Duval: Fifth was best possible result
France's Loic Duval is satisfied that the fifth place he took alongside Nicolas Lapierre and Olivier Panis was the best possible result for the #10 Team ORECA Matmut Peugeot
The all-French line up ended the race 16 laps down on the race winning #2 Audi R18, but had kept touch with the leaders in the opening hours of the race until two accidents caused lengthy delays.
Duval admits the team never had a realistic chance of fighting with either the works Audis or Peugeots, and fifth therefore represented the optimum performance of the team.
"It couldn't be better - I mean 5th was simply the best we could have done, the best we could have hoped for," Duval said.
"In terms of performance we can't match the (works) Peugeots or Audis, so we just did what we could and had to wait for something to happen to the other guys.
"I was a little bit disappointed with the two crashes during the race from a personal point of view, which delayed us each time. Even if we did not have them though, we knew from the beginning of the year that it would not be easy to come here and fight for the win.
"It's frustrating because every time you go on track you're trying to win, and I always want to fight for victory. Of course fifth is okay, but we are aiming - or hoping - for better every time we go out. The team functioned perfectly and my team-mates were great, but it was a tough race and fifth was our maximum."
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