Lotterer Brings F1 Feel-Good Factor

If one were to create a fantasy F1 grid consisting of the very best drivers who had excelled in other series, then sportscar star Andre Lotterer would surely be one of the first picks. And in an era where Formula One drivers are almost exclusively fresh-faced graduates of the junior single-seater ladder – the recent announcement that 16 year old Max Verstappen will replace Jean-Eric Vergne at Toro Rosso next season after just one season in Formula 3 being one convenient example – the surprise news that the German will make his Grand Prix debut for Caterham at this weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix, coming at the expense of Kamui Kobayashi, provides a welcome uplifting storyline to a paddock that has grown accustomed to a narrative of doom and gloom this season.

Andre Lotterer's selection by Caterham is one of the season's
 feel-good stories. (Credit: Ker Robertson/Getty Images)

Lotterer’s is a feel-good story of hard work paying dividends. After a testing contract at Jaguar failed to materialise into a race seat when Niki Lauda took over the team, Lotterer reinvented himself in Japan before establishing himself as the headline act in Audi’s sportscar juggernaut that has yielded three Le Mans 24 Hours victories in four seasons, in addition to the inaugural FIA World Endurance Championship. Drivers of his calibre don’t just grow on trees.

Of course, it would be unfair to expect Lotterer to replicate his heroics from La Sarthe this weekend. There is no getting away from the fact that the Caterham has struggled all season from a fundamental lack of downforce, while the quirks of the Pirelli tyres and a new team environment will inevitably take some getting used to. His first priority will be to beat his younger team-mate Marcus Ericsson, who has a whole year’s experience in the car under his belt.

Lotterer’s good friend and Super Formula rival James Rossiter is intrigued to see how he gets on, having himself tested a Formula One car for Force India last season.

Caterham have been uncompetitive this season in the hands of Kobayashi (pictured) &
Ericsson, but it would be a tough ask for Lotterer to get into the points. (Credit: Charles Coates/LAT)

“I had spent a lot of time in the simulator at Force India so that helped a lot; the only real change when I drove the car was that you had to look after the tyres,” Rossiter remembers. “When I was a test driver at Honda there was a lot more grip and tyre life than there is now, so I think that will need a little bit of time to get used to as it will be different from anything he has experienced before. But he should be on top of it quickly.”

At 32, Lotterer is not completely unprepared for the task ahead of him. The German is well versed in the technological complexities of the sport from his experience in Audi’s hybrid R18 e-tron Quattro and crucially has kept his hand in single-seaters, enjoying regular success in Japan’s Super Formula (nee Nippon) series, against competitive opposition including former Williams driver Kazuki Nakajima and HRT refugees Vitantonio Liuzzi and Narian Karthikeyan.

“I think it makes me a better driver because it’s very challenging, you drive almost as fast as a tail-end F1 car,” Lotterer told this writer in 2012. “It keeps me really sharp and it’s very demanding to drive on the very high-speed tracks like Suzuka, so when I come to drive the Audi prototype there’s virtually zero adaption time.”

Rossiter (second) believes Lotter's Super Formula experience will
be a useful advantage at Spa. (Credit: Japan Race Promotion)

“Actually I believe the Super Formula is faster in corners,” adds Rossiter. “We have a lot of downforce and massive grip from the tyres. We just lack a bit in the straight compared to F1. I'm looking forward to hearing what Andre says after FP1 about the difference between the two.”

And of all the circuits to make his debut, Lotterer couldn’t have hoped for a better one than Spa, not far from where he grew up and where unpredictable weather conditions come as standard. Certainly a little rain wouldn't go amiss in Caterham's drive to leapfrog Marussia in the constructors championship; Lotterer will be looking to emulate Giedo van der Garde's perfectly-judged switch to dry tyres, which saw the Dutchman take a surprise third in Q1 last season. 

It may well prove a one-off, and there’s no telling where he will end up come Sunday, but at long last, Andre Lotterer can truly call himself a Formula One driver. And that can only be a good thing. 


This article can also be viewed on Richland F1.

Job Not Over For Jota

If you were to ask anyone to come up with a word they would associate with sportscars, then chances are that ‘Le Mans’ would be the first thing to cross their lips. The prestigious twice-around-the-clock classic, which celebrated its 90^th anniversary last year, is almost as famous as it is difficult to win; a lot can happen in 24 hours after all.

