Magny Cours - 29/07/2001   Lapping Magny Cours Next To Sam Hancock   Sam Hancock has made a very favourable impression in his first prototype season, in the Kremer Lola of course. His partner this weekend is Jean-Marc Gounon. Sam spent some time on Friday taking TMS's Olivier Beroud around the Magny Cours track in his road car. Here's what Olivier made of it. Sam Hancock is talented and and fast too; how can I say that? The FIA organisers authorised drivers to do a few laps on Friday evening with their everyday cars, and I was very lucky to find a place in a car with Sam Hancock. The first corner is the Grande Courbe, which is a long, fast, left after the pits. "That is simply the best corner on the track, it's a very enjoyable bend," said Sam. After that we arrived very fast at Estoril, a long, long right hander. "It's very technical, with probably two or three lines through there. We will see that tomorrow, and it is very fast here, and very important as it leads into the straight before Adelaide. Good braking and nice for overtaking," were the only words he found after a simple "crazy"! The next curve, called Nurburgring was "very easy but a fast chicane too, where it is important to keep the car in the right position to accelerate out." And we have already done 2.5 Km of the 4.2 Km of the track.. The next turn is a 180° left, but Sam wasn't impressed with this one. "Boring because it is too long." We really arrived fast in Imola, which is a fast chicane with an importante dip - he explained that with a big smile on his face: "Wonderful that's wonderful, a lot of fun in that fast chicane." Then we passed through the dullest part of track for him, including Château d'Eau, which is simply "boring." After a short straight, we arrived in the first part of "Le Lycee," which is a chicane where "the rumble strips are too high and hard to be fast." The second part is a left corner which leads to the entry of the main straight and the final turn of the track. "It might be a place to try to overtake but you must be very clean and be careful not go outside of the line, otherwise you'll have dirty tyres for the next lap." While lapping the circuit, Sam looked for 'emergency exits' and tried to find places to overtake or where to put his Lola if he has a problem during the test tomorrow or during the race on Sunday. After only two laps in an everyday car, he was already planning his way round the track in the Kremer Lola in Qualifying. It could be wet for Practice and Qualifying.... Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport