2005 Results

LMES Round 2 Spa Francorchamps, Belgium

LMES Round 3 Monza, Italy

LMES Round 4 Silverstone, Great Britain

LMES Round 5 Nurburgring, Germany

LMES Round 2 Spa Francorchamps, Belgium

After the successful test programme of 2004, James Watt Automotive (JWA) was now ready to move its GT project onto the next phase, by preparing and racing its RS Porsche in the Le Mans Endurance Series (LMES). The LMES championship is the proving ground for aspiring Le Mans teams, including Pescarolo, Aston Martin and Ferrari.

In this company, our 2002 RS appeared dated, but JWA was keen to show that its engineering could rival the best, and sent to Spa a competent team, eager to learn and adapt to the challenge. We had also secured the services of ex Formula 1 and experienced GT driver Giovanni Lavaggi to give the team direction and focus. Friday testing gave the drivers an opportunity to familiarise themselves with the nuances of the circuit while allowing the team to practise pit-stops under pressure. The JWA mechanics were starting to act like a well-oiled machine.

Spa appears to have its own micro-climate, and by the start of qualifying the weather had taken a turn for the worse. The damp conditions were a good leveller for the RS and gave JWA the chance to perform more competitively. The track got quicker throughout the qualifying session, turning it into a last-lap showdown. When the chequered flag fell, we were promisingly placed 8th in class – just 1.5 seconds off the factory-backed leaders, a good result that gave us the opportunity to race hard on Sunday.

The race was started in wet and foggy conditions making it almost impossible for the drivers to sight the corners. Giovanni Lavaggi had the honour of starting our LMES campaign and drove solidly in tricky conditions, moving the RS up the leader board. We took advantage of the second pace-car period of the race and pitted for fuel and a change of tyres. A slick and assertive pit stop by the team consolidated our position in the race and gave the team a good platform to build on. Paul gave a confident performance in tricky conditions, mastering the balance between speed and caution that is needed when driving a rear wheel drive monster with slick tyres on a damp track. Just before the 3 hour mark, the RS was tapped into an uncontrollable spin by a lapping GT1 car. The consequent impact with the wall destroyed our race and left Paul shaken and the Porsche needing a new chassis.

It was a disappointing end to a promising start for the team, but we’ll be back for Monza in July with a rebuilt car!

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LMES Round 3 Monza, Italy

After the massive accident at Spa that wrote off the car, the team had little time to prepare a new chassis and rebuild the RS for the next round at Monza. The team successfully completed this task and also had time to improve the Porsches’ torsional rigidity , also reducing the cars overall weight.

An accident in pre-race testing at Paul Ricard gave the team an opportunity to develop Anglo-French relationships and hi-jack the facilities of a local team, in order to get the car straight again. After a complete strip-down, a tweak on the jig and some James Watt Automotive (JWA) miracles, the car was back to health and looking as good as new.- onward to Monza!

For this weekend Paul Daniels was joined by successful French GT driver Thierry Stepec. The pairing made a good start to testing, quickly settling in to a rhythm of fast and consistent lapping.

As qualifying approached, the team were hopeful of a strong placing. However, just as the drivers had completed fine ‘banker’ lap times, the ever reliable RS lost power and pulled into the garage. Working through the night, the JWA mechanics (with much help and advice from the fantastic Porsche technical team) cured the problem, in time for the morning warm-up.

“An LMES grid truly is an awesome sight, with so many marques and so many very influential people, it is an inspiring experience.”

JWA were confident of their race pace and from the start of the race, the RS performed flawlessly. Thierry managed to avoid all of the early trouble and quickly settled into a good rhythm. As the race developed, both Paul and Thierry’s extremely consistent lapping coupled with some slick and well-drilled pit work soon made a big impression. The JWA Porsche passed cars both on the track and in the pitlane, moving swiftly up the leader board. The Italian heat was stifling and caused many of our competitors to develop problems, but the 46 degree track temperature did not slow, either, our mechanics or car.

After 1000 gruelling kilometres, the team were delighted to finish 20th overall and 6th in class. It was a great result, (for a relative newcomer) that repaid the whole outfit for its efforts during the 6 hour race and the weeks of preparation.

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LMES Round 4 Silverstone, Great Britain

The James Watt Automotive (JWA) GT team headed for their home race at Silverstone buoyed by their result in Monza and anticipating further LMES points. The team were also excited having acquired the services of talented Danish, ‘hot shoe’, Allan Simonsen. Introduced by Dailysportscar.com, Allan plies the bulk of his talents in the competitive Australian V8 and ‘Ute’ championships and has recently been exciting the British crowds in the GT series.