Teams can invest hundreds of thousands of pounds assembling the best possible package and undergo an entire week’s worth of build-up – testing, qualifying, the ever-popular driver’s parade through the streets – only for their meticulous preparations to be undone in a split second, whether through a lapse in concentration, mechanical dramas, being caught behind the wrong safety car or some other such misfortune. To be in with a chance at the finish, every little component must run like clockwork. And following an early delay that cut them adrift of the leaders, that is exactly what Jota Sport did, with mishaps befalling other contenders to set up a memorable win in the LMP2 division.

But far from being hung up on their achievements, the British outfit have turned their attentions to closing the four-point gap to defending champions Signatech Alpine and sealing the European Le Mans Series crown. As Harry Tincknell points out, the hard work is far from over.

Tincknell looking composed before the start. (Credit: John Dagys)

“If you had the choice of the ELMS title or the Le Mans win at the start of the season you’d pick Le Mans every time; we’ve done a mega job and achieved our main aim, but now it’s all about refocusing on the rest of the championship,” he said as the series convened for round three at the Red Bull Ring in Austria. “It would be even sweeter if we could win this title as well.”

A wise head on young shoulders, Tincknell isn’t being drawn into the naïve conjectures that conquering the race they all want to win will guarantee an easy ride to the ELMS title. For one, Jota’s closest challengers after 24 hours were regular ELMS rivals TDS Racing, fielding their brand-new Ligier and Signatech, who inspired by a stellar drive from Paul-Loup Chatin, defeated Jota in a straight fight in the most recent ELMS round in Austria. As Jota know all too well, endurance racing has a habit of throwing up surprises when you least expect them – witness Simon Dolan’s dramatic crash in the Silverstone season-opener that robbed the team of an almost certain win.

“From our point of view nothing has changed in terms of the championship because no points were won or lost at Le Mans,” Tincknell said. “Maybe we might be a bit more respected – everyone’s looking at us and trying to beat us so we’ve got some really determined competitors now for the rest of the season – but our approach for each weekend stay the same.

“All the podium finishers at Le Mans were ELMS runners, so that shows you just how strong this championship is. Even though there are only eight cars, there are four or five which have a good shot at winning – it’s really going to come down to consistency and who makes the least mistakes.  Obviously we had that incident at Silverstone, but in terms of the meticulous preparations they’re just unbelievable and it says a lot that we’re still in with a shot at the championship even though we lost one round out of five.”

Victory at Le Mans was made even sweeter by beating their ELMS rivals,
although it counts for nothing in the title race. (Credit: Eric Gilbert)

His are sentiments echoed by Dolan, who admits that all thoughts of Le Mans had passed when he first stepped back into the car for practice in Austria.

“I didn’t even think about it until you mentioned it to be honest,” he admitted. “You get in and out of the car so many times, you go into your own little world and all your focus is on the buttons, not crashing at the end of the pit-lane, waiting for the board to come up and all those sorts of things.”

Nevertheless, he confidence boost Le Mans glory has provided is unmistakable. Everyone at Jota is walking a few inches taller and most crucially, the belief is there that on any given day, Jota are a match for anyone. It’s of huge significance especially for Dolan, the team’s ‘Am’ driver, who has come on leaps and bounds over the past few seasons having only started racing at club level in 2008.

“It does give you a kind of confidence boost because you’ve won the hardest one,” Dolan confirms. “I didn’t start racing until six or seven years ago, so from never having even been to a racetrack, watched a race, sat in a car, done anything to winning Le Mans, it’s really a very short period of time. Harry’s only 22 but he’s been racing for 15 years or something like that! Personally I think it does change you – maybe he’s too young!

“Of course you know you did it, but the further away you get from the experience the more unreal it becomes,” he added. “Obviously they are very fond memories. It’s just one of those lovely things that you can’t buy, you can’t get it any other way than by earning it and that’s the nicest thing for me. That trophy and that win means so much.”

Jota lift the winners trophy after a memorable fightback. (Credit: Eric Gilbert)

Considering the manner of victory, that fact is hardly surprising. If single-seater convert Tincknell needed any further convincing of Le Mans’ extensive reach, the team’s enthusiastic reception by the masses at Goodwood’s Festival of Speed – to which Jota were granted a last minute invitation – was something to cherish.

