The superb fourth place of the Marc VDS BMW Z4 driven by Bas Leinders, Maxime Martin and Markus Palttala in the Nürburgring 24 Hours was no freak result. Not only did the drivers made no mistakes whatsoever, the car could also count on the efficient support of Michelin and on the wealth of experience of shock absorber manufacturer KW. Everybody is still talking about the superb fourth place result of the Marc VDS BMW Z4 at Nürburgring 24 Hours, held on May 12-13 on the awesome Nordschleife. To finish fourth – and first of the BMW’s – in a race which saw 175 cars at the start is a formidable result, especially since the team and the drivers competed only for the first time in the event.
“Our three drivers drove a perfect race”, states Sébastien Metz, Technical Director of the Marc VDS Racing Team. “Bas, Maxime and Markus not only set very consistent lap times, they stayed focussed the whole time and treated the car with a lot of care and respect.” But the engineer of the Belgian team also wants to include the technical partners in this brilliant performance.
“To perform well in an endurance race there are several important conditions to fulfil. Our technical staff performed flawlessly during the pitstops and on the track our drivers had the best Michelin tyres at their disposal. The French manufacturer proved to be very efficient by giving us the same spec of tyres as the factory teams. During the race the Michelin engineers provided some very valuable advice as well, especially on Sunday morning when changing weather on the long track made life very difficult for us. Bas was driving at that time and on the start/finish straight the rain was coming down heavily. Elsewhere it was completely dry however. It was very tempting to put rain tyres on the car, but on the 28.378 km of the Green Hell that would have been a catastrophic decision. The Michelin people suggested some cut slicks, which proved to be the right decision.”
The BMW Z4 of the Marc VDS Racing Team could also count on the KW shock absorbers.
“They provided us with a very efficient technical support. It is no coincidence that the factory BMW’s are also equipped with KW shock absorbers”, Sébastien Metz continues. “A week before the start of the race we put our car on the KW test bench, which allowed us to fine-tune our set-up. KW has a wealth of experience on the Nordschleife and their people were glad to share that experience with us. It was one of the decisive elements in our success.”
With this excellent result in their back pocket the Marc VDS Racing Team hopes to continue their successful ways during the next round of the Blancpain Endurance Series, on June 2-3 in Silverstone.
Source : Marc VDS Racing Team