The Swiss Hope PoleVision Racing team took the point for the Formula Le Mans pole position during Saturday’s qualifying session for the Spa 1000 Kilometres. Nico Verdonck, defending FLM Cup champion, beat the five other Oreca-FLM prototypes entered this weekend for the second round of then 2010 Le Mans Series. Sebastian Bourdais shown him the way by taking overall pole in the #2 Team Peugeot Total 908 Hdi.
But why was Nico Verdonck there at all? That’s certainly one of the questions that anyone familiar with the FLM Cup this season will have been asking. Following the withdrawal of the #44 DAMS team Oreca-FLM from this weekend’s race, there was a driver swap between the crews of that car and the second #48 DAMS entry which competed in last month’s Paul Ricard 8 Hours.
This potentially left Nico without a drive, but Hope PoleVision Racing needed to replace Mathias Beche, who has been commandeered this week to drive a Ford GT for Matech Competition in GT1. Nico Verdonck, with one eye on a possible drive in the Le Mans 24 Hours, could not refuse the invitation from Benoit Morand, team manager at HPVR, to take over the vacant seat.
He rewarded the team’s faith in him by setting the best time in qualifying for the FLM class, posting 2:13.784 for the 7 kilometre circuit. Behind him came Nicolas de Crem (Boutsen Energy Racing # 45), with David Zollinger (Applewood Seven # 49) third. These two battled for several laps to close to within half a second of pole, but separated by only six hundredths of a second from each other. Veteran racer Wolfgang Kaufmann (HPVR # 47) came through in fourth, a full second adrift, with Gary Chalandon (DAMS # 43) fifth, making his first qualifying run in the Le Mans Series.
Quotes:
Nico Verdonck makes a shining return
Nico Verdonck (BEL), pole-setter on 2:13.784, Oreca-FLM # 48
This is a return to the good times for me, and not with DAMS for a change, but with the Hope PoleVision Racing tea of Benoît Morand, who gave me my first opportunity to drive an Oreca-FLM prototype in the winter of 2008. After that we become rivals, and I did the whole 2009 season with DAMS, achieving numerous successes and titles. I am delighted with this qualifying result at my home circuit here at Spa, and after only a brief test in a car that has changed slightly since last year. If we are cautious in the traffic tomorrow we should have a good run. To find myself in the middle of the Le Mans prototypes motivates me even more in my quest to find a drive in LMP1. The opportunity taken by Mathias [to drive the GT1 Matech Ford GT] is also interesting, but I just prefer the prototypes!
Benoît Morand (Team Manager of Hope PoleVision Racing):
Our week has been very hectic, but Nico has given us pole, which is a fair return on our efforts. It is a very good result for the team, as we have first (FLM # 48) and fourth (FLM # 47) in qualifying, and especially after the big accident suffered by Luca Moro on the exit of Eau Rouge yesterday during the afternoon practice session. The engineers worked through the night to repair the #47 car and they did well to have it ready for Wolfgang Kaufmann to take into qualifying, so all was well. We are really looking forward to the race, where our chances of success may be heavily dependent on the weather. The forecast is uncertain, but we anticipate a thrilling race in which we start with very good prospects.
