Vandoorne after FP1: “It was a good start for us”
Belgium’s Stoffel Vandoorne had a successful first practice session in the No 11. SMP Racing car at the TOTAL 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
The former F1 driver was second fastest in FP1 alongside his Russian team-mates Mikhail Aleshin and Vitaly Petrov – 1.972s behind the sister SMP Racing car which topped the timesheets.
“This was a good start for us and I was able to get comfortable and do a good amount of laps,” declared 27-year-old Vandoorne. “Of course it is just FP1 and the conditions will probably change but for the moment it is a nice start and the car felt quick. Now we will try and build on the good start we’ve had for FP2 and see what we can do further with the car and the settings.”
At a pre-race press conference earlier today Vandoorne spoke about enthusiastically about joining the WEC paddock for round 7 of the Super Season.
“I’m very happy to be here,” enthused the SMP Racing driver. “I’ve been to a couple of WEC races before including Spa and Le Mans and I’ve always had an eye on endurance racing but this weekend is really about preparation. There’s a lot of things to learn – I need to get up to speed with how the regulations work, how to deal with race traffic and sharing the car. This isn’t a sprint race like I’m used to.”
FP2 is underway now. For the latest times click HERE.
