A thrilling 6 Hours of Imola last month saw
Strong teamwork, skilful driving and smart strategy combined for a rewarding race, despite the tough Hypercar competition.
The team's sequence of seven consecutive Spa wins is unprecedented in top-level endurance racing at the legendary Belgian track, which hosted its first 1,000km race - the predecessor to the modern six-hour WEC contests - in 1966.
Mike and Kamui can challenge for a hat-trick of wins in
Spa is a firm favourite among drivers and fans for its undulating, high-speed sections through the Ardennes forest. At 7.004km it is the second longest circuit in WEC after Le Mans, and arguably the most spectacular thanks to legendary corners such as the Eau Rouge-Raidillon sequence, Pouhon and Blanchimont.
As the last race before the Le Mans 24 Hours on 15-16 June, Spa is a milestone in the team's preparation for the WEC season highlight because the flowing high-speed track is an important opportunity to fine-tune the GR010 HYBRIDs on a lay-out which requires similar performance attributes to the Circuit de la Sarthe.
For
They will join the usual large crowd of enthusiastic fans in
Track activities begin on Thursday 9 May with two 90-minute free practice sessions before the starting grid is determined in qualifying, which begins at
"This is a very important race, not just for our World Championship challenge, but also for our Le Mans preparations. To be quick at
"It was fantastic to win for the first time this season at Imola, and the result showed how important it is to work strongly as a team, avoid mistakes and maximise every aspect of our performance. Spa will be another challenging weekend because the competition in Hypercar is so intense, but we're looking forward to it. We had experience of driving on wet tyres at Imola and we all know that the weather in Spa is unpredictable. Hopefully it's a dry weekend but if not, we are prepared, and we've shown that we can use those situations to our advantage."
"After the outstanding team performance and result at Imola, we are all very much looking forward to the race at Spa. It's one of the best circuits in the world and it's always a highlight of the season, also because the fans create a special atmosphere. We are all very motivated to build on the win at Imola and deliver another positive result in one of our home races, especially because so many colleagues from the factory will be there to support us."
"Spa is my favourite circuit because it is such a special place, with all the history, as well as being a challenging, traditional-style track with fast corners, not much run-off or room for errors. You never get bored of driving there, particularly in a prototype, and I've been fortunate enough to win there five times before, so I have great memories. The competition will be more intense than ever, so it will not be easy, but we need to get the most from our car and from the opportunities which come our way."
"I always look forward to driving at Spa. It's a place I really enjoy because it's an old-school track, with lots of changes of elevation, some high-speed sections, plus it's very scenic and spectacular driving through the forest. The weather is often a factor too which can make for some unpredictable races. At Imola, our car was in the fight for a podium but we didn't quite make it, so this is clearly the target in Spa when we hope to prepare ourselves for Le Mans with a strong result."
"Spa is such a fun track to drive so I really look forward to this race. As a team, we've had some great results there over the years and we obviously hope to be strong again. It will be tough because we saw at Imola how strong some of our competitors are, but I think we are making progress. The win for car #7 was great for the whole team, and it was also encouraging to see our car #8 fighting for the podium too. We want to be stronger again in Spa and everyone in the team is working flat-out to achieve that.
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