Strakka Racing wants more after seventh place finish
Steeper than expected learning curve leaves Strakka not able to capitalise on pre-race pace
After setting class-leading times in both testing and practice for the Six Hours of Nürburgring, Strakka Racing leaves Germany looking forward to the next round of the World Endurance Championship and the opportunity to secure a finish it knows is possible with the new car. An extremely close-fought battle led to a multitude of cars leading the competitive LMP2 class, including Strakka on more than occasion, and meant only a clean run to the flag would deliver the result for the Silverstone-based team. A series of minor setbacks, including contact with a slower GT car that required the replacement of the 015S tail section, balance issues and two penalties for pit lane speeding infringements ultimately prevented the team from finishing higher than seventh in front of of 62,000 fans across the weekend.
“We aren’t happy with our performance in the race as we had an expectation to finish much higher than seventh but realistically, that’s all we deserved across the six hours,” says team principal Dan Walmsley. “As a team we’ve learnt a great deal from this weekend; how the Gibson uses the tyres in hotter temperatures, how it responds to set up changes as well as how we actually run and change things on the car in a race situation that will see us bounce back in the fly-away races,”. “It’s why we love sports car racing – it throws everything at you and sometimes you don’t come away with what you hoped for but just got to look at the reasons and come straight back.”
For driver Danny Watts, the weekend offered a better opportunity to challenge competitors on track and he relished the chance to race the class rivals . “I had some great battles today and with the Gibson we could race the LMP2 cars around us,” says Watts. “We’ve learnt a lot about running the car too, I’ve acquired a good chunk of knowledge on tyre management in the hotter temps and whilst the end result isn’t quite what we all hoped for, we enjoyed having the pace on track to ultimately be more competitive and do some overtaking. The lads did a fantastic job to put this car on the car ground in a very short space of time. It didn’t look anywhere near as good as this when they collected it! They worked so hard and we’ve got to give them and the loyal fans who support Strakka week in week out, some payback at another race soon!”
The team now returns to its Silverstone base with just four days before the car and equipment is shipped off to the USA ahead of the next round at the Circuit of the Americas on the 19th September.
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Nick Bailey
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About Strakka Racing
From early domestic campaigns with BMWs and Aston Martins, Strakka Racing has evolved to become one of the most respected and successful privateer teams in the World Endurance Championship. In 2010 the Silverstone-based team achieved a class win, five circuit records and fifth overall in the iconic Le Mans 24 Hours. In 2013, it secured a second Le Mans win in the LMP1 Privateers’ class. Ever developing, in 2013 Strakka Racing entered the Formula Renault 3.5 World Series single-seater championship, regarded as one of the best training grounds for F1.
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