News
17th June 2008: The Spirit of Le Mans
Scrutineering and practice
Teams like KSM are "the spirit of Le Mans" - this comment on Eurosport during their Saturday evening broadcast about us was at least a reward for our effort to get the car on the grid for the start of the 24 hours of Le Mans. "Heroes of the weekend" - that title was awarded to us by Radio Le Mans - sounds great, but let's start with the beginning...
Although Jean Francois Yvon had been the driver during the official test day on 1st June we had decided for Danish driver Allan Simonsen as a 3rd pilot for the 24h of Le Mans. After a successful technical inspection of the car on the Place du Jacobin in Le Mans city centre, the first practice session on Wednesday saw our Lola Mazda with a best lap time of 3:47.802 on the track. Shortly thereafter, the car stopped at the pit because of a broken clutch less than 10 minutes before the end of the first qualifying session. What followed was a lengthly repair, meaning that we missed almost the complete first hour of the second practice session.
Approx. 30 minutes before midnight and the end of the night session: Hideki was on his in-lap when the car hit the curbs in the Dunlop Chicane and got airborne. After flipping over 8 times our Lola - or what was left of it - finally came to a standstill in the gravel - with some debris still falling down from the sky. After a few seconds which seemed endless to all observers finally Hideki started to move and was able to leave the car on his own and walked around it - a big relief for all of us. While Hideki was taken to the hospital for a medical check the remains of the car were collected and brought back to the garage.
Video: See Hideki's accident on YouTube, 3:21 Min.
The 48 hour race
To say the car was damaged when it was brought back to the pits would be the understatement of the year - it was a wreck! Most people who saw the accident and the car after it were sure that our place on the grid on Saturday would be empty. After removing what little was left of the bodywork and the suspension, an inspection of the chassis revealed damage to the front left section.
The Lola track support immediately formed a "special task force" and came to assist, inspections and discussions started and around noon on Thursday it was finally clear that both the A.C.O. and the chassis manufacturer Lola gave their OK for a repair, so we could start the Herculean task to rebuild the car. We got full support from all our partners, and Lola boss Martin Birrane visited our garage and asked whether we needed more help. The 48 hour race to get the car running until Saturday morning warm up began - sleep during the night - hey, what's that?
The complete rebuild of the car left us of course with almost no spares for the race - any bodywork for example damaged during the 24 would need to be taped. Fortunately we didn't have to worry about the engine - the one which was planned for the race hadn't been built in before the accident. Finally we won - and the applause from the grandstands when our car with Hideki Noda at the wheel made it out of the pit lane on Saturday morning was a great, overwhelming experience and the emotional highlight of the weekend.
On this occasion we'd like to say a big thank you to all our partners who worked with us so hard to get the car back on track - the Lola track support, the technicians from Project Seven and many others, but most of all our crew of mechanics who did a fabulous job.
The 24 hour race
After the warm-up we discovered that some more repairs were needed but we finally managed to take our place on the grid. For the first couple of hours the car actually ran trouble-free - almost impossible to believe after what had happened in the last 3 days. Going for maximum speed would not have been the wisest thing to do in our situation, so we opted for a moderate pace. Getting to the finish line was our first priority. Our car could keep up well with the pace of the quickest GT1 cars and at one stage Allan Simonson was able to do a 3:46,061, our quickest lap of the weekend.
After the first hour we ran in 39th position, after 2 hours it was 34th position, after 4 hours the hourly ACO report listed us in 28th position and we were already advancing further when a problem with the gear selection system led to losing 5th gear. This is normally not a problem if it happens shortly before the end of the race because you can usually continue with the remaining gears. As it was still early in the race we decided to repair the gearbox. About 50 minutes were lost but finally the car was back on track. Some more problems occurred, but none of them as time consuming as the gearbox saga.
It was dark - really dark - on Sunday morning at 02:33 when disaster struck for a last time and Jean had to stop the car on the circuit after Mulsanne corner after the car produced a large cloud of smoke. It came to a halt in the infield, actually at a point of the track which was as far away from the pit as possible. The transmission had failed.
