24 Hours of Spa, Blancpain Endurance Series, 28/07/2013
For the first 10 hours of the legendary endurance race, the Marc VDS BMW Z4 GT3 #4 of Markus Palttala, Nicky Catsburg and Henri Moser was either leading the 60+ strong pack of the best GT cars Europe has to offer, or hot on the heels of the leading Manthey Porsche. The intriguing battle between these two came to an abrupt end when Catsburg parked the #4 on the side of the track with a failed alternator.
“This is right up there with the biggest disappointments I’ve had in racing. We were doing so well and were leading the race for hours and had every chance to bring it home, but had to retire with a minor electric problem. In fact, it was just a cable of the alternator that was bent and broke off. Still, I’m really happy with our performance. We were quick throughout the week, starting from the first outing when I posted the 2nd quickest lap of the practice. Nicky then went on to qualify 4th in Superpole and all 3 of us were quick in the race. I’m really proud of my teammates who drove like heroes and the entire car #4 crew, because the entire week we were the strongest BMW and that is something considering our two sister cars were filled up with works drivers. To drop out was heart-breaking but at least we showed everyone what we can do and we also scored full points leading at the 6-hour mark which counts for the all-important Team Championship battle for Marc VDS.”
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