“I was really surprised by the reaction we got from the crowds; there was a lot more attention on our car than the P1 cars on either side of us,” Tincknell recalls. “It was great to be there actually on merit and to be a part of the event, being with all these superstars and these amazing cars. A lot of people like Felipe Massa, Webber, Derek Bell, who I’ve looked up to for many years were coming over and saying ‘well done’. I was just amazed that they know who I am! It was a surreal experience.”

As with any triumph amid adversity, this story begins with an unexpected twist. Jota’s preparations took a hit when they were forced into a driver change on the eve of the race, on-loan Audi reserve Marc Gene called up to replace Loic Duval following the Frenchman’s terrifying practice shunt. Fortunately, they had a more than capable deputy available in Oliver Turvey, who took four from five pole positions for the team in the ELMS last season, but familiarising the Englishman with a car he hadn’t driven since the previous September put the crew on the back foot.  

Turvey (right) was a last minute addition to the team in Gene's absence,
but acquitted himself well under the circumstances. (Credit: Eric Gilbert)

“It was a bit of a curveball,” Dolan admitted. “You always knew that Marc could go to Audi if anything happened, but it’s very rare that a reserve driver ever gets in the car, so we didn’t have very much of a backup plan. Of course as soon as we saw Loic’s accident we knew Marc was going to be called up by Audi and then you start to wonder ‘what are we going to do?’ Oliver was just the most obvious choice for us, we didn’t really need to change anything. We had to make him a seat and maybe we lost a few laps because he was getting up to speed in the practice sessions, if he had been there the whole time then maybe Harry would have got more laps in qualifying and got the pole. But that’s irrelevant really with hindsight – although probably not to Harry!”

Starting second, Le Mans debutante Tincknell got off to a perfect start to lead the opening lap before a delay to fix a loose bodywork panel dropped them temporarily onto the dreaded second page of the timing screens. But thereafter the Zytek ran faultlessly and as others hit problems, Jota steadily climbed the leaderboard and found themselves in the lead inside the final hour. Turvey had to pit for a splash of fuel with around 15 minutes remaining, but it made no difference to the outcome as Jota came home LMP2 winners and a remarkable fifth overall.

“I remember sitting there at 5 am feeling fairly despondent, looking at the cars above thinking that if they were going to break down then they would have done by now. Then all of a sudden the Brundle car had that problem and we just came back into it. Christ it was stressful but it was a really lovely way to do it! I think if we had gone out and maybe got a lap ahead under the safety car and maintained it for the rest of the race it wouldn’t have been anywhere near as the same as it was to fight back through the field and have all that adrenaline at the end.”

Despite a DNF at Silverstone, Jota are still in contention for the ELMS title. Here
Filipe Albuquerque pushes on at the Red Bull Ring. (Credit: ELMS Media)

Momentum is all-important in motorsports and with Jota riding the crest of the wave, the elusive ELMS title would be the icing on the cake.

“It would from where we started!” Dolan chuckles. “It seemed a long way off when I was lying on a stretcher in the medical centre, that didn’t feel so good at all.  As clichéd as it is, we’ve got to take it one race at a time, and we know from Le Mans that it just takes a second for someone to have a problem or equally for us to have a problem.

“As much as you prepare, you never quite know what’s going to happen. At the end of it, it’ll be what it is. We can only do the best job that we can, we can’t do anything about TDS or anybody else, we just have to go out there and get as many points on the board as we can.”

Emma Kimilainen: Earning Respect

As the only female racing in the Scandinavian Touring Car Championship, Emma Kimilainen is used to attention. But after a second-place finish at Falkenberg in July, the 25-year-old Finn is hopeful that will be for her on-track performances – and not her gender – that she is recognised.

After only three weekends back in a racing car following four years out of the sport, in which she earned a degree from the University of Applied Sciences in Business, Marketing and Logistics and also started a family, Kimilainen impressed many by holding off defending champion Thed Bjork while sustaining pressure on leader Philip Forsman in the closing laps of the reversed grid race.

Kimilainen celebrates her first STCC podium. (Credit: Martin Oberg)

Without a small mistake on cold tyres, following a safety car that had eroded her comfortable early lead, Kimilainen could even have scored a breakthrough win – not a bad result considering her unfamiliarity with PWR Racing’s new chassis, the old one having been written off after sustaining heavy damage at the Gothenburg City Race.

