Markus Palttala, Henri Moser and Richard Göransson finished 12th in the 2nd VLN race of the season. Having raced at Monza when VLN took off, this was the only opportunity for Marc VDS Racing Team to prepare for one of the highlights of this season, the 24 Hours of Nürburgring, and the team decided to run 3 cars in order to collect as much information as possible.
”It was great to finally get to race on the Nordschleife after the long winter. Chances to prepare for the big one were limited to this one-day event, so we really approached it as a test. All 3 cars were on different set-ups, strategies and even tyres, to make sure we learn as much as possible. The race started wet, went to damp and then dried up, so we got to run in all conditions. We struggled a bit on wet in these cold conditions, as we were unable to put temperature on the tyres. For the rest, the car ran well and it’s just awesome to push around this magnificent circuit in a BMW Z4. We finished 12th in the #26 car and ahead of the two other VDS cars, so it was a job well done. We’ll next do a 24h simulation at Magny-Cours and will be ready for the 24 Hours.”
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Markus Palttala finished 36th in the opening round of the expanding Blancpain Endurance Series in Monza, Italy. The Marc VDS BMW Z4 nr.4 driven by Markus, Henri Moser and Nicky Catsburg was running as high as 6th, highest of the BMWs, when failing brakes forced Catsburg to pull in for repairs and the race was practically over.
”To be frank, we made a miscalculation that lead to this result which is a disaster for everyone involved. Nevertheless, the season has only just started and our pace in the race was very positive. We had some trouble prior to qualifying and hence started only 27th but we had already climbed to 6th and were closing in on the eventual podium scorers. We knew it’s going to be tough here as this circuit really doesn’t suit the BMW, so it was nice we were so competitive. I enjoyed my own stint having good fights and passing a bunch of cars while moving into top 10 and up to 6th. I’m also really happy with our driver line-up and the entire car #4 crew. We’re the underdogs, but we work well together and there’s loads of potential, so I’m sure we’ll be on the podium soon. Having said that, the BES is tougher than ever with 60 GT3 cars going for it and it’s not just quantity, but the level of teams and drivers is real high, so you really need to get everything right to score well.”
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