Jean drives with a left arm prosthesis. Single-handed with the steering wheel still fixed to his artificial hand he removed the rear bodywork and tried to fix the transmission problem. Later he radioed back to the pit for help. But there was nothing which could be done to get the car back on track - a drive chain between engine and gearbox had failed completely.
The car was stranded in the infield at a place which could not be accessed by road, so 2 hours after it stopped Jean had to walk for about 15 minutes through the woods to make it back to the pit lane - the game was finally over.
Well, you may imagine that after these events it is quite hard to find a positive last sentence for this report but at least we experienced what a great team we are together with our partners - we never gave up!
Press Release 6th June 2008: Kruse Schiller Motorsport is looking forward to the 24h of Le Mans with excitement
The weekend of 14th - 15th July will see the 76th edition of the world's most famous endurance race, the "24 Heures du Mans". After a somewhat mixed season the team from Siegburg led by Hardy Schiller and Kai Kruse with their LMP2 Lola Mazda is looking forward to this event with excitement. Two very positive tests in Magny Cours and at the test day in Le Mans gave the team a lot of confidence for the race. Both the Lola B07/46 chassis as well as the Mazda MZR-R engine showed the sort of reliability which will play a decisive role in a 24 hour race. During the rather difficult weather on the test day the team used successfully different mixtures and designs of Dunlop tyres. Speed isn't the most important factor for success at Le Mans; it's highly reliable technology, excellent pit stops - KSM was one of the quickest teams in this discipline during the 2008 season - and of course a highly experienced and quick team of drivers. Hideki Noda, Jean de Pourtales and Allan Simonsen are just that and all of them know that such a race cannot be won in the first corner. Another important factor is the ability to adapt to changing weather conditions as quick as possible. The pressure on both machinery and men will be enormous and we are looking forward to this challenge with excitement.
Kai Kruse: "It is difficult to describe Le Mans. This will be my 3rd participation there and I know how it is to be in the lead, to finish the race or to retire. This race is hard to understand for someone who hasn't been there yet, but whoever finishes it or even wins there has in my opinion climbed the Mount Everest of motor sport. Nowhere else is the team effort of such importance; to take the drivers, the technicians and the car to the limit and to handle it is a great feeling."
Hardy Schiller: I have seen some 24 hour races myself as a driver, both on motorcycles and in cars, but I have not been to Le Mans yet and I'm really looking forward to the race. Our mechanics did a good job preparing the car and we all worked with great care and precision during our preparations, which gives me a positive feeling. It's important that all team members and especially the drivers do a good job and not try to push things too hard. But I think, Jean, Hideki and Allan are well aware of this and will show an excellent performance. If everything runs according to plan, we'll have a good result!"
Jean de Pourtales: "Le Mans is the highlight of the season, so everyone is focussed on it and for me as a Frenchman it is my home game. After last year's retirement I think I have something to show here. The test day has been very important; especially because we learned how to cope with all sorts of weather. As far as our race speed is concerned I'm confident, but the most important thing is to make it through the night and get ourselves into a good position for the end of the race."
Hideki Noda: "This will be my first race at Le Mans and I hope it will be one of the highlights of my career! The team has worked hard in the last weeks and the Lola Mazda has been improved in many areas. I'm feeling really good, both with the team and in the car. A lot of friends and guests from Japan will come to keep fingers crossed for me and the team, so I will do my best during race week to finish with a good result on Sunday."
Allan Simonsen: "I'm happy that I finally found a chance to participate in Le Mans in the most famous 24 hours race, after my initial team withdrew. And I'm even happier to be with such a professional and strong team as KSM. Since 2004 the winning chassis in LMP2 has been a Lola, and Mazda has built together with AER a very strong engine which ran fine during the last races. Together with the support from Dunlop I see a good chance to make it together with Jean and Hideki to the podium."
1st June 2008 - Test day for the 24h of Le Mans
The weather conditions were very difficult - the track changed a lot from wet to dry and back to wet again. However, all our drivers did their laps at a good pace - altogether we did 614 kilometers without any problems. Our truck and the car will stay in Le Mans; now it's waiting until Tuesday 10th June when our car has to pass the technical inspection in the city centre of Le Mans.