“It was a good weekend, apart from in the second race when I had a flat tyre so I didn’t finish. [The podium] definitely helps with confidence,” she said. “I also had a completely new car which I had to learn in time for qualifying as well; it wasn’t that easy to find a good setup for it because it didn’t work the same as the old one. We just worked some magic with the setup overnight and then after two laps I was looking in the mirrors and I couldn’t see anybody! Everything was okay, it was really exciting to lead.”

After her most competitive showing to date in a season plagued by bad luck, Kimilainen is optimistic that her fellow competitors are now starting to view her as a credible rival. Round four at Knutstorp seemingly can’t come soon enough, with more leaps forward anticipated.

The Finn hopes she has earned the respect of her rivals after
running up front at Falkenberg. (Credit: Martin Oberg)

“It’s pretty tough in the beginning to come to a new championship and be accepted,” she admits. “It usually takes about half a season or so and then the respect from the other drivers starts to come, especially since Thed Bjork tried everything he could but couldn’t overtake me [at Falkenberg]. Hopefully I now have some more respect than I had before and maybe they’ll not just think that it’s okay to push me off the track!

“I feel at home in Sweden and the STCC. It’s the most professional series I’ve ever driven, it’s a really tough championship and the cars are great to drive. It’s great to be in the main championship and not in one of the support classes like I’ve been in before.” 

Catching Up With Michael Meadows

Double Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Michael Meadows is targeting a future in international GT racing following a toe-in-the-water foray into the European Le Mans Series and the Spa 24 Hours.  Although the 26 year-old didn’t have the results to show for it – an unspectacular 12^th in class at the Red Bull Ring driving the ageing Gulf Racing UK Porsche preceding a difficult Spa, where gearbox woes thwarted a promising run for the Leonard Motorsport Aston Martin – Meadows emerged encouraged from the experience and is eager to return in 2015.

Meadows thoroughly enjoyed his first experience of 24 hour endurance
racing in the Leonard Motorsport Aston Martin. (Credit: Brecht Decancq)

“It was a great experience, not just the race but the whole event was so exciting and I’d absolutely love to do it again. I have to thank Aston Martin Racing and particularly Leonard Motorsport for giving me the opportunity to go out there with them and show what I can do,” Meadows said afterwards. 

“It’s definitely something I’ve got my eye on in future, the aim is to go back and try and win it one day. I want to do all the big races and the biggest championships that I can; I did the Le Mans support race this year and now I want to go on and do the Le Mans 24 Hours.”

Austria: A Learning Experience

Porsches have struggled all year against the all-conquering Ferraris in the ELMS and Meadows was under no illusions that the Austria weekend would be focused more on gaining useful experience and trying to match team-mate Adam Carroll, rather than the outright result.

“The main thing [to get used to] was the championship itself – the driver changes and the LMP cars going past you – rather than the car,” he said. “I’ve always been in one-make series and been at the front of whatever I’m doing, so that was interesting. It wasn’t too extreme at the deep end because it’s quite similar to the Carrera Cup car, a little bit more power and more grip perhaps, but essentially it handles in a pretty similar way.

“That particular car is a 2011 chassis RSR, so it’s lagging behind a bit in terms of development compared to the Ferraris and the Aston. We knew that going into the race we weren't challenging for victory, we were just trying to get some experience of the championship and get close to Adam Carroll. The pace was very similar between the two of us, so I was happy about that.”

The race-winning Signatech Alpine chases Meadows in the Porsche. (Credit: ELMS Media)

Despite the very evident differences between the GTE Porsche and GT3 Aston Martin, Meadows found the four hours of the Red Bull Ring a helpful precursor to the Belgian twice-around-the-clock classic.

“The longest stint I’d done in a car before the ELMS race was an hour in British GT in 2008 – not that fitness was going to be a problem – but it was just preparing yourself for it, hydrating and that sort of thing," he said. "In the ELMS race as the silver driver I got just over two hours running, which was good preparation as I was obviously going to be in the car a lot at Spa, and things like driver changes, the fact that you are waiting around a lot for your turn, setting the car up for three or even four drivers rather than just yourself. It definitely made Spa that bit easier.”

Spa: A Question of Survival

The 2014 running of the Spa 24 will long be remembered for the spate of terrifying accidents which littered the opening phase of the race, with red flags required to allow for Gentleman Trophy competitor Marcus Mahy’s extraction by helicopter following crashes that had already seen Tim Mullen and Andrew Howard admitted to hospital.

It was hardly the ideal introduction for a rookie in his first 24 hour race, but when the time came for Meadows' first stint the frenzy had thankfully settled down somewhat.

