Manor has made a successful debut at Le Mans for the official test. It was the first time that the team and two of their drivers had experienced the Circuit des 24 Heures of Le Mans.

It was very important to ensure the maximum track time for both the drivers and the team so that they would have as much information as possible for the 24 hours of Le Mans in two weeks’ time. It was crucial that both Matt Rao and Roberto Merhi completed the mandatory 10 laps each as rookies to qualify for the race.

Matt Rao, Roberto Merhi and Tor Graves all drove today and have achieved a combined total of 61 laps between them with Car 44 finishing P5 – 3m38s383

John Booth, Team Principal

“I am very happy with the team’s performance, prior to coming here we have only competed in 2 LMP2 races. Our main objective for today was achieved in the first two runs this morning with both rookies completing the necessary 10 laps.

The rest of the day has been spent with driver familiarisation and gathering data both of which were achieved. There has been a great atmosphere here in the team during our first visit to the famous Le Mans circuit. We now switch our focus and look forward to the main event.”

Roberto Merhi, Driver

“To drive at Le Mans today was amazing. The track is a lot of fun to drive and I think we have showed that we have potential here. I think it is a good result for myself and the team with it being my first time here. It was difficult to manage traffic here with so many cars but I feel more confident now.”

Matt Rao, Driver

“It was great fun to drive at Le Mans for the first time today. I was first out this morning and the conditions were tricky. I felt more comfortable in this afternoon’s session and was showing good pace. Unfortunately my session was cut short because of the red flag.”

Tor Graves, Driver

“Overall I am happy with today. I haven’t been to Le Mans since 2013 so today was about refamilarising myself with the circuit. I think we have showed good pace here and gathered plenty of data.”

Ends