Wed 29 Jul 2009 Another night race for Spyker Squadron
After a strong performance at 24 Heures du Mans in June where the team finished fifth in class and ahead of all the Porsches, Spyker Squadron will compete in round three of the five-race Le Mans Series schedule this weekend. The 1000 km of Algarve bring the #85 Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R, driven by Dutchman Tom Coronel and Czech Jarek Janis to Portimao, Portugal.
The predicted sunset is around 20:45 local time (GMT) and with the start of the race set for Saturday 1 August at 19:15 it means that part of the race will run in all darkness. It will take the checkered flag no later than 01:15 on Sunday.
The 4.69 km track is new to the Le Mans Series but some of the teams already used the demanding Autodromo Internacional do Algarve track to test their cars earlier this season. The brand new facility situated near Portimao in Portugal's holiday region, the Algarve, got FIA approval last September. The 18 turn-track has many uphill and downhill sections, making it challenging for drivers to find the right braking spot, and has limited sections to relax.
After a 2800 km drive the trucks arrived this morning at the track. The team is also complete and will prepare all their technical facilities for tomorrow's free practice sessions. A third session is scheduled on Friday before the teams qualify on Friday evening just after seven o'clock. The Spyker will make its first appearance on the track on Thursday at 16:45 GMT for the first one hour free practice session.
This raceweekend is a little bit different than the previous weekends. Why? The first free practice is already today. And the race is not on sunday but on saturday night!
Eurosport will air three hours of the race live! The first 1,5 hour and the last 1,5 hour.
The results of the first free practice can be found here: Le Mans Series
Still some work to do for the Snoras Spyker Squadron: 9th out of 11 in class. Let's see how things are after the 2nd free practice session later this evening!
Yes - too bad. I all looks okay for tomorrow's race though.
SNORAS Spyker Squadron will start round three of the five-race Le Mans Series schedule this weekend from the back of the grid. After an engine failure in the third free practice session, the team did not have enough time to re-fit an engine in time for the 20 minute qualifying session for the 1000 km of the Algarve race that starts tomorrow at 19h15 (GMT).
Both yesterday and today the team spend a lot of time on the track. Both Squadron drivers, Czech Jarek Janis and Dutchman Tom Coronel, went out in the first session, a one hour session at the hottest time of the day, on a reconnaissance mission. Both drivers returned to the box into ecstasy and thoroughly enjoyed the demanding Portuguese track with its blind turns and limited opportunities to relax. To be quick on the track the drivers need to learn a number of tricks or you would be 1.5-2 seconds behind. Towards the end of the session the team discovered a problem with the gearbox and decided to change the gearbox.
Yesterday’s second free practice session, a two hour evening session in partly dark and cooler conditions, was fully used by the drivers to further work on their race setup. Their pace was good and the team eventually set the seventh quickest time without simulating a qualifying run on a fresh set of tires.
In a third free practice session this afternoon, Jarek went out and immediately produced good lap times. Tom went in the car next but he had to return to the pit box shortly after with an engine failure. As the team was not able to be ready in time for qualifying, the organisers of the race gave the team permission to start the 1000 km race from the back of the grid tomorrow. Tom Coronel set the quickest time of both drivers and therefore he will start the race tomorrow for the the team. The race will start at 19h15 (GMT) and it will take the checkered flag no later than 01:15 on Sunday.*Eurosport will broadcast three hours of the race live on one of their pan-European sports TV channels.
About Spyker Squadron
Spyker Squadron was founded in 2001 to underwrite the performance of the highly exclusive hand-build Spyker sports cars. Spyker Squadron is a dedicated team consisting of engineers, drivers and supporting personnel that develops, builds and supports the Spyker GT2 race cars. The team is based in Zeewolde, the Netherlands, where it has a high-tech workshop to support its operations.
For more SNORAS Spyker Squadron updates do not forget to drop by our VIMEO and TWITTER pages which we will be updating regularly.
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Timetable, Live TV & TV schedule:
Timetable: Le Mans Series // www.lemans.org*
Eurosport TV Schedule: yahoo.eurosport.com/tvschedule_clng0.shtml*
Eurosport TV Live Web Player: player.eurosport.com/home ($)
Too bad you had an engine faillure. But it is good to hear that you will start the race tomorrow. And in a 1.000 km race your starting position isn't that important.
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