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Silverstone: SRT race report

SRT Debutes with Merited 4th Place in FIA SILVERSTONE. After the test days in Monza and Nogaro, the real premiere could take place in Silverstone. In the first race of the championship Selleslagh Racing Team closed with an outstanding performance, ...

Published: May 19, 2008, 7:22 PM

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SRT Debutes with Merited 4th Place in FIA

SILVERSTONE. After the test days in Monza and Nogaro, the real premiere could take place in Silverstone. In the first race of the championship Selleslagh Racing Team closed with an outstanding performance, the SRT Corvette ended up in fourth place.

The FIA GT weekends traditionally start on Saturday with two trainings of 80 minutes. Patrick Selleslagh explains: "This gives us two hours and a half to find the perfect set-up for the car. It seems a lot, but you need to use these hours optimally, to prepare in the best possible way for the competition, taking into account we had to give Xavier Maassen enough driving time, who doesn't know the circuit and that the weather had been playing a vicious role all weekend long. The weather fluctuating between dry but cold and good old English drizzle aren't exactly the circumstances to opt for a fixed set-up. Luckily I could count on an excellent tyre partner. Michelin delivers a complete range of tyres of high quality rubber. Free training often seems complimentary, but they aren't really."

The SRT Corvette C6.R scaled steadily en after the second session the Belgian Corvette could be found as second in the ranking.

Later it was up to the French champion Christophe Bouchut to take the qualifications to his charge. Bouchut found his rhythm after a couple of rounds and ended up 8 hundreds of a sec behind the Pole Position.

Bouchut showed he was a true sportsman: "Of course I'm satisfied with such a debute, but it stays frustrating when you feel you are so close."

The final race took place on Sunday, it seemed as if the gods were meddling, the weather circumstances were absolutely diabolic. Christophe Bouchut commenced the race and after a couple of entertaining opening laps the Frenchmen found his spot in the top 2. Bouchut finished in first place thanks to a game of strategy and pit stops, passing on the wheel to Xavier Maassen.

Xavier Maassen drove a great stint, he maintained first position until the safety-car organized a complete regrouping. Different Aston Martins, Maserati, Corvette were only a handful of seconds away from each other. The Dutchmen ensured a-hard-fought-for fourth place, to the big joy of the whole team.

Patrick Selleslagh: " I can't think of a more enticing debute of the FIA GT and yes critics will probably say that the stage is more pleasing, but I still see it as a victory. Everyone had inputted for a 100% and what Xavier did, merits a great appreciation. In fact everyone deserves merit, the strategy was indefectible, the car impeccable, the pit stops flawless and the pilots did what they could. This is a triumph!

-credit: srt

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