Van Merksteijn Motorsport with Porsche RS Spyder as champions to Silverstone

This weekend, the British circuit of Silverstone will be hosting the fifth and final round of the 2008 Le Mans Series. During the "Autosport 1000 Kilometres of Silverstone", as the event is called officially, Jos Verstappen and Peter van Merksteijn will be racing the Porsche RS Spyder entered by Van Merksteijn Motorsport by Equipe Verschuur.

The team are coming to Silverstone as champions because in the previous race at the Nürburgring, the teams’ and drivers’ titles in the LMP2 class could already be secured. The achievements of the Dutch team also contributed to Porsche winning the manufacturers’ title in the LMP2 class.

The race at the 5.141 kilometres long Silverstone Grand Prix circuit will start on Sunday at 11.20 am local time (12.20 pm CET). Eurosport will be broadcasting the first hour of the race live and will provide a replay in the evening. Motors TV will be broadcasting live for most of the race and audio reports from qualifying and the race can also be heard live on the internet at www.radiolemans.com

With victories at Barcelona, Spa-Francorchamps, Nürburgring and a second place after a great recovery at Monza, the season in the Le Mans Series has been running particularly well for Van Merksteijn Motorsport.

On top of that, victory in the LMP2 class in the Le Mans 24 Hours for Jeroen Bleekemolen, Peter van Merksteijn and Jos Verstappen with the Porsche RS Spyder was the highlight of the season. Now that the titles in the Le Mans Series have been secured as well, the team are getting ready for a thrilling finale at Silverstone.

"We want to win", says Jos Verstappen, leaving no doubt whatsoever about his ambitions. "We know that the car can do it and we want to end the season in style." Verstappen is looking forward to the Silverstone circuit, which he knows very well from his days in Formula 1. "The circuit has some fast sections that really suit me and where I expect our Porsche to do well", he says.

Peter van Merksteijn is also looking forward to the upcoming race. "At the Nürburgring, I wasn’t able to take part because I was competing in a World Championship rally that weekend, but now I am really eager to get back into the Porsche again. Silverstone is a circuit with a great tradition." The team’s third driver, Jeroen Bleekemolen, will be racing in the final round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup at Monza this weekend. Last week, he already claimed the title in that series.

On Friday, September 12th, there are two free practice sessions at Silverstone from 11.15 till 12.15 and from 15.45 till 16.45 h. On Saturday, September 13th, there is one more free practice session from 9.00 till 10.00 h, followed by qualifying for the LMP1 and LMP2 prototypes from 13.40 till 14.00 h. The race of 195 laps (1002.495 km) will start on Sunday, September 14th, at 11.20 h and will have a maximum duration of six hours (all times local, CET is one hour later).

- René de Boer -