Emil Frey Lexus Racing continues its tailwind and is heading to the fourth round of the Blancpain GT Series. After the successful points finish at Brands Hatch and the progress over past weeks, the Swiss team aims to secure another point result at the second Endurance Cup, taking place at Silverstone next week.
At the famous track of Silverstone, which celebrates its 70th anniversary this year, Emil Frey Racing has got plenty of experience from previous years. The approximately six-kilometre-long track offers plenty of overtaking possibilities and meets the Lexus RC F GT3 with its fast corner combinations. Despite the strong competition of about 50 GT3 cars, the team heads confidentially thanks to the latest developments into the second three-hour race of the season.
“After the encouraging results from Brands Hatch its now down to us to transfer the latest knowledge onto the track at Silverstone”, says Jürg Flach, Technical Director Emil Frey Racing. “The fast corners at Silverstone are similar to sector two at Brands Hatch and both tracks are quite bumpy, which makes braking into the corner that little bit more difficult. Therefore, we are not going totally new ways with the Setup, but build upon familiar knowledge and will carry out further optimizations in accordance with our analyses.”
One glance also goes back to last year’s race weekend of the International GT Open. Emil Frey Lexus Racing secured its most successful weekend of the season at Silverstone with winning the first race and coming third in the second. Despite not having much time between the two races in England, both Lexus RC F GT3 have headed back to the workshop and are now thoroughly checked and prepared. “Despite driving with different tyres than last year, I hope we can still benefit from last year’s data”, adds Hannes Gautschi, Technical Coordinator Emil Frey Lexus Racing. “After our first Endurance Cup race in the Blancpain GT Series in Monza, the whole team has to switch to the Endurance Cup format again and improve recognizes vulnerabilities following the Sprint races at Brands Hatch. We look forward to Silverstone and hope, we can make another step forward at that weekend. “
Thanks to its continued progress and points results, Emil Frey Lexus Racing currently runs in fifth place of the teams’ standings. “We had quite a difficult start into the season, but thanks to our structured way of working and many hours put in by every team member, we have improved our performance in general. We are all very excited ahead of the next race and hope to score some more points”, says Lorenz Frey, Team Principal Emil Frey Racing.
The Endurance Cup takes place at Silverstone (England) from 18 until 20 May. The three-hour race will start on Sunday at 3:00 pm local time and will be 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 am really very happy after Brands Hatch, because we have found a Setup for the Lexus that should work with every track. We did not make any mistakes as a team and it is great to see how everyone is working together. It´s just disappointing that we got the penalty at Brands Hatch, because otherwise we would have scored some more points. But we are now in a position to fight for the Top-10, the car feels really great and I am excited ahead of the next race!”
Christian Klien (A)
„We continuously improved during the first three race weekends and managed to drive into the Top-10 by ourselves in Brands Hatch. We know Silverstone very well as a team and the track´s characteristic suits our Lexus. We must continue to work purposefully, to make the next step forward.“
Marco Seefried (GER)
“Of course, I followed the races at Brands Hatch with excitement and I am very happy to see the good results. There is definitely an upwards trend visible and I know, we are well on the way to bring this new-found strength to Silverstone.”
Driver Quotes Emil Frey Lexus Racing #114
Stéphane Ortelli (MCO)
“The team has done an amazing job to improve the car that well in such a short amount of time and to make it competitive. I am very proud about the development and now we also must show in the Endurance Cup, that the Lexus has a strong performance. I am looking very much forward to the race.”
Norbert Siedler (A)
“Considering that we have been making a big step forward I think it´s fair to say to aim for another Top-10 result at Silverstone. This is of course much more difficult to reach in the Endurance Cup, because there are twice as many cars. But with good teamwork by every member of Emil Frey Lexus Racing, we can achieve this together.”
Markus Palttala (FIN)
“We worked very hard to improve our package and we are becoming stronger by each weekend. I was very pleased to see my team-mates getting a Top-10 result at Brands Hatch and even driving similar lap times to the guys at the front. There are many more cars driving in the Endurance Cup and the competition is extremely tight, but I am confident that we will come closer to the top. Personally, I like the track very much and have won there twice already, so I hope we will have a clean race and are able to fight for Top-10 positions.”
