Top 8 finish for Racing Experience at Le Castellet
Sunday 6th June 2021, Le Castellet
This weekend, the ELMS came to the circuit of Paul Ricard in the south of France. After rather cold and rainy conditions in Austria, everybody was looking forward to a warm and sunny event. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, spectators could unfortunately still not be admitted, but there is hope that the situation will change in the next weeks.
The practice sessions went well and all three drivers constantly improved their laptimes. With a slightly better feeling on Saturday morning than his brother, Gary had the opportunity and the task to qualify the car. The ten minutes session allowed only five laps and although he improved our fastest time on this track, it was only good enough for P16 in the LMP3 class.
For the race on Sunday, Racing Experience chose Tom for the race start. He managed to gain immediately two places in the first lap which helped to stay in front of the fastest GT cars. Through his runs, also during the Full-Course-Yellow and Safety Car phases, he made no mistakes. Thanks to a good strategy and a perfect job from the mechanics during the pit stops, David and Gary continued on this rhythm, enabling Racing Experience to finish in eighth place of the LMP3 class and to score their first points in the ELMS championship.
Christian Hauser, Team Owner of Racing Experience: “The good point is to finish the race in P8 which is a reward for our team, especially after the first two meetings. On the other hand we have not been able to make the best out of our package here at Le Castellet. We have to investigate and to understand why our pace has dropped compared to the previous meetings. I’m confident that we will bounce back and I’m proud of all our team members doing an incredible job.”
David Hauser, Managing Director and driver of Racing Experience: “It feels good to finish a race in normal conditions. A top 8 finish means a lot for us, because we score our first championship points in this highly competitive field! I am happy for the team because everybody deserved this encouraging result after the first two races where one could not easily see the potential we had in the final race result. The race pace was good, but there is still work to do for all of us to get even closer to the front.”
Gary Hauser, driver of Racing Experience: “We have reached our first target of this year by finishing in the Top 10. I was impressed by the grip of the car during the qualifying session, which means that I could have pushed even a bit more. The race went well and I managed to stay out of trouble. The car was very reliable and it is with excitement that I look forward to driving on the high speed track of Monza in one month!”
Tom Cloet, driver of Racing Experience: “First of all, I want to thank the whole team for their hard work over the last weeks. It is a pleasure to be part of this team and everybody does the maximum to achieve the best possible result. I am happy of my two stints because the car felt good and I was able to overtake several competitors. Delighted with the first Top 8 finish of the season and eager to repeat that in Monza!”
Racing Experience now prepares for the fourth race meeting of the season. This will take place on the 11th July at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, the temple of speed, in Italy.
Image credit: Underground Pictures
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