The early stages of the Spa 24 Hours saw several huge accidents, although it was
gearbox dramas which would account for the Leonard Aston. (Credit: Stefan Deck)

“I got in around midnight and by that time the race had been restarted after the red flags and everyone had calmed down a bit.” he said. “The first few hours were crazy, lots of mistakes came after the safety car from guys not taking account of cold tyres and full tanks of fuel, they just needed to calm down a bit and I think the red flags allowed the teams to give the drivers a bit more advice. When all the carnage was going off I was happy to be in the pit garage looking at the monitors; it gave me a chance to take it all in and learn before I got in the car and did my stuff. Watching it from the outside, I thought ‘what have I let myself in for here?’ I felt sorry for the guys in the cars during the red flags who got stuck out on track for an hour or so.”

After a productive night shift, a top ten finish in Pro-Am was on the cards, despite a tangle with Harold Primat’s HTP Mercedes at the Bus Stop that necessitated a brief stay in the pits, before gearbox problems struck with just two hours remaining. An eventual 37th overall was scant reward for their efforts.

“It’s a shame we didn’t get the result, but there’s not much we can do about it - it’s just bad luck at the end of the day,” he added. “I’m not sure the BOP was suited to the Aston that much, we were getting beaten by almost everyone else on the straights, but I loved it, it was great fun. I think I set the fastest lap for our car in the race so I was happy about that.”

Carrera Cup Return

Meadows' next goal is to seal his third Carrera Cup GB crown. (Credit: Porsche)

After sampling the Red Bull Ring and Spa Francorchamps, this weekend Meadows returns to his regular mount in the Porsche Carrera Cup GB at Snetterton with the aim of closing the nine-point gap to main rival Josh Webster, an unprecedented third consecutive title within sight.

“The third title is obviously the main aim and it’s by no means over," he said. "Being in the Carrera Cup has obviously been very good for my career, it’s given me the platform to show that I’m fast and I can win and be consistent and all those sorts of things. No-one has done three back-to-back before and that’s exactly what I want to do; it would be a great reward for myself and the team to repay the faith that all those people have shown in me.”

Spa 24 Preview: Runners and Riders

There’s always something magical about a 24 Hour race and this weekend’s Spa 24 promises not to disappoint. The bumper 60 car entry for the fourth round of the Blancpain Endurance Series features representation from 11 manufacturers, with drivers from as far afield as Australia and Oman, including a few Le Mans, Nurburgring and Bathurst winners to boot, a combination that is sure to make for captivating viewing around the legendary 4.3 mile Belgian circuit. James Newbold takes a look at the ones to watch.

Pro Cup

Treluyer, Lotterer and Fassler could become the first trio in history to win
Le Mans and the Spa 24 Hours in the same year. (Credit: FIA WEC)

It simply wouldn’t be an endurance race without an Audi heading the billing and the Spa 24 Hours is no exception, with three entries from 2011 winners Belgian Audi Club WRT. Nurburgring 24 Hour winners Rene Rast and Markus Winklehock, co-driven by Belgium’s own Blancpain Sprint Series champion Laurens Vanthoor, will carry the number one on their door and on paper stand an excellent chance of delivering Audi their third 24 Hour title of the year. 

But despite having less experience of the R8 LMS than their team-mates, you wouldn’t bet against the formidable partnership of Andre Lotterer, Benoit Treluyer and Marcel Fassler becoming the first trio in history to hold the Le Mans and Spa crowns simultaneously (Luigi Chinetti in 1949 and Romain Dumas in 2010 are the only drivers to achieve this feat so far) in their first race together since clinching their third win at La Sarthe in June. Full-season trio James Nash, Franck Stippler and Christopher Mies complete WRT’s lineup.

Further Audis are entered by Sainteloc Racing – who currently sit third in the Blancpain standings – for Stephane Ortelli, Gregory Guilvert and Edward Sandstrom, fresh from an eye-opening run in the World Rallycross Championship in Mettet, while Czech single-seater team ISR make their first foray into GTs with Marc Basseng joining Filipe Salaquarda and Fabian Hamprecht. The Audi teams will all be hoping for a performance break after struggling badly on the Mistral Straight at Paul Ricard, with the Sainteloc crew the best-placed of the R8s down in fifth.

