SVK by Speed Factory overcomes challenge in Imola practice sessions

With the European Le Mans Series moving into its Italian stretch, drivers got their first taste of the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari track on Saturday. Halfway through the first free practice session, J. Fuster, driving car No. 15, a Ginetta-Nissan LMP3, swerved off the track in an effort to avoid colliding with a competitor and was unable to get back into the race. The team’s mechanics managed to fix the car in as little as three hours.

“The setback we experienced during the first practice session lost us a lot of precious time. However, by the end of the session we began to feel a glimmer of hope as we caught up with the others. Once the drivers got into their stride, we figured out what we could change with the car’s configuration in order to make it faster through turns. For now, we aren’t satisfied with how the engine has been working, it still lacks a considerable amount of power. The engine tuner Oreca is currently investigating the issue. We hope that the problem will be identified and resolved by the time Sunday’s qualification race comes around”, explained SVK by Speed Factory team leader Dalius Steponavicius.

He hopes that finding a little more reserve power would allow driver K. Calko to compete for a better starting position. The team leader was pleasantly surprised by the work of the entire team. He praised the mechanics for their quick repair work on the damaged car, and the drivers, who were able to maintain a very consistent speed: “Such dedication to the team showed us just how much motivation we all have in striving to achieve the goals we have set ourselves”.

This weekend marked the début of the Spanish SVK by Speed Factory team pilots – Konstantins Calko, Dainius Matijosaitis and J. Fuster – on the legendary Imola racetrack. None of the men had ever raced here previously. The night before practice sessions began, all of the team’s Latvian, Lithuanian and Spanish drivers walked over the 4.9 km long track on foot, taking in what is now a monument to the sport of motor racing. Many of them remember the tragedy of 1994, which saw the death of Brazilian Formula-1 star Ayrton Senna.

“Just being here feels very special. I devoted a lot of time to learning about A. Senna’s life and that fateful accident. My childhood was spent watching the legend’s performances on the track”, remembered K. Calko, “My impressions from today’s practice sessions are mixed. I got to drive in very wet conditions on a track that is completely new to me, but after several laps I felt a lot better. I think I can find a further second or more within me, and we should win at least a few seconds once the car’s power issues are fixed. We’re on the right path. We just need a little more time to work on the car and we’ll certainly be in good spirits before the start on Sunday”.

In preparation for 4 Hours of Imola, the team’s newest addition, Dainius Matijosaitis, has improved his time enough to catch up with J. Fuster, however, the Lithuanian does not place much emphasis on this: “Our car has improved substantially over the past month, after the Silverstone race. The Imola track is really quite difficult and rather tight, so I don’t feel completely comfortable and I can’t say that I’ll jump into going really fast right off the bat. I have to get used to it. It feels good to be driving at around the same level as my teammates. This means we can afford to have a team strategy that is a lot more simple and flexible”.

Just like his colleagues, Matijosaitis also hopes that the team’s engineers and the makers of the car will be able to deal with any technical deficiencies in time for the race. This would allow them to fully compete with the other teams in second round of ELMS. SVK by Speed Factory has decided that the first to drive in the 4H of Imola race on Sunday will be Dainius Matijosaitis.