KARUN CHANDHOK GOES FASTEST FOR MURPHY PROTOTYPES AT LE MANS TEST 
 
June 1, 2015: The Murphy Prototypes Endurance Racing Team came away from the official test for the forthcoming Le Mans 24 hours yesterday with the fastest time in the LMP2 class with Indian driver Karun Chandhok setting the pace as the team successfully completing its planned test programme.

Changeable weather conditions punctuated proceedings at the famous Circuit de la Sarthe for the official prologue that takes place two–weeks ahead of the annual 24–hour race. The test event provides teams the opportunity to run on the 13.629km (8.46–mile) track – which is only used in this format once–a–year for a 4 hour session in the morning and another 4 hour session in the afternoon.  

The morning runs started dry and all three Murphy Prototypes drivers: Karun Chandhok, Mark Patterson and Nathanaël Berthon, each took turns at the wheel of the team’s Nissan–powered Oreca 03R before the rain came. The weather conditions were repeated for the afternoon session and, with the team having established a good set up for the car, Chandhok was able hook–up a perfect lap to secure the fastest time in the LMP2 category – and the 11th fastest time overall – just before the rain returned.

The team was pleased to have successfully run through its planned test programme during the day and to have established a good set–up for the car – an achievement endorsed by its competitiveness alongside the other 21 cars running in the LMP2 category.

The build up for the Le Mans 24–Hours starts on Sunday 7th and Monday 8th June with scrutineering at Place de la République in Le Mans, followed by two free practice and qualifying sessions on Wednesday 10th and Thursday 11th June. The race starts on Saturday 13th June at 3:00pm.

Chandhok, who is supported by JK Tyre, AVT Premium, Sidvin and Tag Heuer, will be getting back to his Formula E duties this weekend, was happy to set the fastest time of the test. He commented, ““It’s been a good day. It was a little frustrating to begin with as there was only time for a couple of laps in the morning before it started raining. But it dried out again for the start of the afternoon session and I was able to build up to some strong laps and set the fastest LMP2 time of the day. Other than a brief test at a Paul Ricard a few months ago, it has been a year since I last drove this car, so I was very pleased to be straight on the pace. The car ran consistently well throughout the test and the team did a great job. It’s an excellent start to our Le Mans fortnight.”

Team owner Greg Murphy was excited about having Chandhok back with the team for another assault on the Le Mans 24Hours. He said “‘I’m extremely happy with the outcome of today’s test. We have ran through our programme and worked on our strategies for the race. Everyone in the team has done a great job and Karun setting the fastest LMP2 lap is testimony to their efforts. All three drivers ran well in both the wet and dry conditions and, with a strong set up in the car, it puts us in a great position ahead of the race.”