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| AD Group's CCTV also plays a vital role in the new Lola B08/80 HPD racecar with the RML X-PRO Recorder |
Mike Newton's co-driver Tommy Erdos made an emphatic start from fourth position on the LMP2 grid, and was through to third before the end of the opening lap. He then started bearing down on Olivier Pla in the #40 ASM Ginetta Zytek for second place, and with half an hour gone, the Brazilian swept through to take the place. Erdos then began catching Jonny Kane in the pole-setting Strakka Racing HPD, narrowing the gap to just six seconds before making his first pitstop.
Taking on tyres was a wise precaution, despite the added length to the stop, and Strakka followed suit, but ASM left the change until the end of their second stint. This gave Pla the class lead, with Erdos holding third behind Kane until mid-way into the third hour. A bodywork problem delayed the #42 Strakka HPD, and RML's pitstop strategy then enabled Erdos to fight through for the class lead. Once there, he established a comfortable margin to hand on to AD Group's CEO Mike Newton for the middle stints of the race.
"The Le Mans Series provides AD Group and our subsidiaries with an invaluable opportunity to offer corporate hospitality to guests" |
Having taken on the responsibility of the LMP2 lead, Newton responded to the challenge, and held on to it throughout his two stints, passing on the baton to Andy Wallace with nearly five hours completed. Emerging from the pitstop in third, Andy regained second before losing out in the next round of pitstops to the recovering Danny Watts in the Strakka HPD. Tommy Erdos returned to the Lola cockpit for the final ninety minutes, setting some of the car's quickest laps as he fought back to third, and even raised hopes of a possible second.
"It's a very positive result for us," said Erdos. "A podium is a great way to start the team's new partnership with HPD (Honda Performance Development), Lola and Dunlop."
Mike Newton, co-driver and AD Group CEO, was in agreement: "It was a very encouraging start to the year, especially as there's evidently so much more still to come. It was also personally very satisfying for Tommy to give me a car in the lead, and then to bring it back in again with one dot still showing on the side. That was enormously rewarding."
Pauline Norstrom, Marketing and Motorsport Director of AD Group, shared the team's delight. "After last season, when even a finish was something of an achievement, we're just so happy to score a podium in the first race of the year. We hope this sets the precedent for a successful year all round, and the tide of change is here perhaps."
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| Guests can have a hands-on experience of AD Group's surveillance technology in a fully equiped demo vehicle |
"As well as sponsoring the racing on the track, the Le Mans Series provides AD Group and our subsidiaries with an invaluable opportunity to offer corporate hospitality to customers from across Europe, including garage and pitlane tours and driver Q&A sessions. We are also able to showcase our latest CCTV innovations, whether that be Dedicated Micros' Integrated Camera Recording (ICR) technology or AD Network Video - the enterprise video arm for the Group, and there is the opportunity for guests to have hands-on experience of our surveillance technology in a comprehensively equipped demo vehicle."
AD Group's CCTV technology is also playing a vital role in the new Lola B08/80 HPD racecar through a motorsport variant of the award-winning TransVu DVR (Digital Video Recorder) - the RML X-PRO Recorder. This is able to deliver dramatic in-car images of the Le Mans Series action linked to all-important telemetry data. Footage from previous races, including the Le Mans 24 Hours, can be found on AD Group's YouTube Channel at www.youtube.com/anglodesigngroup.
For more information on AD Group please visit http://www.ad-group.co.uk/. To keep up-to-date with the RML AD Group team's campaign to secure the Le Mans Series LMP2 title log on to: http://www.rml-adgroup.com/.
