MG looking forward with optimism.

MG Sport and Racing will start the 2002 Le Mans 24-Hours with their cars sixth and twelfth on the 50-car grid. Car No.27, crewed by Julian Bailey, Mark Blundell and Kevin McGarrity is sixth overall, and quickest in the LMP675 class, while No.26, with Warren Hughes, Jonny Kane and Warren Hughes aboard, takes second in the class.

The cars had very different final two sessions of qualifying. No.26, with an engine repair complete after the problem suffered on Wednesday, Anthony Reid was first to take to the track, which completed 'day' qualifying for the team. The nighttime session commenced with Jonny Kane at the helm with Warren and Anthony to follow, ensuring that all three drivers were qualified in both daylight and the dark, as the regulations demand.
Anthony Reid: "I'm very pleased with the adjustments the team have made to the car this evening and were looking in strong shape for the race."

Jonny Kane: "We've qualified which was top priority. As racing drivers you always want to push yourself for a better lap time, but it's a long race and we are starting from a reasonable position on the grid. "

Warren Hughes: "The priority was to get the car qualified which we did comfortably and safely. The car has good balance and I have the confidence to push hard in the race."

The second evening of qualifying was looking good for car No.27 when a rare engine problem forced the car to retire. Mark Blundell's time of 3min33.254secs recorded on Wednesday night placed the car sixth overall on the grid, and easily first in class. Despite the disappointing evening the trio of Mark, Julian and Kevin remain high-spirited about the MG Lola EX257's ability.

Mark Blundell: "I'm frustrated as we weren't able to complete another qualifying run due to technical problems and even more frustrating as the first sector was looking very good and I'm sure there's more time to come from the car. We've done a credible job as we've finished in the top six and I think MG have made an impressive performance."

Commenting on the final qualifying session and grid position:
Doug Bebb, from CMS who prepare and run the cars: "With car 26 it was our plan to qualify with all the drivers and we're in the race. With car 27 we were 2nd fastest split time on the first section when the car stopped with an engine problem on the circuit. We've achieved our objectives with both cars tonight, that we set at the start of the session "

Mike Lancaster, managing director, AER (Advanced Engine Research): "Since last year we've had a good reliability record with this engine and its unfortunate that this is the first 'bottom end' failures we've had. We were trying to get some good laps out of the car (27) and were just unlucky on the day. We're still very optimistic about the race."

Rob Oldaker, managing director, MG Sport & Racing: "Disappointing not to have completed the session with both cars but to secure sixth and twelfth on the grid and to take top qualifying honours in the LMP675 class is not to be ignored. All the team have worked incredibly hard to be where we are tonight and we look forward to the race with optimism and excitement."

Rounding out a strong performance for the MG Lola EX257 chassis, third in LMP675, and 20th overall, was the privateer MG of the KnightHawk Racing team from the USA.

27 Bailey/Blundell/McGarrity LMP675 MG Sport and Racing MG Lola EX257 3min33.254secs 6th overall, 1st in Class
26 Hughes/Kane/Reid LMP675 MG Sport and Racing MG Lola EX257 3min36.694secs 10th overall, 2nd in Class

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