Spa marks the first 24 hour race for the Bentley Continental, which has won
twice already this season. (Credit: Brecht Decancq Photography)

Bentley are very much the in-form team heading to Spa after two consecutive wins at Silverstone and Paul Ricard that see Guy Smith, Andy Meyrick and Steven Kane atop the Pro Cup standings. The new Continental GT3 is an unknown quantity over twenty four hours, but should certainly be in contention for as long as it remains reliable. The sister car of ex-F1 racer Jerome d'Ambrosio, Antoine Leclerc and Duncan Tappy has yet to hit the same heights, but without the bad luck that has dogged them throughout the season they have the pace to challenge.

The British team’s closest rivals this year have been the ART McLarens, often the class of the field over a single lap in the hands of Alvaro Parente. The Portuguese, who won at Monza with regular team-mate Gregoire Demoustier, will again be joined by Toyota WEC racer Nicolas Lapierre, the Frenchman eager to resume his rivalry with the Audis, while Kevin Korjus, Kevin Estre and Andy Soucek will look to get their title challenge back on track after a scoreless weekend at Ricard.

Von Ryan Racing have also entered an MP4-12C in the Pro Cup, with Kiwi V8 Supercar ace Shane van Gisbergen looking to recapture the electrifying pace shown at the Bathurst 12 Hours alongside experienced team-mates Tim Mullen and Rob Bell.

Mercedes won the 24 Hours in 2013 with Schneider, Gotz and Buhk (Credit: Eric Fabre)

It’s been a relatively quiet season so far by the lofty standards of HTP Motorsport, but the 2013 Spa winners have assembled a strong three-car team of Mercedes SLS AMGs to tackle the 24 Hours.  Bernd Schneider, who turned 50 this week, moves across to partner Harold Primat and Nico Verdonck, while Malaysian single-seater racer Jazeman Jaafar slots in alongside Blancpain Sprint Series championship leaders Maximillian Buhk and Maxi Gotz. A further change sees Xavier Maassen replace Lucas Wolf alongside Stef Dusseldorp and Sergey Afanasiev. Mercedes are also represented by Black Flacon Racing, who could be a dark horse to look out for with Adam Christodoulou, Yelmer Buurman and Mike Parisy poised to drive.

The Marc VDS BMW team also have a very strong entry in the Pro class as they attempt to make up for a disappointing Nurburgring 24 where both cars failed to finish. DTM racers Maxime Martin and Augusto Farfus will partner Jorg Muller, with Markus Palttala, Dirk Werner and Lucas Luhr, who replaces team principle Bas Leinders, sharing the second car.

The Motorbase-run Oman Racing team is the sole Aston Martin in the class, but Silverstone 300 winners Ahmed al-Harthy and Michael Caine will look to spring a surprise after finishing on the podium in British GT two weeks ago. They will be joined by touring car racer Stephen Jelley.

Pro-Am

Many of the fiercest battles in this year’s race will come from the Pro-Am category, as three factory-supported Aston Martins do battle with a cluster of strong lineups from Ferrari, Nissan and BMW.

ROAL Motorsport took victory at Monza and splashed to a
 third place finish at Silverstone. (Credit: Brecht Decancq)

The Maranello’s hopes will be pinned on all-Italian trio Andrea Rizzoli, Stefano Gai and Francesco Castelacci, who currently lead the Pro-Am standings for the Scuderia Villorba Corse team courtesy of two second places at Imola and Paul Ricard.  They enjoy a slim five point advantage over ROAL Motorsport pair Stefano Comandini and Eugenio Amos, who are joined at Spa by Michela Cerruti and Stefano Colombo.

Fellow BMW outfit TDS Racing took maximum points last time out as Nick Catsburg and Henry Hassid finished a remarkable sixth overall. Their lineup is bolstered by the addition of Pierre Thiriet and Jens Klingman, with Olivier Pla, Nicolas Armindo, Benjamin Lariche and Eric Clement set to pilot the other car, while Ecurie Ecosse call on the services of British ace Alexander Sims, although much will depend on whether Oliver Bryant, Andrew Smith and Alasdair McGraig can keep the Z4 in contention.

Of AF Corse's four-car entry in Pro-Am, the formidable Matt Griffin and Duncan Cameron combination which took victory at the Red Bull Ring last weekend looks the pick of the bunch with Alex Mortimer alongside, while Marco Cioci and Andrea Bertolini - the undisputed one lap king of the ELMS - may struggle to remain in contention with bronze-rated Belgian pair Louis Machiels and Niek Hommerson in the team.  

