ProSpeed Competition in Silverstone

Pole, two podia and a very strong team performance were the ingredients of the opening rounds of the FIA GT and FIA GT3 of ProSpeed Competition in Silverstone 

This weekend the first meeting of the FIA GT was held in Silverstone. The meeting was not only the first round of the FIA GT championship, but welived also the two opening rounds of the FIA GT3 championship.

ProSpeed took an excellent start of the season with one pole and two podia in FIA GT3 and in GT2 the team scored a fine sixth and seventh. Sadly, the stewards decided after the race to disqualify the Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Collard and Westbrook.

"After the free practice sessions I was very optimistic", explains Rudi Penders on Sunday. "Collard en Westbrook (#61) finished second and first after the two practice sessions of 80 minutes, in very cold, but still dry conditions. Palttala and Forsten (#60) also performed well.

Even if the weather conditions changed and the track was wet as qualifying took off, we could only be happy with the performance of both our cars. Collard – Westbrook were second in GT2, while Palttala – Forsten got as high as fifth. The Porsche 997 GT3 RSR again proved to be a very good car to compete our Italian colleagues."

The race was somewhat different "and we know why", admits Rudi Penders. "The conditions were very tricky as it rained in the opening stages of the race and we were rather conservative when it came down to our tyre choice. We knew that it was dangerous and didn’t want our drivers to get in any sort of trouble.

Both Collard – Westbrook and Palttala – Forsten drove a good race and finished sixth and seventh in class. But we didn’t have any sort of mechanical or other problem, which proves that the package is very good and we know for sure that Monza will be better."

After the race the panel of stewards decided to exclude the Porsche 997 GT3 RSR of Collard and Westbrook as the ride height of the car changed after a little collision and it was no longer conform the technical rule book.

ProSpeed took an excellent start in FIA GT3. Forsten and Loix finished twice on the podium, second on Saturday and third on Sunday. And what’s more, newcomer Mikael Forsten took pole in his qualifying session. "If we take a look at the championship standings after the first rounds, we’re now second overall", tells a delighted David Loix.

"I’m very happy with the result, the team and especially my team mate, as he drove fantastic throughout the weekend. I also like the race and the format of the championship. But from now on, we’ll have to defend our position in standings…"

Mikael Forsten, a professional showjumping rider and World Cup winner, made a very good impression in Silverstone.

Rudi Penders: "I know few people performing this good after only four or five seasons in autosport. Mikael is a professional sportsman and one can notice that. What’s more, he drove both in GT2 and GT3 here and didn’t fail at all. I’m very happy with his presence in the team."

Rudi Penders and Franz Lamot finished 22nd and 18th on almost 50 GT3 cars. Franz Lamot: "I think we will able to drive as high as the top-10, but our qualifying wasn’t that good this weekend. And as most cars are very equally matched, qualifying is very important. But this championship is very intense and I never drove in a competition as competitive as this one. I enjoyed my weekend very much."

The next round of the FIA GT and FIA GT3 takes place on the 17th and 18th of May in Monza.

- JF Van Laere - also photos