The Marc VDS Racing Team will start in a strong position for tomorrow’s Blancpain Endurance Series race at Silverstone. Both cars qualified in the top ten, with the #3 car, crewed by Maxime Martin, Bas Leinders and Markus Palttala in third and the #4, car with Henri Moser, Bert Longin and Mike Hezemans, in ninth.
Belgian Martin put his BMW Z4 GT3 into third in the final part of qualifying, a 2:00.617 lap time leaving him just 0.286 seconds from the pole position. Similarly, Swiss driver Moser set his time in Q3, with a 2:01.169 placing his car ninth.
The Silverstone track’s sweeping curves suit the BMW Z4 GT3 very well, leaving the team confident that they can produce a good result in the race on Sunday. Rain is predicted to fall during the three-hour contest, a weather condition that has proved to suit the team already this year – something that could help the team to a strong points haul.
The race is streamed live on the official website, blancpain-endurance-series.com, with the green flag falling at 12:45 local time. Keep up with the team on Twitter – @marcvdsracing – and Facebook – facebook.com/marcvdsgt.
Sebastien Metz, technical director
“Two cars in the top ten is a big improvement from Monza. I’m not sure I expected the BMW to be so quick – but it’s nice to be faster than I expected, with both cars making a good step forward. We are pleased with the progress with car #4, to be in the top ten is excellent. It’s a great reward for the whole team. They work long hours to make sure these cars are ready and they’ve done a great job. We hope it rains tomorrow – I think that would be better for us. The main target is a strong points haul.”
Maxime Martin
“I think third place is roughly what I expected from this car and this track. It’s a good time, the car is not perfect, we struggled a little but it’s quick. The race is long, it’s three hours – so we will see what happens tomorrow. We’re in a good position for tomorrow’s start. Anywhere in the top five is a good place to start, but the start is a few seconds and the race is three hours. For us, rain would be great!”
Henri Moser
“Things are improving in the #4 car. I think we’re on the pace now – we were on the pace in the wet at Monza, but we’ve worked on the car, with each other and thanks to a great job by the team we’ve improved the car over the course of the weekend. We’ve tweaked not just the car, but our driving styles too, and we’re seeing the reward now. Ninth position is great, but in my experience of three-hour races there’s not a huge difference between starting 20th or starting fifth – we’ll be in the strong pack tomorrow. I love driving in the rain, and I have more experience in the wet at this track than the dry – that’s Britain for you! But with the step forward we’ve made, I’d be happy with wet or dry conditions tomorrow.”
Source : Marc VDS Racing Team