Coming off the back of a stunning win at the opening round of the Blancpain Endurance Series, the Marc VDS Racing Team head to the second round, at Silverstone in the UK, leading the championship and full of confidence. Bas Leinders, Maxime Martin and Markus Palttala, who took victory in Italy, return in the #3 BMW Z4 GT3. Car #4 is once again crewed by Henri Moser, Mike Hezemans and Bert Longin, who are looking to improve after a frustrating start at Monza. The drivers of the #3 car took victory at Silverstone in 2011, a track that suits the car far better than the long straights in Italy – where the team came away with race win against all expectations. In fact, the Marc VDS Racing Team have won the last three rounds of the Blancpain Endurance Series, winning the final two of 2011 and the opening round of 2012.
The track is one of the oldest and most famous in the world, renowned for its fast sweeping turns, including the celebrated Becketts and Maggots complex and lightning fast Copse corner. Originally a World War 2 airbase, the circuit held the first ever Formula One Grand Prix in 1950 and has been a cornerstone of global motorsport ever since.
On top of their success at Monza, the team took a break from their Blancpain Endurance Series commitments to race at the 24 Hours of the Nürburgring, where strong teamwork and consistency were rewarded with a fourth place finish. The team will hope to once again use their spirit to race at the front.
The three-hour race will be streamed live on the official site of the series – blancpain-endurance-series.com, and you can keep up to date all weekend on our Twitter – follow @marcvdsracing.
Bas Leinders – Car #3
“I think we’re in a competitive situation – we’re possibly even the favourites. We’ve won three in a row, with the last two races of 2011 and then at Monza, with the same package – the BMW Z4 GT3. On top of that we had a strong performance at the Nürburgring. It’s all very difficult now, there’s a lot more pressure, but I believe the team is intelligent and strong enough to cope. We want the best result – winning isn’t a must, we just want a good finish and to score more points before the 24 Hours of Spa. Everything we do this season is aimed at winning the championship.”
Markus Palttala – car #3
“Monza showed how hard the competition is this year – we barely had the speed to qualify in the top 20 there in dry conditions. We came out as winners in the wet race thanks to a great team effort and we won in Silverstone last year – but that will be tough to repeat. However, we have a strong package and I’m confident we have everything in place to do really well this weekend. It would be great to keep winning but what we really need to do is to keep scoring points and focus on the championship.”
Henri Moser – car #4
“I’m really looking forward to this weekend, it’s going to be very interesting. Everyone has worked on their cars since Monza, so it could be very different. Everything came as a surprise in Italy, especially with the rain, but it benefitted us so we’re hoping for more rain! We’re going to do our best as usual. We’ve done a lot of hard work and testing since Monza to make sure we get to Silverstone in the best shape. The team won this race last season so I’m confident we’ll come with a good set-up. We’re aiming for big points with both cars – the level is high, but a top six for both cars is what we’ll be aiming for.”
Source : Marc VDS Racing Team