Korjus Looking Forward To 24 Hour Debut

Kevin Korjus is looking forward to starting his first 24 hour race as the no. 99 ART McLaren crew look to bounce back from a non-score last time out at Paul Ricard.

Having made the switch from single-seaters over the off-season, the Estonian has combined outings in the European Le Mans Series and the Blancpain Endurance Series in a bid to gain more seat time in GT3 machinery. Despite not troubling the GTC leaders in the ELMS with BOP pitched heavily in favour of the Ferraris, ART have been right at the thick of the action in Blancpain, Alvaro Parente in particular enjoying a standout season in the Pro category. For his part, Korjus is pleased with his rate of progress and content to be close to the McLaren factory driver’s pace.

Korjus has impressed in his first season of sportscars and is set
 to make his 24 Hour debut at Spa. Credit: (Marc Da Mattia)

“I’m really enjoying it so far, I’m not looking to go back to single-seaters,” Korjus said while on ELMS duty at the Red Bull Ring. “They are a bit different because at Spa we will have three professionals and here we have a gold, silver and bronze driver, so basically I have to be the quickest!

“I don’t think we’re too far away [in Blancpain], everyone has quite a similar pace,” he continued. “Last time in Q3, Kevin Estre had an engine blow up so he didn’t do a lap, at Silverstone I did my first qualifying it was my first set of new Pirelli tyres ever so I didn’t take the maximum out of it, but I was still sixth and Alvaro was second which is not so bad. Alvaro has always been there, so he has done an incredible job, but I think we’ve been a bit unlucky!”

Korjus currently sits fourth in points with team-mates Kevin Estre and Andy Soucek. After finishing third at Monza and second at Silverstone, Korjus believes the pace was there to fight for the win at Paul Ricard before bad luck hit.

Korjus took a maiden sportscar podium at Monza and also
tasted the champagne at Silverstone. (Credit: Brecht Decancq)

“First of all the engine blew up in qualifying so we had to change it and started from last. Kevin Estre made the start and one of the gentleman drivers hit him big time up the rear, so we had a puncture and lost the brakes. It was quite a lot of damage, so we lost a lot of points.”

With 24 hour races renowned for their attritional nature and the championship-leading Bentley untested over such a distance, Korjus knows that a good finish at Spa could prove decisive in closing the gap on their title rivals and is looking forward to the challenge.

“Last year, the guys only did 7 laps in the race, so hopefully we can finish this year!” he said. “Even from the beginning of the season we have improved the car quite a bit and it’s almost better every race. This is the most professional team I’ve ever been in, we’ve always the best McLaren and we can’t have any complaints.”