Team Essex first 2008 test notes

Good start to Team Essex's 2008 Porsche programme

The Danish Team Essex squad has spent three days to prepare for its first full season outside its Danish borders, where the team will be taking part in the LMP2 class in the international Le Mans Series. From Saturday to Monday Team Essex tested at the former Grand Prix circuit of Estoril in Portugal with its new Porsche RS Spyder, which the team will be fielding as one of the first teams in Europe after the car has been victorious in Northern America.

"This test was not about setting quick lap times, but simply to get the car thoroughly tested so that we could get vital knowledge about the car as quickly as possible, so that we had plenty of data and information to analyze in order to prepare further for the races ahead," team manager John Nielsen tells. The former Le Mans winner also drove the car in Estoril, where three times Danish Touring Car Champion and third in last year's GT1 class at Le Mans Casper Elgaard spent most of the time at the wheel of the car.

At the Portuguese test not only the staff of Team Essex was present. Porsche had seven technicians in place to help with the knowledge they have of the car, while Dunlop not only delivered tyres, but also staff. This is a consequence of the Danish team striking a deal with the tyre manufacturer to work together in the coming years.

"Together we will be aiming to produce tyres that can help us beat Michelin, who has been dominant in producing tyres for endurance racing," John Nielsen says. "I am very satisfied with our agreement, as we will be taking part in development work of the tyres and thus we will be able to run far more kilometres in testing than originally planned meaning that Team Essex will learn much quicker."

The next test for Team Essex will be taking place in France, where the team will be testing at another former Grand Prix circuit that of Dijon-Prenois.

-credit: team essex