Marc VDS Start the 24 Hours of Spa in Strong Style

Despite several bouts of extremely inclement weather, BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS ended the first four hours of the 24 Hours of Spa in the hunt. The #45 BMW Z4 GT3 of Maxime Martin, Augusto Farfus and Dirk Werner was in fourth position, with #46 – Lucas Luhr, Markus Palttala and Nick Catsburg – 34th.

Starting in heavy rain – snorkels were required in a particularly damp autograph session before the race – both Luhr, who started seventh and Martin, eleventh, took the sensible and cautious approach. It paid off, as both were still in the top ten for most of their stints.

Several safety car periods disrupted the race, for various on-track incidents. None involved the Marc VDS cars, and the team began to make solid progress, even running briefly in first and second positions.

In the fourth hour, however, a gamble to move onto slick tyres on #46 proved a little too early, and the ensuing lack of grip meant Palttala was unable to prevent a slide down the order. As the hour closed, however, he was resuming the fight back to the front. Farfus, meanwhile, took over #45 and was able to hold position in the top five.

Bas Leinders, Team Principal
“It’s been a pretty wild start – just like last year, in fact – but we’ve survived, that’s the positive. #45 is in a strong position, and we’ll keep fighting to make the time up to the front of the field. The strategy gamble on the #46 car wasn’t the right one this time, but we’ve got a long way to go to make up the gap.”

Maxime Martin, BMW Z4 GT3 #45
“We had a really good begin of the race. The system with the safety car isn’t clear, and we lost a half lap because of that. That’s not ideal! There is no miracle solution; we just have to continue without mistakes. We’re near the front, and we need to stay there. The Audis are fast in the wet, and also they are fast in the dry – that’s going to make the rest of the race quite difficult.”

Lucas Luhr, BMW Z4 GT3 #46
“The start of the race was extremely difficult, we were just a bit slow because of the tyre pressure. The second stint was better, and I found a good rhythm. We gambled on tyres for Markus, and unfortunately it looks like we lost some time. The positive thing is we’ve survived the race so far, it’s been pretty crazy, and now we have to find our way back to the front.”