© Deborah Dudley
10th May 2008: KSM waives start at Spa Francorchamps
The LMP qualifying session was just 5 minutes old when our car with Jean at the wheel hit the barriers at the first left-hander after Rivage. Luckily Jean escaped unharmed. Immediately after the car was brought back to the pits it was found that the monocoque was damaged. After a thorough inspection of the car together with the A.C.O. and technicians from the chassis manufacturer Lola we found that the chassis could not be repaired on site and that we had to waive the start of the race. We had all worked very hard to prepare the car for the qualifying and the race, so this was of course very disappointing for the whole team, but when it comes to safety, we will never make any compromises!
Now it's time for rolling up our sleeves and getting the car ready for the next important event, the test day for the 24 hours of Le Mans on 1st June.
1000 km Spa Francorchamps 2008: Sadly our Lola-Mazda had to stay in the garage.
Press Release 28/04/2008: Positive result for Kruse Schiller Motorsport in Monza.
A 6th place in the LMP2 class and a 13th place in the overall LMS score was a first reward for the hard work done in the last 2 months by the only German privateer sports car team in the LMS. The Team from Siegburg with its drivers Jean de Pourtales and Hideki Noda had a trouble-free race, in which the fight for positions in each class was fierce. Despite some minor problems during the practice the Lola Mazda ran like clockwork. A slightly hectic situation arose when shortly before the car was about to take its grid position a faulty gearbox sensor had to be changed, meaning that Jean de Pourtales had to start the car from the pit lane in last position. Newly hired race engineer Johannes Gruber was able to improve the set-up of the car step by step over the weekend; some more technical changes should lead to another increase in performance in the next race in Spa Francorchamps. Other highlights of the weekend were a 5th place in the warm up session and a 6th overall place in the "Michelin Energy Endurance Challenge" for the car with the best fuel consumption. There is now little time left until the start of the 1000 km in Spa Francorchamps which, along with the 1000 km Nürburgring, is the team's 2nd home race of the season: the Belgian race track is just about 80 miles away from the team's workshop in Siegburg near Cologne.
1000 km Monza 2008: Race action
Hideki Noda: "It's good that we have scored our first championship points after all the work and the short time for preparation. Although we had some minor issues during the practice sessions the team has put a quick and reliable package together for me and Jean, the pit stops were very good; I'd like to say thank you to the team for this. I couldn't reach 100% performance in my triple stint because my seat started to move, having some effect on my left foot and the braking … I hope we can maintain this performance in Spa and probably catch up even more."
Jean de Pourtales: "That was a hard piece of work! I had some good fights during my 4 stints but also some critical moments when overtaking the slower GT cars. The Mazda engine played a decisive role to achieve a result on this high speed race track in Monza: our tops speeds were very good. The same applies to the set-up; we are really on track now. The handling of the car in both Lesmo curves was excellent and it was fun to be able to stick to the Audis and Peugeots right there. It was really fun today and I'm optimistic that we can improve further."
Hardy Schiller: "We were already a little bit in doubt concerning some issues so we all felt relieved after this race. The team, including Jean and Hideki showed a strong performance. With the short time for preparation, the confirmation of our participation just on 12th February, getting over the car from the United States and the modifications at the Lola factory to install the new engine I think we did a good job for such a short time and I'm proud of it. We have to keep going to score a similar result at Spa."
Kai Kruse: "Despite a little misunderstanding concerning the pit stop strategy which lost us approx. 20 seconds and the fact that we had to start out of the pit lane, our race was very good. I'd like thank our partners Mazda, Lola, AER and Dunlop for their support. Another big thank you goes to the team which did some wonderful pit stops today and to our new engineer who really made big steps forward concerning our structure and the set up. It has become obvious that the LMP2 group has become a 2-class society: with the current performance we would have scored a 2nd place in last years race. Now there are Porsche teams in LMP2 which spent at least a 3-4 times higher budget, which is even more than some LMP1 teams do. This is a development which really concerns me as I think that this is against the spirit of the regulations which outline the LMP2 as a class for privateers."
Press Release 23/04/2008: Kruse Schiller Motorsport expects first result in Monza.
