Emil Frey Lexus Racing is excited for the next race, because with the 1000 km of Paul Ricard one of the highlights of the year is taking place next weekend. The six-hour race is started in the evening with the end at midnight, demanding from both men and machine the maximum of performance and precision. Following the grand podium at the Endurance Cup at Silverstone, the Swiss team takes the successful momentum to the next race weekend of the Blancpain GT Series, aiming to perform strongly once again.
1000 km and six hours, double the race distance, two stints per driver, the race at Le Castellet serves as a good location for the 24-hours of Spa, taking place end of July. In addition, this is going to be the longest ever race since the Lexus team has been found and the start of the project with the Lexus RC F GT3 in autumn 2016.
“Paul Ricard will mark another milestone in our development, because so far we have not competed in races that are longer than three hours”, says Hannes Gautschi, Technical Coordinator Emil Frey Lexus Racing. “However, we know the track quite well from racing there in the International GT Open last year and can look upon some experiences and data. It was important to see with the podium at Silverstone that we are continuously going forward. Now we have to keep working with intensive commitment and then we should be able to achieve another good result at Paul Ricard.”
Quite often, the weather also makes the race to be a heat battle. “We faced a few issues with the warm track temperatures at Monza, therefore I think we might have some difficulties at Paul Ricard”, says Lorenz Frey, Team Principal Emil Frey Racing. “Nevertheless the team is in great spirits after the podium at Silverstone and would like to secure another top result.”
The third Endurance Cup race takes place 01 and 02 June in Paul Ricard (France). Both qualifying and race take place Saturday, 02 June 2018 and are streamed live at www.blancpain-gt-series.com/watch-live
For more information, please visit www.emilfreyracing.com
Driver Quotes Emil Frey Lexus Racing #14
Albert Costa Balboa (ESP)
“I was very happy with the performance at Silverstone, because I was able to drive the fastest laptime of the race twice. The whole teamwork is just right and everyone works well together, the hard work is finally paying off. I hope, that we can repeat the success of the sister car and also get a podium finish soon.”
Christian Klien (A)
“I am very happy with the development since nobody would have thought a month ago that we would be able to achieve a podium on our own. It is a lot of fun driving at Paul Ricard, because that is the only chance to drive in the dark before we are heading to Spa in July. Silverstone was a great team achievement and now we have to take this momentum forward.”
Marco Seefried (GER)
“Paul Ricard will be a tough race, because it’s six hours long and we drive in the dark, anything can happen. Very often it gets very hot there and this year we have another unknown factor with the new tarmac. But we are all in good shape and the team is now even more motivated since the number 114´s success.”
Driver Quotes Emil Frey Lexus Racing #114
Stéphane Ortelli (MCO)
“We are all very motivated after Lexus´ first podium in the Blancpain GT Series. Since the beginning of the season we have done an unbelievable development. But we must not get lost now and continue our focussed work, then we should look good for upcoming races as well.”
Norbert Siedler (A)
“Now we just have to keep doing what we do and then we should be well with it for the next races. Silverstone was good for our car with its fast corners, Paul Ricard will be a bit different, but I am confident that we can achieve points again.”
Markus Palttala (FIN)
„Although I don’t think Paul Ricard is quite as good track for the RC F as Silverstone was, it should be OK and we continue working hard to keep the upward trend going. We have tasted the first success and we are definitely hungry for more. I really like this event because it’s longer than a regular BES race – we all get to do 2 stints and the race goes into the dark on Saturday evening. Last time I did this race, we started from the pitlane and finished 3rd so if we do the same faultless job as we did in Silverstone, everything is possible.“