EMIL FREY JAGUAR RACING HEADS TO LONG-DISTANCE RACE AT PAUL RICARD FOLLOWING SUCCESSFUL RACE SIMULATION
The Emil Frey Jaguar Racing Team is well prepared for the third championship round of the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, following a successfully completed long-distance test. One of the highlights of the year is taking place at the French track at Paul Ricard this coming weekend: At 6 pm, the GT3 race machines will start into the six-hour race, which finishes in darkness by midnight. The Swiss team is competing with two GT3 Jaguar this year in the race, which serves as preparation for the 24-hour race at Spa at the end of July.
For the first time in history of Emil Frey Jaguar Racing, the team spared no efforts and outlays to undergo a 15-hour-endurance-test in total at Portimão (Portugal). The test was completed with one GT3 Jaguar and all six drivers. “It was very interesting for everyone to do such a test for the very first time and it showed, that all the efforts were worthwhile”, says Lorenz Frey, Team Principal and driver of the #14 Jaguar at Emil Frey Jaguar Racing. “We were able to run 14-hours straight without any issues, tried and tested a few new components such as new LED lights, for example, and are pleased with the result. Being a private team it goes without saying that we cannot simulate a complete 24-hour race due to financial reasons, but to even run a 14-hour test was very helpful. We continuously improve race-by-race and hope, that we can score points again at Paul Ricard after the Top-12 results from Silverstone.”
Last year, the team competed with one GT3 Jaguar and set good lap-times in qualifying. However, Albert Costa Balboa (ESP) suffered bad luck in the opening lap of the race when he was caught-up in a collision none of his fault and returned to the pits with a damaged car. The crew managed to repair the damage, but with seven laps behind the leaders a good result was out of reach. In the end, the GT3 Jaguar was retired from the race due to safety issues.
Qualifying at Paul Ricard will start on Saturday, 24 June 2017 at 10 am. The six-hour race will start the same day from 6 pm.
Driver Quotes Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar #14
Stéphane Ortelli (MCO)
“We did a 14-hour endurance test in preparation for the 24-hours of Spa. It was very important to us, because we were also running in the dark. We installed some additional LED lights on the car, which worked well during the tests.”
Albert Costa Balboa (ESP)
“I am very pleased with the long-distance test, which was both a preparation for the race at Paul Ricard as well as the 24-hours of Spa. We are ready for Paul Ricard and hope that we can achieve an even better result than the point finish from Silverstone. The Jaguar is my absolute dream car now. We are getting stronger and stronger and keep improving, and that is a lot of fun!”
Lorenz Frey (CH)
Please refer to the text above.
Driver Quotes Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar #114
Christian Klien (A)
“The test in Portimão went very well and we were able to simulate a long-distance race perfectly. We had our pit crew there as well, the stability of the car was really great and everything functioned wonderfully. The test was especially important for the upcoming two races, because now the real long-distance-season is starting. I know the track at Paul Ricard like the back of my hand. I have driven numerous races there and even more test kilometres. I have also tested there with the team and the GT3 Jaguar twice, so I think everything should work well.”
Marco Seefried (GER)
“We focused on the stability of the car during the test and paid attention to the next race at Paul Ricard, but also looked ahead to the 24-hour race at Spa, which will take place at the end of July. Our car was very reliable and we gathered a lot of new knowledge. We are well prepared for the race.”
Jonathan Hirschi (CH)
“You could see an upward trend at Silverstone and we have come a long way since the season opener at Monza. Testing at Portimão was very helpful and it was also good to have all six drivers there. We got a lot of information and can now transfer this to the next race at Paul Ricard.”
Source. Emil Frey Racing/Photo. John Patterson
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