RGR Sport by Morand Qualifies 12th at 24 Hours of Le Mans

Qualifying at the 24 Hours of Le Mans is as unique as the event itself. Unlike every other round of the FIA World Endurance Championship, the starting position of the #43 RGR Sport by Morand Ligier JS P2 on this historic grid has been determined by speed alone. Rather than taking a combined average time from the drivers, the field of competitors had three different sessions to put down a fast lap to decide their fate.

After battling rain in every session and a long red flag delay in the third qualifying round, RGR Sport ended up claiming the the 12th spot out of the 23 entries in the LMP2 category. Between the three drivers, it was Filipe Albuquerque who was able to put down the fastest lap of 3:44.198 around the 14km circuit.

Although RGR Sport by Morand is a new team in the FIA World Endurance Championship, the drivers and crew are all too familiar with this grueling race and all it entails. Team owner and driver, Ricardo Gonzalez won in this category back in 2013 and is looking to make history by being the only Mexican driver to win twice if the #43 Ligier JS P2 is the first to cross the finish line on June 19th. Gonzalez isn’t going into the fight alone as he is backed by teammates with experience. Bruno Senna has fought for the podium three times here and Filipe Albuquerque has had two good runs in the LMP1 category with Audi Sport.

Team Owner/Driver – Ricardo Gonzalez

“Our qualifying result is not what we were expecting, but the weather had a lot to do with not being able to improve our fastest lap. Yesterday we had some issues with the setup of the car, and we lost a lot of time that way. Ultimately, the last change we made was in the right direction so our team is looking over everything to continue making the car the best it can be for the race. Now we will focus on making the car as safe as possible to drive in several different conditions and not make mistakes or get any penalties.”

Driver – Bruno Senna

“Qualifying didn’t quite go our way, but we know that qualifying isn’t the most important thing when it comes to Le Mans. Even though we are out of the top ten for the start, it’s a long race and we know we will be able to do a good job. We’ve been working very hard to make sure we have a good balance for the set up for the race. All of us drivers are quite happy with the balance of the car at the moment so now we need to make sure we focus on keeping our noses clean. There have been so many different weather conditions so we were able to try out several different tires. All the information we got is going to be very important for us to have a strong race. I’m looking forward to kicking things off on Saturday afternoon.”

Driver – Filipe Albuquerque

“Qualifying is over and hopefully now it will warm up for the race. It was shame we were unable to get a good lap in the dry. We are pretty happy with the car balance in the dry, but it’s a bit of a gamble for everyone and we don’t want to take any risks. Hopefully the race is more clear and dry, but overall we have a good team and will do our best to fight for the top spots of the team.”

Sporting Director – Toni Calderon

“Definitely not the qualifying we wanted. We’ve been struggling with the car, but the team and engineers have worked hard to make it better and the drivers are much happier. Even though we won’t be starting up front like we want to, we think we have a pretty good setup for the race. Now we will see what happens with the weather, but we are prepared for that and confident with a solid group of drivers. At the end of the day we are coming in as the championship leaders and leaving here with that lead is our main goal.”

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