Williamson starts P3 in Mexicoposted in WEC03 | 09 | 2016

HIGHLANDER LEWIS WILLIAMSON will start from third on the LMP2 grid for today’s latest round of the World Endurance Championship, the Six Hours of Mexico.

The 26-year-old from Golspie, partnered by Jonny Kane and Nick Leventis in the Strakka Racing Gibson 015S, leapt into the top three with a combined average time of 1min 36.037secs in the dying seconds of qualifying.

Williamson, driving the Gibson 015S for the second time this year after narrowly missing out on a debut podium at the Nurburgring, is relishing the challenge of the Mexican track.

“Grip levels are generally low and it’s going to be busy dealing with the traffic,” the Scot explained. “We aren’t the quickest through the speed traps and passing cars will not be straightforward.

“It’s going to be a tricky balance between pushing and staying clear of the walls but with the opportunity to get a good result. I can see we could get a strong finish.”

With the altitude of 2285m sapping power by up to 25%, together with associated losses in braking performance and downforce, the team’s debut at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez for the Six Hours of Mexico has thrown up challenges for the drivers and team alike.

“It’s been an engineering challenge to get the car set up, but the guys have really worked hard over the past few days to dial the car in so that it can perform here,” team principal Dan Walmsley said.

“It’s going to be a tough race and I think we are going to see the Gibson running nearer to the limit on brakes.

“It’s going to be a more unpredictable race for sure; we’ve seen a few cars go off in qualifying and the weather is very changeable and unsettled. Strakka has got a good chance to get our first podium of 2016.”

At the head of the field, in the premier LMP1 class, Audi pipped Porsche for pole position by just 0.042secs. The #8 Audi R1 e-tron quattro — driven my Ollie Jarvis, Loic Duval and Lucas di Grassi finished with an average time of 1:25.069s.

The second Audi of Marcus Fassler, Andre Lotterer and Benoit Treluyer, lines up third, sandwiched between the two Porsches.

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Jim McGill