FIA GT Championship

Spyker Squadron wins podium place with second position finish during FIA GT Dubai

Last Friday Spyker finished second in GT2 class and 11th overall with its Spyker C8 Spyder GT2R during the FIA GT Championship of Dubai, U.A.E. Spyker’s car (chassis number 046), race number 90, was entered with a Dutch driver line-up. Donny Crevels and Jeroen Bleekemolen drove the car, prepared by the Spyker Squadron factory team of Technical Team Manager Peter van Erp.

Victor Muller, CEO Spyker Cars, says: “This podium place was a wonderful achievement and a well deserved result for Peter and his team. The drivers drove flawlessly in spite of the high temperatures. It is our second podium place for the Spyder GT2R in a short time only. On September 4th, last, we also finished second in class during the Le Mans Endurance Series race of Nürburgring, Germany. The car is really starting to prove itself and we could not have picked a better occasion than the Dubai race because we are in the process of establishing our road car distribution here. We look forward to next week’s race in Bahrain.”

Peter van Erp, Spyker Squadron Technical Team Manager, says: “Other than further developing the car, we are also working on the team’s own development. Participating in three consecutive races of this high calibre in a very short time period and in different countries is quite an achievement for such a young team. I am happy with the learning curve of Spyker Squadron. Not only is the performance of the car improving but that of the team as well. The cycle of these past races has been of importance to the Spyker Squadron team as such.”

Hans van Rennes, Team Manager, says: “This is a wonderful result for a car that has only just begun its race career and which is still being tested and developed. Dubai was an important race for us and our Middle East partners, such as Mubadala Development, MerchantBridge Capital and Dubal Aluminium, who have only recently joined Spyker as shareholder and/or sponsor.”

Ronald van de Laar, Spyker Squadron’s Sponsor and Partner Programmes Director, says: “After the leading position last week in Istanbul we again showed our potential to the fullest. We were pleased to be able to demonstrate to the Dubai spectators and business community the power and the beauty of Spyker.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen and Donny Crevels, the drivers, say: “We had a race without any difficulty whatsoever. The car performed without any problems and we did everything we could to try to catch the winning Grouppe M Porsche, race number 88. However, that car was too fast for us but Spyker Squadron will increase the engine power by a number of improvements over the winter. We should be considerably faster next year.”

The next race Spyker Squadron plans to participate in will be during the last remaining 2005 FIA GT race in Bahrain (November 23-25).

© 2005 Planetlemans.com.