227  17.757
35 90 Farnbacher Racing          Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:49.839  18.369
36 76 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:50.008  18.538
37 99 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:50.346  18.876
38 91 Farnbacher Racing          Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:50.401  18.931
39 95 James Watt Automotive      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:50.953  19.483
40 75 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:51.057  19.587
41 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron     Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 1:51.217  19.747
42 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:51.468  19.998
43 94 Speedy Racing Team         Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 1:52.330  20.860
44 98 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:53.174  21.704

By class:

 1  7 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  1:31.470  -
 2  8 Team Peugeot Total         Peugeot 908 Hdi-FAP       LMP1  1:31.957  0.487
 3  1 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  1:33.193  1.723
 4  2 Audi Sport Team Joest      Audi R10 TDI              LMP1  1:33.330  1.860
 5 10 Charouz Racing System      Lola Aston Martin         LMP1  1:34.170  2.700
 6  6 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  1:35.303  3.833
 7 14 Creation AIM               Creation Aim              LMP1  1:35.869  4.399
 8  5 Team Oreca Matmut          Courage-Oreca Judd        LMP1  1:35.891  4.421
 9 16 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:36.117  4.647
10 20 Epsilon Euskadi            Epsilon Euskadi Judd      LMP1  1:37.022  5.552
11 15 Creation AIM               Creation - Aim            LMP1  1:37.062  5.592
12 17 Pescarolo Sport            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:37.229  5.759
13 18 Rollcentre Racing          Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:38.619  7.149
14  4 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP1  1:40.865  9.395

 1 34 Van Merksteijn Motorsport  Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  1:36.842  -
 2 27 Horag Racing               Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  1:37.845  1.003
 3 31 Team Essex                 Porsche RS Spyder         LMP2  1:37.957  1.115
 4 33 Speedy Racing Team Sebah   Lola Judd                 LMP2  1:38.180  1.338
 5 32 Barazi Epsilon             Zytek 07S                 LMP2  1:38.570  1.728
 6 25 RML                        Lola MG                   LMP2  1:38.697  1.855
 7 41 Trading Performance        Zytek 07S                 LMP2  1:39.861  3.019
 8 40 Quifel ASM Team            Lola AER                  LMP2  1:39.998  3.156
 9 35 Saulnier Racing            Pescarolo Judd            LMP2  1:40.174  3.332
10 46 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  1:40.196  3.354
11 45 Embassy Racing             WF01 Zytek                LMP2  1:40.385  3.543
12 44 Kruse Schiller Motorsport  Lola Mazda                LMP2  1:41.007  4.165
13 26 Bruichladdich Radical      Radical AER               LMP2  1:41.785  4.943
14 30 Racing Box                 Lucchini Judd             LMP2  1:44.471  7.629

 1 72 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 1:44.102  -
 2 59 Team Modena                Aston Martin DBR9         LMGT1 1:44.389  0.287
 3 73 Luc Alphand Aventures      Corvette C6.R             LMGT1 1:45.507  1.405
 4 55 IPB Spartak Racing         Lamborghini Murcielago    LMGT1 1:46.243  2.141

 1 96 Virgo Motorsport           Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:49.006  -
 2 77 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:49.227  0.221
 3 90 Farnbacher Racing          Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:49.839  0.833
 4 76 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:50.008  1.002
 5 99 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:50.346  1.340
 6 91 Farnbacher Racing          Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:50.401  1.395
 7 95 James Watt Automotive      Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:50.953  1.947
 8 75 Imsa Performance Matmut    Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:51.057  2.051
 9 85 Snoras Spyker Squadron     Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 1:51.217  2.211
10 88 Team Felbermayr-Proton     Porsche 997 GT3 RSR       LMGT2 1:51.468  2.462
11 94 Speedy Racing Team         Spyker C8 Laviolette      LMGT2 1:52.330  3.324
12 98 JMB Racing                 Ferrari F430 GT           LMGT2 1:53.174  4.168

Niels Hendrix