French racer Pierre Ragues completed a useful first day of practice and qualifying for this year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, his 12th participation in the classic event.

 

Alongside team-mates Romain Dumas and Nicolas Jamin, Pierre gathered useful data ahead of this weekend’s 24-hour race, while the Duqueine Engineering team – in its first time at Le Mans – dealt professionally with a few technical issues during the two sessions.

 

On an overcast and occasionally damp day at Circuit de la Sarthe, the trio of drivers all got important track time in the Oreca 07. They completed 37 laps of the 13.626km track in free practice, working on car set-up, evaluation of Michelin tyres and getting acquainted with the unsettled conditions. 

 

A long red flag period shortened track time, while an oil radiator issue was fixed swiftly by the Duqueine mechanics team to allow the #30 crew to complete the session. Pierre’s pace was encouraging in race trim, offering a positive start to the 2019 Le Mans weekend. 

 

Picking up from there, in drier and more stable conditions, the team completed the opening two-hour qualifying practice in fifth place in the competitive LMP2 class. 

 

Pierre said: “We have settled into the Le Mans schedule smoothly and enjoyed the build-up to today’s sessions. It is the first time for Duqueine Engineering at this incredible event, but the team has really adapted professionally to the itinerary – from scrutineering right through to today’s sessions. We had a couple of issues during the day, but the team reacted quickly to minimise the disruption to our plan. All three of us drivers have enjoyed valuable time in the Oreca 07, evaluating Michelin tyres and just getting ourselves up to speed. Today has not been about times, it’s been about getting our car and ourselves ready for the rigours of the race. I’m pleased with how we’ve begun our preparations and look forward to a push in Thursday’s two qualifying practices.”