After the team from Siegburg didn't make it to the finish 3 weeks ago in Barcelona, they are quite optimistic that with some technical as well as organisational changes a first finish in Monza can be achieved. Some changes to the car were necessary and this should result in more reliability.
Although there was little time since Barcelona the team managed to schedule a test at the German Lausitzring which led to further important findings. Another quick roll-out on Monday served as a last functional check and on Tuesday the team truck started the journey to Monza.
1000 km Barcelona 2008: Race action
Hardy Schiller: "Barcelona was of course a big disappointment for us. Together with our partners Mazda, AER and Lola we had worked very hard in the last weeks to ensure the reliability of our Lola Mazda and I'm very optimistic now. Regrettably I will not be in Monza before Saturday as I will start as a driver at the German long distance championship at the Nürburgring, so I hope that I will have 2 opportunities to be successful at the weekend."
Kai Kruse: "We didn't expect a gearbox failure at Barcelona, a finish would have been a nice thing after the short time we had for preparation, but I'm very optimistic because we have the speed to compete with the others and I'm sure we can also improve in that area. Everyone saw how the last year's championship winners performed in the race as well as in practice - and where we stood in practice compared to that. Our first priority is of course to finish, the rest will follow."
Jean de Pourtales: "The Lola is great to drive and the Mazda engine is really strong - but of course all this doesn't help if we don't finish. Last year I scored a 5th place in Monza, it would be great to catch up with that result."
Hideki Noda: "We were fully aware that our time for preparation for Barcelona was short so we were cautious in our expectations. Since then I saw that a lot of work has been put into the car so I think that we can be successful in Monza. I'm really looking forward to it!"
4th - 6th April 2008: 1000 km Barcelona, Spain - First round of the Le Mans Series
The very first race for a new team with a new car - it's fair to assume that there was a lot of excitement and anticipation in the air when we took off for the long journey from Germany to Spain. The first day at the track saw 2 free practice sessions and things started to look good. With a new car and just 330 test kilometres Jean scored a 1:40.602 lap in the first free practice and Hideki did an almost identical 1:40.843 lap in the second practice - both times we were able to do a lot of laps and finished in 9th position out of 15 cars - not too bad for a first day. Saturday's third free practice saw an 8th position with a 1:37.359 lap from Jean and this 8th place was also the result when it came to the qualifying session on Saturday afternoon.
Soon afterwards we diagnosed some minor hiccups from the engine and changed it as a precautionary measure. After all the weeks of hard work and late nights our grid position was a fine reward and we felt well prepared for the race to come.
1000 km Barcelona 2008: Ready for the first LMS round
And race day came, but unfortunately it turned out less good than the practice days. We were just 14 laps into the race when oil and water temperature accelerated somewhat but we were able to track the reason and cutting down some revs solved this issue - but made us of course a little bit slower. About 2 hours later our gearshift system started to lose pressure, making gear changes somewhat more difficult and finally one cover of the gearbox casing got damaged which ended the show for us.
Lesson learned: We had good out-of-the-box speed in Barcelona, no reason to worry about performance, but there is some work concerning reliability to do on the engine as well as the gearbox. Monza is the next round and we will work hard to score a better result there.
20th - 21st March 2008: First test drives in Magny-Cours, France
First test in Magny-Cours - Jean de Pourtales leaves the garage
From 20th to 21st March 2008 we did a first track test with the newly installed Mazda MZR engine. In the previous 2 weeks the car had been at the Lola factory in England, where the new engine and the latest aerodynamic updates were installed. On Thursday 19th March at 01.00 a.m. we left the Lola Factory in Huntingdon, Cambridgeshire and travelled directly to Magny-Cours in France. With temperatures in the range from -2 °C to max. 5 °C it wasn't exactly a warm welcome that we received there and during the second test day there was some heavy rainfall. Together with us on the track were Speedy Garage, Essex, Oreca, Pescarolo, Saulnier, Luccini and Creation. During the 2 test days we collected valuable information and made 3 important findings:
- We have a wonderful team! These were our very first track days, and with one exception - Lars - all team members were there and we all worked closely together, co-operation was excellent.
- We have a good car! In 2 days we did approx. 330 km which is OK for a shakedown but not so good for a test. But there were only minor technical issues that didn't allow us more track time - a small problem with the engine and another small problem with the installation of the electronics.
