Racing24-7.net had the chance at Spa Francorchamps to catch up with Marco Sørensen, to talk about the upcoming season and about Le Mans.
We asked Marco how the first days in the FIA World Endurance Championship weekend had gone, and if they had expected to be where they were, with the brand new car.
“The days have actually run as planned, but we didn’t expect to be so far behind. So it’s clearly something that we are working on. But it’s hard – the car is actually good enough, so that’s not the issue. It’s just speed. So we need some more. Because we are doing the numbers that we have been given from the FIA, so there isn’t much more to do. But we are 10 kph slower down the straights, so something should probably be done.
“They (FIA and ACO, editor) will try to avoid what happened with Ford in 2016, where it just shows up and runs into the distance – of course they don’t want that to happen. That is probably why we are limited. I’m quite sure that there will be some changes prior to Le Mans, but you can never be sure. We need it.”
Photo: JJ Media
The team enters a brand new Aston Martin Vantage this year. Even though the car has the same name as its predecessor, it’s completely new developed, with no commonalities with the old one, which dates back to 2012. It has got a turbo engine instead of the classic V8 natural aspirated, that everyone loved. The new one do however sound better than some of the other turbo cars in the GTE field.
“We started testing the new car in September. We have been to Abu Dhabi, Sebring, Portugal, Spain, Great Britain, Belgium – we have been a bit of everywhere.”
“There wasn’t more to get (in the old one, editor). Now we have a car that we know, that if only we got a bit more power, and there is plenty of room for that, then there won’t be any issues. If we are allowed to get that from the ACO, we have a car that is capable of doing more.”
Are there any more testing planed prior to Le Mans?
“We have a test planned after this race, but we don’t know yet exactly where it will happen. We don’t know of if it’s going to happen. It depends on how this race will go. If we only need some more power, then we don’t need more testing.”
Photo: JJ Media
It has been a busy spring for Marco Sørensen so far. There has been a lot of testing in the new GTE car, and then he races in the British GT too. So there hasn’t been much spare time.
“It has been really busy. I can’t even catch up. The last about 10 weeks including weekends, have just been travel, travel, travel. I’m starting to get all dizzy, ” he says with a big laugh. “So we can’t relax until after Le Mans.”
And Le Mans is just around the corner. The test day will be run in one and a half week’s time, and then one week of waiting, before the show starts with scrutineering in Le Mans town centre. But there are two British GT rounds at Snetterton and Silverstone to be done before that, where Marco Sørensen and teammate Derek Johnson will try to improve on their current fifth position in the Championship in the TF Sport #17.
