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Caterham completes inaugural Le Mans challenge

Caterham Motorsport celebrated the completion of its maiden Le Mans 24 Hours at the world-famous La Sarthe circuit, with a hard-earned 11th place in the LMP2 category, which saw the team place 24th overall.

Drivers, Alexander Rossi, Tom Kimber-Smith and Eric Lux, delivered valiantly behind the wheel of the Caterham Motorsport Zytek Z11SN-Nissan, as they battled bouts of misfortune, including suspension failure and a puncture.

From the lights, Kimber-Smith took the Caterham LMP2 as high as fifth place in class, before handing over to Caterham F1 Reserve Driver, Alexander Rossi, In his first ever Le Mans, the American driver's four-hour stint saw him not only set a series of fastest LMP2-class laps, but also suffer suspension failure, as he was forced to nurse the #41 machine around the 8.469-mile circuit back to the pits for repair work.

The damage sustained and the repair work that followed meant the team lost four valuable laps in one of the most competitive LMP2 fields for years.

It was then the turn of fellow American, Eric Lux, to take to the cockpit; the 25-year-old's stint was however somewhat curtailed as he spun on cold tyres during one of several safety car periods, sustaining nose damage and when Lux returned to the garage, double LMP2-class winner, Tom Kimber-Smith got back behind the wheel for his second stint.

Ever-changing weather conditions kept all the teams guessing throughout and produced a somewhat disjointed race, with a record-breaking 11 safety car periods. Several drivers struggled with varying levels of grip, with braking points changing lap-by-lap.

During the night, Alexander Rossi starred for Caterham Motorsport, as he lit up the timing screens, delivering a series of 3:44s laps, which saw him lapping three seconds a lap quicker than his fellow LMP2-class runners. Rossi's efforts saw him move the #41 car up to 27th overall as he ended his night-time stint.

Suspension issues arose again on Sunday morning, denting the progress made overnight; this time it was Tom Kimber-Smith who nursed the Zytek-Z11SN Nissan back to the garage for more repair work, which saw the team lose 20 minutes of track-time.

As Kimber-Smith neared the end of his third stint, it was the turn of Rossi to once again showcase his racing prowess. The American, who has never driven an endurance sportscar before the first test in early June, became only the second LMP2-category driver to break the 3:30s barrier in this year's event.

Despite the challenges, Eric Lux had the honour of bringing home the #41 Zytek-Z11SN Nissan for Caterham's inaugural Le Mans 24 Hours adventure.

Caterham F1 Team Reserve Driver and Caterham Racing GP2 driver, Alexander Rossi, said post-race: "Going into this race we knew there was a certain element of luck required to get a good result. The week started on a difficult note but we recovered from that and qualified the car in a decent spot, so for the start of the race and the first couple of hours things were looking quite good.

"We had a suspension failure at Turn 1, so you can imagine how long it takes to get round to the pits at 100 clicks. After it was fixed the pace was immediately good but the time was already lost with those 15 minutes in the garage. We also had a puncture and a front left suspension failure, it seemed like anything that could go wrong did. The team did a great job to keep getting the car back into good shape and Tom, Eric and I never gave up.

"I truly enjoyed driving on this track, with all these different cars and drivers. The week leading up to the race is long, a complete change of pace from a grand prix weekend, but the actual driving I really enjoyed. I'm pleased with how quickly I was able to adapt myself and perform at a high level.

He added: "I came into this week not knowing a great deal about sportscar racing or Le Mans - other than it being one of the world's greatest races. Coming away from it, I have a whole new level of respect and appreciation, and a soft spot for it. Knowing more about what goes into it and what these guys go through, it's very cool. If the chance comes up again to do Le Mans in the future, I'd love to come back."

Team Principal, Tim Greaves, praised Rossi in particular for his outstanding rookie display: "Alexander's performance was one of the best I have ever seen, especially from a rookie. It was impeccable and in his first LMP2 class race, his pace was regularly up with the very best of LMP2-class veterans. I hope we can persuade his sponsors that he needs to return and taste the champagne."

Mike Gascoyne, CEO of Caterham Technology, said "For our first visit to Le Mans, it was great to get a race finish and also to demonstrate such fantastic pace. Unfortunately, we had some reliability issues; two suspension problems, combined with a puncture and a driver off meant we just spent too much time in the garage.

"When on track, the pace was very competitive, especially Alexander' who was very quick and didn't put a foot wrong. It's a shame we couldn't finish higher up, but we're happy to have got to the finish and have learned so much. I'd like to thank all the drivers in the team and Greaves Motorsport for their support.

It's been great to be here for the first time as Caterham, and I'm sure that with the evaluation we've been able to do you'll see the name at Le Mans again."