The final Rush of the 2013 season is now well under way. With the 3 Hours of the Hungaroring the penultimate round of the European Le Mans Series was on the calendar this weekend, with the presence of the Belgian ProSpeed Competition team and its two French drivers, François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard. For the Hungarian round of this renowned and hard fought championship the French duo were at the wheel of the Porsche 911 GT3 RSR #75, and finished fourth in the LM GTE category, a category bringing together the most experienced European GT drivers. François Perrodo and Emmanuel Collard finished the race a mere one minute from a podium place, a performance that perfectly met the set objective. The objective is and remains the intention to progress with each and every race with a driver who is making his debut this season on the international scene. In addition the Belgian team emphasises its knowhow by producing the shortest cumulated pit stop of the entire LM GTE class.
The resurrection of the European Le Mans Series is one of the striking elements of the 2013 motorsport year. The fourth round of the European championship, in which GTs and Prototypes go head to head, once again saw almost 30 cars at the start. In addition the European Le Mans Series, who also once again competed in Hungary as did the World Series by Renault, was a perfect setting for a great performance by the Belgian team and their French drivers.
Rudi Penders (ProSpeed Competition Team Principal)
“It was not an easy race, because what we were able to ascertain at home also, the fact that the summer is over. It was cold and wet, definitely not the conditions that make an endurance race any easier, in fact the contrary, especially on this narrow and twisting track. The results are in line with the expectations, seeing we have taken another step forward. At the beginning of the season we had declared that we would progress race by race. We have now finished in fourth place, a mere minute from the podium and this confirms that our approach is the right one. On top of that it is also worth mentioning that we haven’t made life easy for ourselves. As compared to the competition we compete with two drivers, one with a ‘Pro’ label, the other with the ‘Am’ label and according to regulations the driving time of that ‘Am’ is 1 hour and 20 minutes. Should you opt for three drivers then the ‘Am’ only has to remain on the track for 45 minutes. It’s a double-edged sword, because on the one hand François is able to progress far more thanks to the lengthier driving time, but on the other hand it is far more difficult to fight it out with teams who are competing with three drivers. We obviously hope that our strategy will continue to bear its fruits, which should then conclude with a podium place at Paul Ricard, during the final race of the season.”
François Perrodo (Driver – Porsche 911 GT3 RSR #75 – LMGTE)
“Manu and I experienced a problem free race, but we were enormously helped by the technical team that in fact set the fastest combined pit stop times of the entire field. The two stops were in fact 5 seconds faster than those of the closest rivals, for which we thank them. Once again the strategy paid off and that is of utmost importance in this high standing endurance competition. At the next meeting I want to offer the team a bottle of champagne after the race…”