History in the making                                                                              11th June 2011

Today the Hope Racing LMP1 car fitted with its Flybrid CFT KERS is set to become the first hybrid car ever to race in the 24 hours of Le Mans.

After months of hard work and late nights the start line is in sight and we all look forward to making history today.

Flybrid have three engineers and a technician in the pits supporting the Hope Racing team and they have been kept busy in the run up to the race as the car has run in free practice and qualifying sessions. The very latest specification of system was driven out from Flybrid's Silverstone factory on Thursday and fitted to the car on Friday ready for the big day.

Diary of today - Saturday the 11th June 2011

09.00 - 09.45 Morning Warm up
The car ran well this morning with no signs of the misfire that had dogged the car during final qualifying. We have a new engine today and all seems good. The Flybrid CFT KERS is working well and the driver likes the feel of the power boost - especially out of the Mulsanne corner which follows a particularly hard braking zone so the boost lasts longest here.

13.15 Car goes to the grid
The car is pushed out to the grid and lines up in 24th position - in the front half of the 56 car grid for this famous race.

14.30 Car completes parade lap
The car completes the parade lap and pits to brim the fuel tank ready for the start of the race. Driver Jan Lammers will start the race in the car and is fact the most experienced (polite way to say oldest) driver on the grid. Nice chap too!

14.50 Mechanics leave the grid
As the 5 minute board is shown the mechanics leave the grid and the atmosphere in the garage hots up. Everyone is very tense waiting for the start. French airforce fly past is quieter than the grid of cars as they start the engines.

15.00 They are off!
The pole sitting Audi leads the grid round behind the safety car as they all line up for the rolling start and they are off! The flywheel is spinning and the first ever hybrid car to race at Le Mans is the Hope Racing LMP1 with Flybrid power!

15.45 Leading the Michelin Green X Challenge!
Now the first round of pit stops is complete the live timing shows the current positions in the Michelin Green X Challenge and Hope are leading! The scoring for this award is done using an Energy Efficiency Index (EEI) which is calculated by dividing the average speed of each car, excluding time spent in the pits, by its average fuel consumption during the race.

17.30 Loads of data!
Flybrid get a chance to swap the data card in their on board data logger which gives us the first look at proper high resolution data for the flywheel system. The car has telemetry but coverage is patchy around this 13.6 km circuit and the data rate is low. In high resolution the data confirms everything is running exactly as it should with the Flybrid system. 

18.20 First sign of engine troubles
The car pits for the first of many visits as the team battle to overcome an engine misfire problem.

20.08 It could be much worse
As Steve brings the car in for the next fuel stop the Hope car passes the number 15 Oak Racing Judd-Pescarolo for 12th in class LMP1. The Oak car is stuck in the pits and it serves as a reminder just how hard this race is. In fact we are now 12th of 17 starters in LMP1 and the official retirements now include both Aston Martins, the crashed number 3 Audi R18 and the Zytek of the Quifel-ASM Team.

22.23 In for another long stop
The car returns to the pits for another series of stops as the team try more solutions to the persistent misfire problem. Virtually the whole fuel system and the whole ignition system have been methodically replaced but it won't go away.

03.00 Half time report
By the half way stage in the race the car has completed 101 laps but has fallen over 60 laps behind the leader with a succession of long pit stops.

04.45 All over
Steve Zacchia radios in to say he thinks that something has gone wrong with the car. He can smell something burning so stops at the side of the track. The car catches fire but is quickly put out. In all the car completed 115 laps - over 1,500 kms - but well short of a full race distance.

So a disappointing end to the debut for a hybrid car at Le Mans but we will be back next year better prepared and ready for the challenge. As the sun rises over La Sarthe we are packing up but we will be back.