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Palanga, 19 July 2008 - In good weather conditions SNORAS Spyker Squadron started from pole position in the Baltic's biggest endurance race; the Omnitel 1000 km. The annual held race drew many thousands spectators to the top-class Lithuanian beach resort of Palanga for the 50-car grid with entrants from several Baltic countries.
SNORAS Spyker Squadron was invited by their principal partner SNORAS Bank to participate in the annual Lithuanian race event. After thorough preparations of their 2006/2007 LMS racer, the C8 Spyder GT2R, the team left their Zeewolde (the Netherlands) based workshop last Tuesday to be in time for Wednesday’s technical and administrative checks at the Palanga track. Wednesday’s checks were followed by a parade in town in the afternoon which was visited by an army of race fans. The annual race is held at a non-permanent track and at six o’clock in the evening the organizer closed the public roads and marshals prepared the track and provisional pit lane for the two 70 minute Free Practice sessions on Thursday.
SNORAS Spyker Squadron regulars Peter Dumbreck, Alexei Vasiliev and Ralf Kelleners were joined by 19-year-old local talent Jonas Gelžinis. Following in the footsteps of his father, Jonas has been participating in motoring sports since his seventh year and has been the Lithuanian karting champion in his age group for a number of times. He also participated and won podium places in a number of Lithuanian rallies and set the quickest time in the Omnitel 1000 km qualifying race last year.
In the first free practice session the team set the second best time overall and was first in class. In the second session the team continued working on the car’s setup and local ace Jonas Gelžinis set an excellent time in the last session and broke the track’s lap time record!
In the qualifying race on Friday Peter Dumbreck set a quickest time of 1:19,438 around the 2994 meter circuit and thereby again improving the track’s lap time record. 76 teams started in the 40 minute qualifying race and only the quickest 50 cars would appear on the start of Saturday’s race.
The race started at 11 o’clock in sunny weather conditions and it took the team a little over nine hours and 333 laps to reach the finish on the tight an busy track. The team’s closest competitor finished 5 laps down.
Peter van Erp, managing director Spyker Squadron: “Normally the Porsches and Ferrari’s set the pace in the races we normally compete in, but here we were the team to beat. It was a clean race; the drivers managed to bring the C8 Spyder to the finish undamaged and the car ran without a problem. We had a few challenges with Safety Car situations but in the end, with a good strategy and quick pit stops, we managed to increase our lead and win the race. A great result after our disappointing durability issues at Le Mans. The mechanics continued working on the cars and it is a great victory for them and the rest of the team but also for Snoras Bank with a win in their own country”.
“The Dutch team received a warm welcome from the public and from the guests invited by our principal sponsor Snoras Bank. I would like to thank the Snoras Bank-team for their hospitality and support and I would like to add that I was impressed with the performance of Jonas Gelžinis” Peter van Erp said after the race.
He continues: “The level of competition cannot be compared with the Le Mans Series but with several performances of artists, fireworks, price givings and a lot other spectacle (and all broadcast live nationwide) the Omnitel 1000 km is for sure a great event and other race series organizers can learn from the Lithuanian organization how to market and promote such an event”.
The next race for the Dutch team will be the fourth round in the Le Mans Series, the 1000 km of the Nürburgring August 17.