Spa: Team Bruichladdich race report

A difficult weekend for Team Bruichladdich at the Spa 1000kms The 1000kms of Spa were a weekend of hopes, ups and downs. Team Bruichladdich proved competitive once again, but a broken engine in qualifying and a severe accident in race stopped its ...

A difficult weekend for Team Bruichladdich at the Spa 1000kms

The 1000kms of Spa were a weekend of hopes, ups and downs. Team Bruichladdich proved competitive once again, but a broken engine in qualifying and a severe accident in race stopped its progression.

After a top 5 finish in the LMP2 class at the 8 Hours of Le Castellet, Team Bruichladdich came to the Belgian Ardennes in confidence. Tim Greaves, Karim Ojjeh and Christian Ebbesvik confirmed this result and potential in the three practice sessions: "The car was very good, and Paul Thomas made a good set-up," says Tim Greaves. The Zytek no.41 finished 2nd in Practice 1, 8th in Practice 2 and 3rd in Pratice 3.

Unfortunately an engine failure ruined Team Bruichladdich's hopes for a good qualifying position: "We experienced a very rare issue, since the problem was caused by a conrod bolt failure," comments Tim Greaves with disappointment. "We think we would have been in the high 2.06 in qualifying, but theory in racing can be risky!"

Christian Ebbesvik started the race from the back of the grid, but was extremely impressive and fought his way up to 13th, gaining 37 positions in the first 12 laps of race: "Christian drove brilliantly and after 15 laps got us within one lap of the class leaders." But the 1000kms of Spa brutally ended for the Norwegian driver, who severely ran into the wall at the Bus Stop. He was rescued with great care, as further medical examination showed a broken vertebra. Christian Ebbesvik is expected to be out for six weeks, but "he seriously hopes to be fit for the Le Mans 24 Hours," says Karim Ojjeh.