Oscillating between fifth, sixth and seventh places in the French Championship doesn’t have much zing let alone glamour after racking up international wins, which was the case for Hexis Racing over the past few years. That’s motor racing, though, and while this kind of situation has occasionally to be borne with the fortitude of a Sisyphus there is no question of staying there ! The team has learned the lessons from its Italian outing in the GT Tour, and it is now preparing to return to the joys of endurance and overcome its rivals at Silverstone thanks to its fighting spirit!
Since the start of the French FFSA GT Championship the team’s two McLaren MP-4 12Cs have shown bullet-proof reliability. “The only problem was no. 7’s accident at Le Mans,” points out team manager, Philippe Dumas. “The good news is the car ran perfectly at Imola. Hats Off to the team and to the guys at McLaren GT whose help has been invaluable in enabling us to be ready in time. In terms of potential I think we have what it takes, but the overall level in the GT Tour is very high. In each driver line-up the As and Bs have to give 100 per cent all weekend and not make the slightest mistake. Everything has to be in the right order to score a good result.”
So will the team be back among the front-runners at Silverstone? The McLaren’s reliability is the positive point when it comes to tackle a three-hour race. Stef Dusseldorp from the Netherlands, Portuguese Alvaro Parente and Brit Alexander Sims will share the car again and they have but a single aim – open their score in the Pro Cup classification in the Blancpain Endurance Series.
“Things haven’t really gone off according to plan so far but our ambition is still as strong as ever,” continues Dumas. “We really must get back into the top three in the next two races and do a good job preparing for the Spa 24 Hours, our priority objective this season. We’re under a fair amount of pressure. Mistakes are out of the question as we lost a big haul of points at Monza due to more than our fair share of bad luck!”