Pescarolo win race, title at Istanbul

The Pescarolo Sport drivers beat the Audi Team ORECA pair of Allan McNish and Stephane Ortelli by more than minute in treacherous weather conditions.

By securing the LMP1 title, Collard and Boullion's Pescarolo automatically secures an entry for next year's Le Mans 24 Hours.

Collard and Boullion overhauled the Creation DBA car of Nicolas Minassian, Jamie Campbell-Walter and Jean-Denis Deletraz early in the race after they benefited from a near one-lap lead after a Safety Car mix-up.

As time ran out, Audi took the lead after the team opted to save time and not change tyres on their last pitstop. However, the Audi, running on older wet tyres on a drying track compared to the Pescarolo, was powerless to prevent it retaking the lead with one hour to go.

"The track conditions at the end of the race were doubtful, and I was expecting to see a red flag or a safety car," said Boullion. "It was very difficult to keep the car on the track, even in second gear."

Team boss Henri Pescarolo put the win down to tyre strategy. He said: "Collard told us it was a critical situation with the aquaplaning, and we decided to change the tyres at each pit stop. That was a difficult choice because we would lose around 15 seconds each stop, and we did not know what we would gain on the track. It was a difficult choice, but a winning choice."

Hayanari Shimoda, the Japanese driver who survived a 165mph shunt in A1 GP at Eastern Creek last weekend, led the point standings going into the final round in Istanbul. However his Zytek co-driver Tom Chilton started the race, and the team elected to keep the tyres for a second stint.

That cost them time, and then Casper Elgaard's first stint lasted less than a lap before he needed to pit again following a puncture.

The car finished fourth at the flag, enough for Shimoda to finish second in the championship, two points behind Collard and Boullion.

British driver Gareth Evans won the LMP2 drivers' title, and his Chamberlain Synergy team the teams' accolade, having finished second on the road behind the Ferrari 550 of Michele Bartyan, Cristian Pescatori and Toni Seiler.

Pos  Drivers                             Make                   Laps
 1.  Collard/Boullion                    Pescarolo C60          173
 2.  Ortelli/McNish                      Audi R8                +1:09.875
 3.  Minassian/Deletraz/Campbell-Walter  DBA 03S Judd           171
 4.  Shimoda/Chilton                     Zytek 04S              171
 5.  Fisken/Hancock/Tahincioglu          Zytek                  169
 6.  Newton/Erdos                        MG Lola EX 264         164
 7.  Evans/Owen/Smith                    Lola AER               164
 8.  Barbosa/Short/Ickx                  Dallara Judd           164
 9.  Theys/Bjork                         Lola B05/40            163
10.  Bartyan/Pescatori/Seiler            Ferrari 550 Maranello  161
11.  Barazi/Vergers                      Courage C65 AER        160
12.  Cressoni/Babini/Ramos               Ferrari 550 Maranello  160
13.  Pergl/Kox/Lamy                      Ferrari 550 Maranello  158
14.  Bouchut/Turner/Vasiliev             Ferrari 550 Maranello  158
15.  Primat/Jouanny                      Dallara Judd           156
16.  Kirkaldy/Kinch                      Ferrari 360 Modena     156
17.  Rosa/Drudi/Melo                     Ferrari 360 Modena     156
18.  Collin/Felbermayr Sr/Felbermayr Jr  Porsche 996 GT3 RS     153
19.  Nielsen/Thyrring/Ehret              Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    152
20.  Gosselin/Vosse/Ojjeh                Courage C65 Ford       151
21.  Frei/Gounon                         Courage C60 Judd       149
22.  Randaccio/Mancini                   Tampolli McLaren       148
23.  Hartshorne/Stanton/Pearson          TVR Tuscan T400R       146
24.  Kutemann/Gosse/Daoudi               Ferrari 575 GTC        146
25.  Lambert/Lefort/Palltala             Porsche 996 GT3 RSR    143
26.  Sommereau/Papolla/Wasover           Chrysler Viper GTSR    135