- The team's vacuum cleaner works perfectly! It was taken to the limits because the car hit the gravel traps three times, twice in the hands of Jean and once with Hideki behind the wheel.
For a very first outing this was normal, we were quite satisfied with the lap times which Jean and Hideki achieved and we are now looking forward to the first race in Barcelona. Despite our extremely tight schedule everything is on track and we expect to see the finish line in Barcelona - and of course scoring some championship points would make us extremely happy. For more pictures about our test in Magny-Cours please have a look at our photo galleries.
7th March 2008: Kruse Schiller Motorsport is looking forward to the 2008 season
After the presentation of the 2008 Le Mans Series and 24h Le Mans entry list it was confirmed that the new German team KSM will participate in the most successful endurance race series in Europe. The team which is based in Siegburg (Cologne area) is run by Leonhard "Hardy" Schiller and Kai Kruse.
The team will enter a latest spec Lola B07/46 in the LMP2 class powered by the Mazda MZR engine which is designed and developed by the most successful LMP2 engine supplier AER. The car is shoed by Dunlop tyres.
On the driver side the team is very happy to have two quick and experienced drivers on board. Jean de Pourtales, who drove in the Series and at 24h Le Mans last year, is looking for better results than in 2007. His partner will be ex Formula 1 driver and 2007 Japanese Le Mans Series Champion Hideki Noda. The team decided to go for a two driver line up which gives the best options for race strategies for the 6hr and 1000 km long races at Barcelona, Monza, Spa, Nürburgring and Silverstone. Currently the team is looking for another experienced and quick driver for the 24h Le Mans, which will be the season highlight for all sportscar fans.
Hardy Schiller: "We are happy to join the series which will be a new experience for me. I am confident in the structure we built up and together with my partner Kai, the engineering department which will be led by Roger Parks, our drivers Jean and Hideki and the strong suppliers, we are looking forward to a great season with our Mazda powered Lola car!"
Kai Kruse: "I am very happy and proud to be a part of the Le Mans Series family again. It was a tough winter as we all had to wait longer than expected for the entry decisions. I am confident that this is the best package I was ever involved in since 2005. The Le Mans Series organisation and the ACO have done a great job in the last years and again the quality of the grid improved. So it will be a very tough competition and that is what we are looking for - with a good end result for us hopefully."
Jean de Pourtales: "It's nice to be back in the Le Mans Series and the 24h of Le Mans. I think the team have set up a good package and I can' t wait for the first laps I will do in the next days. I am also looking forward to driving with Hideki and I think together we can get some good results!"
Hideki Noda: "After racing for 2 seasons in the Japanese Le Mans Series and winning the championship I am looking forward to come back to Europe for the next step. The meeting with the team at Lola in England gave me full confidence and I was sure that this is the team I want to drive for. It will be a good competition in the LMP2 class this season and together with Jean and the support of our partners I think we will have a great season!"
19th February 2008: Kruse Schiller Motorsport gets entry at the 24 hours of Le Mans
Today the organizer of the 24h of Le Mans published the list of the 55 entrants for the 2008 event. Saturday 14th June 3:00 pm will see a total of 55 cars on the grid - 20 cars in the LMP1 class, 12 in LMP2, 10 GT1s and 13 in GT2 class. Among the chosen ones is our Lola Mazda which will carry our usual start no. 44 at "La Sarthe". For further information and the full entry list please see the A.C.O. press release.
11th February 2008: A.C.O. releases 2008 Le Mans Series entry list
The list of 50 full season entries for the Le Mans Series has been released today - and the Kruse Schiller Lola-Mazda is on it! The majority of the list are prototypes with a very strong field of 15 cars in the LMP2 class. We will compete against 3 Porsche RS Spyders, 2 Embassy-Judds, 2 Zyteks, a Pescarolo-Judd, the Lucchini-Judd, the WR-Zytek, the Bruichladdich Radical AER, the RML MG Lola, the Speedy Racing Lola-Judd Coupé and the Quifel-ASM Lola-AER. For the full list of entrants and an overview about the races of the 2008 Le Mans Series please see the LMS website.