Lowndes fended off Buhk in a dramatic finish to the Bathurst 12 Hour. (Credit: Craig Lowndes)

But of course, all eyes will be firmly fixed on V8 Supercar legend Craig Lowndes as the 39 year-old returns to Spa for the first time since his lone season in Formula 3000 in 1997. The three-time series champion and five-times winner of the Bathurst 1000 has enjoyed great success in his recent forays into sportscars and took a memorable win for Maranello Motorsport in the Bathurst 12 Hour earlier this year despite relentless pressure from Buhk. And in Andrea Piccini, Michele Rugolo and Steve Wyatt, Lowndes has a team around him capable of making his return a memorable one.

Australia also has another entry to cheer in Pro-Am, with Roger Lago’s Lamborghini LP600 also making the trip from down under. Alongside owner-driver Lagos, Lowndes’ V8 Supercar enduro partner Steven Richards, a three times Bathurst 1000 winner in his own right, Steve Owen and David Russell complete a strong lineup.

Among the Aston Martin ranks, British GT champions Beechdean Motorsport welcome back Stefan Mucke, who qualified the car on pole last year. The German joins Jonny Adam, whose extensive knowledge of the Vantage has helped team owner Andrew Howard progress no end, while 22 year-old Daniel Lloyd will be making his 24 hour debut on only his second outing in the Aston Martin.

Stefan Mucke took outright pole last season in the Beechdean
Aston Martin. Will he do the same again? (Credit: Eric Fabre)

Mucke's regular WEC team-mate Darren Turner joins up with MP Motorsport, whose regular trio Richard Abra, Mark Poole and Joe Osborne will look to add to their Silverstone podium to keep up the Pro-Am championship hunt, while sister AMR outfit Leonard Motorsport welcome Pedro Lamy and double Porsche Carrera Cup GB champion Michael Meadows alongside Paul Wilson and Stuart Leonard.

Don’t rule out the RJN GT Academy Nissans either. Wolfgang Reip helped Sir Chris Hoy to a debut podium at Spa in British GT two weeks ago and joins the burgeoning lineup of Alex Buncombe, Nick McMillen and Florian Strauss who lie third in the standings. Fresh from a fourth place finish alongside Luciano Bacheta in the ELMS last weekend, Mark Shulzhitskiy – who excelled in the Oak Ligier on his prototype debut at Le Mans of all places – is joined by Katsumasa Chiyo, Masataka Yanagida and Miguel Faisca in a second entry.

Of the rest, former GP2 champion Giorgio Pantano moves to join Fredric Vervsich, Karim Ojjeh and Olivier Grotz in a Boutsen Ginion McLaren, PGF-Kinfaun agreed a late deal to run their British GT rivals Paul White and Tom Onslow-Cole alongside team regulars John Gaw and Phil Dryburgh, and demon qualifier Franck Perera – who took outright pole at Silverstone – will attempt to show the manufacturers what they’re missing in the Pro GT by Almeras Porsche with Marco Bonanomi, Eric Dermont and Lucas Lasserre alongside.

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.”

Spa 24 Preview: Inside Line with Joe Osborne

Joe Osborne gives James Newbold the lowdown on his preparations for the Spa 24 Hours, MP Motorsport’s rivalry with fellow British GT team Beechdean Motorsport and the Balance of Performance issue.

The Aston Martin and the BMW are completely different, they have different strengths they use to make up the laptime. The BMW doesn’t have as much power, but it has a great chassis and a lot of downforce it can use to get its time from corner-speed, whereas the Aston is a little bit rawer, but it has loads of power to make it up down the straights. Being in the BMW don’t help when I’m in the Aston Martin the week after, but it doesn’t hinder either, so there will be a few positives I can take away I’m sure. We know what the positives of the car and we know the weaknesses of it, so it does give you a chance to exploit it and muscle round it as best you can, but it doesn’t help as much as you would imagine.

Osborne heads to Spa hoping to close the gap on Pro-Am 

championship leaders Scuderia Villorba Corse. (Credit: Gary Parravani)

The test went really well. It was the first time we had Darren Turner in the car and it’s great to have a guy of his calibre there. It was my first time driving with him and the wealth of knowledge and experience he brings is just going to make the whole team, drivers, mechanics, engineers, everybody up their game. And that’s exactly what you need for a big blue-ribband event like the Spa 24 Hours; you can’t have any part of the team being a weak link. When you have 60-odd cars all in the same GT3 spec you’ve really got to be on the top of your game in order to get a half-decent result, which we obviously need to keep the championship hunt alive.

