European Le Mans
Spa: Spyker Squadron race report
SNORAS SPYKER SQUADRON FINISHES FIFTH IN SPA 1000 KM After a disappointing start of the weekend, the team struggled to find the time to work towards a proper setup, the team claimed a hard fought fifth place in the Le Mans Series 1000 km of ...
Published: Jun 19, 2009, 7:54 PM
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SNORAS SPYKER SQUADRON FINISHES FIFTH IN SPA 1000 KM
After a disappointing start of the weekend, the team struggled to find the time to work towards a proper setup, the team claimed a hard fought fifth place in the Le Mans Series 1000 km of Spa-Francorchamps. Dutchman Tom Coronel was joined by Scotsman Peter Dumbreck. SNORAS Spyker Squadron regular Jarek Janis receives medications to recover from an inflammation of the jaw and was advised by his doctors not to drive this weekend.
After having missed most of the second free practice session the team qualified ninth yesterday. Lamborghini-driver Bouchut pushed Tom wide at Blanchimont and as a result he hit the wall. The left rear and front suspension were damaged and there was not sufficient time for the mechanics to replace the damaged parts in time to rejoin the test. This morning the organisers called off the warming-up session and as a result the team had to start today's race with little valuable track time.
After a messy rolling start of 49 cars, the safety car had to come out immediately. In the early stages of the race Tom complained that the car was hard to drive and this was reflected in the lap times. Dumbreck took over after about an hour and was able to produce better times - he returned the car to the pit lane in sixth position. Tom's second stint was much better as track grips levels improved, for a while he ran in 5th place and he improved the car's best time twice in a row. After he was hit by one of the Le Mans Prototypes (LMPs) he had to return to the pit box with a tire puncture. He rejoined in 6th place. A big shunt by one of the LMP's, ten minutes after six, caused today's fifth safety car situation. At that point Tom was in P5 and had been delivering similar times as the Farnbacher Ferrari F430 in P4. The race was restarted at half past seven but the German car was to quick to get. The # 85 Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R finished fifth, only three seconds behind the car in position 4.
Tom Coronel: "The car got better by the lap - As track grip levels improved we found the speed that we should have had early on in the race. In my last lap of today's race I was able to set our quickest time but at the beginning of my first stint it felt like I was driving on ice. I am very pleased with our result, after all we were just 18 seconds away from the podium. The car felt solid and the crew again showed why they are famous for their fabulous pit stops. Le Mans here we come!"
Peter van Erp: managing director Spyker Squadron: "I am quite pleased with our results. It was very important for us to deliver results whilst in the midst of our Le Mans preparations. We did not start today's race very well but we gradually improved and fought ourselves to the front of the 16 car GT2 grid. We got great feedback from our drivers, both drove really well today, but we have learned this weekend that we need more time to test for our most important race: the 24 Hours of Le Mans. On behalf of the team I would like to thank today's guests and all colleagues from the Spyker Cars factory for taking the time to join us at Spa to support the team".
The team will try to test the car for one- or two days before they travel South to France for the 24 Hours of Le Mans mid-June. For more Spyker Squadron updates do not forget to drop by our VIMEO and TWITTER pages which we will be updating regularly.
-credit: spyker
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