Fridays hectic test programme brought the best from the JWA mechanics, successfully preparing the RS for four hours of track time. It quickly became apparent that Allan was every bit as fast as his reputation suggested. The number 98 Porsche was flying faster than ever before and through his excellent feedback, a good balance was quickly found that both Paul and Allan were able to exploit.

Silverstone’s unique timetable gave the LMES field a new set of challenges, with both qualifying and the race on Saturday. In bright and warm sunshine, Allan comfortably qualified the RS 10th in class.

A sudden downpour, less than an hour before the race, caught many teams by surprise. Good management and skilled application allowed JWA to prepare the RS for running in the wet and also change to a heated windscreen, in record time.

The change in weather had introduced a new dimension the evening race start. Spray generated from the prototype cars is incredible. Both this and the standing-water proved to be the biggest hazards in the opening laps. Allan made good progress and kept out of trouble with others firing off in all directions.

The efforts of the JWA mechanics seemed futile when the heating element on the new windscreen failed leaving the drivers wiping moisture off the windows. Indeed, post race stories describing screen wiping with a seat cushion while driving down hanger straight behind the safety car were impressive – if not a little scary!

New cooling systems introduced by the team during hot weather testing were now affecting driver performance. An extra pit-stop coupled with team heroics enabled the RS to return to the track, water-tight and with a clear screen - just as the rain began to slow!

Darkness fell adding a level of complexity to the already damp track conditions that made driving a 160mph RS frightening! Allen’s speed coupled with Paul’s consistency was very effective, moving the 98 Porsche up the leader board. When 10 O’clock came and the chequered flag was waved, the team had recovered to a strong placing (32nd overall and 10th in class).With, over 39 laps spent behind the safety car due to atrocious weather conditions, the team were pleased to get the car home in one piece.

On to the next round in Germany (if the kit dries out in time!) see you there!

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LMES Round 5 Nurburgring, Germany

After a wet and eventful Silverstone round, the team headed to the famous Nurburgring circuit in the Eifel Mountains of Germany hoping for better luck and better weather. The two and a half week turnaround between rounds gave James Watt Automotive (JWA) the opportunity to continue its 996 RS development programme, improving the vehicle-dynamics in anticipation of the challenges of the Nurburgring. The team were also buoyed by the return of Danish star, Allan Simonsen, who managed to demonstrate his talents at Silverstone despite the water-logged conditions.

What a difference a month makes in motorsport! The beautiful weather that greeted the team, held throughout the weekend, boosting both team morale and driver ambition. During Fridays practice sessions Allan kicked things up a gear concentrating on developing the JWA / car /driver package. Both Allan and Paul spent their time fine-tuning the cars handling characteristics, dampers and working with Dunlop technicians to find the best balance of tyre performance and endurance.

The steady progress made on Friday was translated into a strong qualifying placing, with Allan recording a time that put us 3rd highest RS on the grid. JWA were confident of their endurance pace, and from the start, the atmosphere in the team was electric. Early on, Allan was able to make good progress, running fast and cutting through the field. Soon he had latched onto the back of the class leaders. 98 was flying, and had made it up to third place after the first hour and a half, running on fuel vapours to make the most of our position and speed. A slick pit stop by the JWA mechanics consolidated our position giving Paul the opportunity to stretch his legs.

Under braking for the hairpin just on the two and a half hour mark, disaster struck. The factory backed Hong Kong driven GruppeM Porsche had missed its braking point, unsighted by a lapping LMP1 prototype, and slammed side-on into number 98. Paul managed to limp the car back to the pits, where the mechanics were confronted with substantial bodywork and suspension damage. The team flew into action, performing major surgery and several minor miracles to get the RS back into race-shape in only 70minutes.

Having been stationary for a long time, the race was on to make amends and attempt to be classified in the race results (requiring the car to finish 70% race distance). After a brief exploration lap and once-over from the mechanics, the RS was back, lapping consistently quickly, demonstrating the faith between the drivers and the team.

A very spirited fight-back drive by both drivers ensued. However, time was against us and at the chequered flag we just missed our target by a matter of seconds. This was heartbreaking as the weekend had been going so well and the team had worked so hard to enable the car to get back out onto the track.

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