Driver Database News

The Saleen S7R of the Austrian Full Speed Racing-team with which Dutch racing driver Carlo van Dam raced in the Spa 24 Hours this weekend, retired on Saturday night after 128 laps. “It seemed the engine just did not pick up fuel anymore, which was a bit strange as it happened at the start of what was our last lap before our next scheduled pit stop”, Carlo explains. “There was no fuel alarm light coming on either, the engine just cut out at once. A pity of course, but I look back satisfied and with pleasure at racing in this event nevertheless.”

A short-circuit in the wire loom kept the Full Speed Racing-team in the pits throughout most of free practice and the qualifying sessions leading up to the race, but the problem was solved before the start. “The team asked me to do the start”, Carlo says. “In the race things went nicely, actually. I spent a lot of time in the car and especially when it rained it just went well. We may not have had the best car out there, but compared to the fastest Maserati’s and Corvettes we performed quite reasonably I think. The team was pleased with my speed and in the paddock I got some good reactions to my driving, so I am happy to have been given the opportunity to race here and that I took it. We lost a lot of track time in practice and qualifying due to the short-circuit problem we had, but despite that, in the race the car was fine. One time the team put me on slicks a bit too early maybe, so I had a brief off as the track was still wet, but apart from that things went well. This was one of those races in which you move up automatically as long as you just keep on running, because a lot was happening on the track and many cars crashed out or ran into trouble. Unfortunately we too retired, but all in all for me this was a great race and valuable experience.”

Dutch racing driver Carlo van Dam and his team mates will tomorrow (Saturday) start from 32nd position (9th in the GT1-class) in the 61st Spa 24 Hours, after the Full Speed Racing-team for which he drives, completed only very few laps in the qualifying sessions held yesterday (Thursday) at the Belgian circuit. Since the Saleen S7R of the Austrian team first went out to qualify when it had just started to rain, competitive lap times could no longer be set on the wet track. During the handful of laps that Carlo did, however, he managed to make a strong first impression.

“I got to grips with the car pretty quickly”, Carlo says. “During free practice I only did three laps, but when I got out of the car I was in fifth place, so that wasn’t a bad start. The team, though, was plagued by electrical problems all day yesterday and the alternator and the battery failed several times. Consequently, the car couldn’t do more than two or three consecutive laps and so we spent a lot of time in the pits. At the start of the first qualifying session it was still dry and that was when the fastest times were recorded obviously. As our car went out by the time it started to rain, we will of course have to start from the back. I did the second qualifying session, when it was still raining. It went well, in the first sector of my first lap I was one second quicker than the fastest time in GT1 set in that session until that moment. At the end of that same lap, however, the battery went flat again. That was quite an interesting experience; all the lights going out just when I was heading for Blanchimont while it was dark and wet…”

Starting from the back will not be too big an obstacle given the duration of the race, but Carlo recognizes the importance of the Full Speed Racing-team solving the problems that occurred yesterday if it does not want to retire early in the race. “Yesterday we could do two, maybe three laps before things broke down again, so there must be something short-circuiting somewhere in the car. One battery even exploded. Fortunately, today there will be no running here, so the team has some time to locate and solve the problem. Lets hope we can sort it out, because in the wet we were quite quick, especially because Pirelli’s wet weather tyre seems to be working well.”

Dutch racing driver Carlo van Dam will this coming weekend compete in the 61st edition of the Spa 24 Hours, the most important 24 hour-race for GT-sports cars as well as round four of the 2009 FIA GT Championship. Carlo will drive a Saleen S7R entered by the Austrian Full Speed Racing-team that runs in the GT1-class, the category for the fastest cars in the race.

Carlo concluded the deal with the Full Speed Racing’s team owner last week in Vienna and he is looking forward to making his debut in the Spa 24 Hours: “Since I decided to leave the Kolles & Heinz Union Formula 3-team last month, I have had several offers that I considered carefully. I very much welcomed the question to race the Saleen at Spa. It is a serious car and a wonderful, important event that fits in nicely with my GT-experience with Toyota and Subaru last year in Japan and my participation for Volkswagen in the 24 hour-race at the Nürburgring earlier this year.

The 600bhp S7R of the American sports car manufacturer Saleen has proven itself in the GT1-class in both Europe and the US over the past few years. Full Speed Racing has entered one Saleen for Spa, where Carlo will form a team with Italian Ferdinando Monfardini and the Dutch brothers Rob and Arjan van der Zwaan. “They all have experience in GT1 and with the Saleen, so that is good. For me it will be a case of getting to know the team and the car quickly. The competition in the GT1-class will be fierce, as there are many renowned teams and drivers racing in it and, apart from the Saleens, cars from Maserati and Corvette. It is a 24 hour-race so that means we just have to give everything without expecting anything. I am happy to be in it and I look forward to experiencing the race and the car, and contribute to the team’s performance as much as possible.”

First practice for the 61st Spa 24 Hours is held this coming Thursday, the race starts on Saturday July 26 at 16.00 hours.