We’re just lobbying for a bit more straightline speed, but we’re not going to be the ones claiming that we’re the worst car out there. I think we’re right in the middle of the BOP, I don’t think we’ve got the best car but we haven’t got the worst car either. It’s just the lack of straight line speed makes it tough to pass, so we’d be happy to trade off some extra straight line speed for a bit more weight that would mean we’d lose a bit of performance round the corners. But I don’t think we’re a million miles away. Probably the Bentley and the Nissan are the strongest, they’ve got very good chassis anyway, even though they’re big cars. By the time you’ve got that turbo power down the straights, those things are absolutely flying past us. On one lap at Ricard [Alex] Buncombe took around ten lengths out of me up the straight, so it’s tough to keep pace. The BOP is close, but it could always be closer. I’d expect the Audis to get a break, the Bentleys and the Nissans to get a hit and then I think everyone will be pretty happy.

Osborne is looking forward to reprising the battle with British GT
 adversaries Beechdean Motorsport. (Credit: Gary Parravani)

It should be a good fight between us and Beechdean in Pro-Am, on paper you couldn’t really pick between the two teams. I’m not going to be the one that lies and says there’s not a bit of inter-team rivalry there! The cars are prepped in the same workshop by AMR and Prodrive, even down to the mechanics looking over them in the week before, so there’s going to be lots of friendly hostility. In terms of the driver line ups, they probably couldn’t be much closer either. The gents Andrew Howard and Mark Poole are very similar, but I’d probably say Mark’s got the upper hand over a longer stint because he’s got that fitness over Andrew; Me and Dan Lloyd are pretty similar, not full time in the Aston Martin but seem to do alright; then you’ve got Richard Abra versus Jonny Adam which is going to be an interesting fight, both works drivers on their junior scheme and then [Stefan] Mucke versus Turner is going to be another pretty tasty battle. I don’t think you can call it to be honest!

Because it is so close, I don’t think there’s a lot you can personally do. You need the rub of the green to make sure you’re not involved in any stupid accidents that can rule you out of the race. It’s the old cliché that you can only do things wrong in a 24 hour race and that to finish first, first you must finish, but I really do think it’s true. With the number of cars that are all doing the same sort of speed, it’s not going to be easy to overtake. In the Aston we’re going to struggle to get past the gent Ferraris and the amateurs in the Nissans, or even the Mercedes because their straight-line speed is so strong. We’ve had the rights act read to us by our engineer Dave Wilcox to make sure the car is back in one piece after every stint, then you can take a look after 18 hours at how much risk you want to take and were you’re ultimately going to finish.

MP Motorsport will undoubtedly benefit from the addition of
factory ringer Darren Turner. (Credit: Aston Martin Racing)

I’ve done the Spa 24 hours three times now and the Silverstone 24 hours twice and had every sort of result as well. That really changes how you feel because when you’re leading there is that bit more adrenaline in the body which is harder to get rid of. If you’re not looking at a decent result then you can relax a little more naturally. I’ve done two out of the five without sleeping and been absolutely fine, then the other way I’ve probably caught an hour or so during the race.  I don’t get that tired and I think the adrenaline really carries you through. The sports nutrition guys are so good now, they’re telling you exactly what you need to be eating and when, so you’ve got the right release of energy when you need it instead of the peaks and troughs you get if you’re just on the Red Bull or high sugar stuff. They’ve got it down to a proper fine art, which it makes your life a lot easier for sure.

From a driver’s point of view, you’re just trying to make sure the week ahead is as relaxed as possible, no long days at work or late nights, just making sure you’re on top of your game as much as you can. Hydration is the biggest thing that we get told to be aware of, so in the week leading up to it we’ll be massively over-hydrating to make sure the body is ready. During the 24 hours itself we’ll have a physio with us, so as soon as we’re out of the car we’re straight on the table making sure we’re getting all the knots out and getting prepped for the next stint. It’s a little bit more effort involved in the preparation, but there’s not a huge amount more we can do. Even though its only three hour races usually, you still want to be on the top of your game there anyway; if you’re not doing the right preparation for the three hour race but you’re doing it for the 24 hour race then that’s not right, you should be 100% focused for every single race.