The Total Spa 24 Hours is the sixth round of the 2007 FIA GT championship and the blue ribbon event of the season and what better place to have it then Spa Francorchamps! Tech 9 started their preparations for their first 24 hour race weeks ago, as it was going to be a tough race for the team, drivers and car alike.
Practice one saw Sascha Maassen (Porsche factory driver) spend most of the time in the car setting it up for the race, red flags, among other things made this very difficult. Never the less he was happy with where the car was and said it only needed a bit of tweaking to make it near enough perfect. The last thirty minutes of practice one was left to Leo Machitski and Sean Edwards, Leo starting and handing over to Sean after twenty minutes of driving. Unfortunately for Sean, a red flag left him only to complete an out and in lap before the chequered flag. “I have not driven the new configuration of Spa and not had a chance to drive this car round here either, so it’s a bit hard having so little time in the car, but hopefully next session I can get a bit more in.” Sean said.
Porsche have loaned out factory driver Sascha Maassen to be the third driver for the Tech 9 squad at the Spa 24 hours later this month. Porsche superstar Sascha Maassen, who drives the Penske Porsche RS Spyder in ALMS, will be driving along side regulars Sean Edwards and Leo Machitski, for the blue ribbon FIA GT event.
“I am looking forward to it. I hear Sean is very good. We could do well, especially if it’s wet” Sascha told Autosport. “I really can’t wait for this event now, it will be my first 24 hour race and to have Sascha driving along side me is just amazing. I am really looking forward to learning as much as I can off him and hope we can get a really good result” commented Sean.
Oschersleben saw the return of the FIA GT championship for its fifth round, with Ferrari dominating the opening four races. Was this going to be the turning point for Porsche? Well the statistics said otherwise, with the nearest Porsche being over two seconds off in quali last year, although it being the 996 model, it was still a big gap.
First practice saw Ferrari dominate the first four places, over a second clear of the nearest Porsche and the Tech9 machine even further adrift! “We are really struggling with the car at the moment, but it might be because we are on the tyres from Monza, which are a much harder compound then the tyres Michelin have brought here” Said Sean after practice.
FIA GT returns to the classic circuit of Monza, the home of Ferrari, for the fourth round of the championship. The circuit, which was built in 1922 was very different to today, with its fast layout and notorious banking; it proved to be very dangerous. These days however, it is a shadow of its former glory, although the high speed banking is still there, it has not been used in years and the track is now up to the standards of modern F1, even so, it was looking like an exiting venue for round four of the championship.
The team had prepared with a couple of days testing, which had allowed Leo Machitski more seat time to get closer to team-mate Sean Edwards’ pace.
Again, Leo spent more time trying to get closer to Sean’s time, which he ended the day doing, only being 1.4 seconds off, which will put the Tech 9 crew in a really good position coming into Monza next week. It rained in the afternoon and it was a chance for Leo to get to grips with the car in the wet, which he did. After about 30 laps out there, the team decided to call it a day early, not wanting to risk damaging the car for Monza.
Leo commented “I am really happy with the past two days, it has really helped me a lot and I feel really confident with the car and what it’s doing now. The setup of the car has also improved and it’s more suited to how I like to drive, which is good. I am really looking forward to Monza now and we are aiming for a podium”