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I Heart Franck

Questions and answers - The end of an era

Published May 25, 2011

Questions and answers - The end of an era

On his Facebook page, Franck takes questions from his fans and answers them. I’m not sure how long it’s been going on, because I don’t like Facebook very much and I’m annoyed that it’s the only place FKM seems to exist anymore. However, in this month’s Q&A, there are some startling (to me) revelations! Give or take dodgy translations: How are your baby already? It’s not too hard to get away from him?

Video of the 2011 Spa 1000k race

Published May 9, 2011

Video of the 2011 Spa 1000k race

A great video of highlights from the race this weekend. Plenty of dramatic music, some Eau Rouge action, and even a Michelin Man or two. Fun Franck-spotting as well. I particularly like the helmet shot at the beginning of the race, and the champagne afterwards. I may have misjudged him, as it seems FKM was happier than I first thought. Yay!

Peugeot (but not Franck) win 1000k of Spa

Published May 8, 2011

Peugeot (but not Franck) win 1000k of Spa

After all that worry, Franck came second: Pos Class Drivers Team/Car Time 1 LMP1 Gene / Wurz / Davidson Peugeot 908 6:02:03.799 2 LMP1 Montagny / Sarrazin / Minassian Peugeot 908 + 42.965s 3 LMP1 Capello / Kristensen / McNish Audi R18 TDI + 1 lap I didn’t watch much, if any, of the race, but that seems rather incredible. From 50th to 2nd? Still, everyone said it was a long race, and I guess it must have been so.

The Number 8 fails to qualify

Published May 6, 2011

The Number 8 fails to qualify

So, this happened: Ortelli/Makowiecki Krohn/Jonsson Montagny/Sarrazin/Minassian Belicchi/Boullion Peugeot were trying to be tactical, leaving it late before attempting a flying lap. And then there was an accident and red flags and Sarrazin didn’t set a time. Boo. Just boo. People say it’s a long race and Franck is starting and he’ll overtake half the field on the first lap anyway, but still, it’s not as good as starting in the top five, is it?

Audi super fast in Spa

Published May 5, 2011

Audi super fast in Spa

Two practice sessions complete, with the results looking a bit like this. Practice 1 Pos Class Drivers Team/Car Time 1 LMP1 Capello / Kristensen / McNish Audi R18 TDI 2:03.844 2 LMP1 Bernhard / Dumas / Rockenfeller Audi R18 TDI 2:04.054 3 LMP1 Lamy / Bourdais / Pagenaud Peugeot 908 2:04.217 4 LMP1 Fassler / Lotterer / Treluyer Audi R18 TDI 2:05.329 5 LMP1 Montagny / Sarrazin / Minassian Peugeot 908 2:05.

Time for the 2011 1,000km Spa

Published May 5, 2011

Time for the 2011 1,000km Spa

Well, my goodness, it’s time for more racing, is it? The 1,000km of Spa takes place this weekend, with two practice sessions today. There’s another practice on Friday, plus qualifying, and then the race itself gets underway on Saturday. Franck is in the number 8 once again, and teamed up with Stéphane Sarrazin and Nicolas Minassian (phew, Lamy is in the other car!). Good luck Mr Montagny.

Peace and quiet for now

Published April 11, 2011

Peace and quiet for now

It’s quiet in Franck-land again. I did enjoy looking at Google News for any mentions and finding they’ve done this: I think every webpage should have a Franck quote at the top.

Franck and co finish third in Sebring

Published March 21, 2011

Franck and co finish third in Sebring

It was a long, old race. 12 hours, I suppose. The challenge from Audi fell by the wayside quite early on as a coming together between Marc Gene and Allan McNish, plus some reliability issues, meant they fell far down the order and had to make their way back up. Meanwhile, Montagny, Sarrazin and Lamy spent a good while leading the race, swapping between the other Peugeot and the Highcroft car, but a few mistakes cost them dearly.

Franck on pole for Sebring 2011

Published March 19, 2011

Franck on pole for Sebring 2011

Stephane Sarrazin did the business in qualifying for the 12 hours of Sebring, putting the Peugeot on pole position ahead of the race today. Talking about his day, Sarrazin said: We arrived here with new car and new rules so it was hard for us this week. We have been improving the balance of the car. Things were much better in qualifying than free practice because of the traffic. I did my lap without a mistake and it was very good.

Franck on top in Sebring practice

Published March 15, 2011

Franck on top in Sebring practice

I find it very tricky to follow the build-up to Sebring, so I will just leave it to Autosport to tell you how it is: Only one of the latest generation Peugeots ran today, but the Franck Montagny/Stephane Sarrazin/Pedro Lamy car set the quickest time of the opening day in the morning session with a 1m47.678s. Having said that, I am attempting to fire up the Factbyte Factbox (our live blog) for Sebring, so if you’re around this weekend - keep your eyes peeled.