Report: Qualifying Quotes, Silverstone 2011

What the Drivers Say....

Round 3
Nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia
Federico Leo: “I’m very happy with pole for my second ever GT race. The car was very good. I’m also very happy with Francesco’s result, he was nearly also in pole. I’m also happy because last time, I did a mistake in the qualifying which meant we couldn’t do the first race. The track was very good in our session. It’s a completely different track for me in the GTs, though I’ve been here before in the World Series and the Le Mans series, but it’s completely different to drive in a GT. The corners feel very different.”

Nr13 Fischer Racing Ford GT
Markus Palttala: “It was not too bad. I was just searching for a free lap which I got right at the end, and luckily I got a few better places with it, so it was okay. I did an okay pole, and made good progress on yesterday, especially since Portimao where we had big handling problems and it was basically a catastrophic weekend. Now we’re happy to be in the game. Silverstone really doesn’t suit the Ford. There are a lot of similarities between the GT1 Ford and the GT3 one, but they’re very different to drive, especially in the brakes; here we have ABS and quite a soft pedal, in GT1it’s carbon and the handling is also more aggressive in a GT1 car. Basically the base of the car is the same.”

Nr6 Need For Speed Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3
Edward Sandstroem: “First of all I like the track a lot, it’s flowing and I think the car handles quite well here and this morning was a bit too cold for the tyres and I went out quite late, so I struggled a bit with the grip in the rear, so it could have been better, but I’m pleased to be in the top 3, of course.”

Round 4
Nr 36 Faster Racing by DB Motorsport BMW Z4
Nicky Catsburg: “I’m really happy that we could improve the performance of last time. Last time we were unlucky and my team mate was unlucky and he went off just before qualifying so that was the end of our weekend. Now we’ve done a really good job, especially since the team is quite inexperienced in this series, so well done to the team! They really set up the car well and my team mate did good as well, and I’m happy. I’m confident for this weekend, although I haven’t done many laps and never did any race distance before, so I’ll have to see what the car does in the race.”

Nr9 LMP Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9
Maxime Martin: “The front row start here is very important, because as he said, we are very slow in the last corner, so to be in front for the lights and the first corner is very important. Now we see that the race is quite long. I’m not sure we have the best car for race distance, but to be first row for the qualifying is very good, and thanks to the team who did a very good job , comparing to Portimao where we weren’t very good.”

Nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia
Francesco Castellacci: “The car is a very good package, especially at this weekend where we have the new ABS and the traction control in the car. Ferrari and Michellotto did a great job. Congratulations to my team mate Federico for his pole position. I was struggling a bit for my fastest lap, because I had the best sector by 6/10ths, but then I found a Porsche in the 2nd to last corner and I couldn’t end my lap, so unfortunately I didn’t finish a bit higher up. I’m very happy with the car and the team’s job and I’m looking forward to the race.”

2011-06-04
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