The Aston Martin THOR Team is steadily improving, and getting closer and closer to the rest of the FIA World Endurance Championship field.
They were 3,2 seconds off in Qualifying, at the season opener in Qatar, and that was on a 5,418 kilometer long circuit.
Today, at the 7,004 kilometer Spa Francorchamps circuit in Belgium, the two cars were 2,174 and 2,295 seconds off the time set in Qualifying by the Ferrari AF Corse #50.
Racing24-7.net caught up with Alex Riberas, driver of the #009 alongside Marco Sørensen, and this race was the first time this year for Alex to do the Qualifying, since Marco had done it at the first two rounds.
Was it great to qualify the new car, for the very first time?
“For sure! My first ever qualifying in a Hypercar. I had never done a qualy simulation, a qualy run with low fuel and new tires until today. It is actually a lot of fun. For sure it was a good experience, and something that we can learn from, for the future.”
Spa must be a dream circuit to do a qualifying on, with all the fast corners?
“Yes, for sure. When the team told me about, we think that Spa, Alex would probably do qualy, so I was like – internally I had a big smile. Because for sure, it’s one of those tracks that, especially a day like today, where you get perfect weather. Also the amount of traffic we have, which is so little – it’s such a pleasure to drive around this circuit.”
Except for GT, it’s been quite a few years since you’ve last raced here, hasn’t it?
“The last time that I did it properly was Spa 24 Hours, but definitely a very different environment, and a very different driving style as well with the Hypercar. It’s good to be back here with the Valkyrie, and getting closer and closer to where we want to be.”
Photo: JJ Media
There is a lot of systems to learn in the new car, compared to a GT car, I guess?
“Yeah, for sure! It’s a lot more work in the cockpit – a lot more controls that we are able to adjust, especially the antiroll bars, we are still learning as a team, and something that we will continue to exploit in the future.”
You had a clean qualifying today?
“Yeah my lap was clean. I just – I didn’t do a good job with the timing of the new tire – the peak of the tire. The tire management is also a completely different story now, because this compound is very specific. And I didn’t adapt to higher temperatures that we had in the afternoon, versus this morning, when I did my qualy simulation – I think, I did a better job this morning with that, but it’s all part of the learning curve. Overall I’m pretty happy.”
The tires have a super narrow window, with 2 or 3 push laps, before the tire has peaked. Is that correct?
“Yeah, I think that you can get away with a cool down lap, if you time it well. In the end, it’s about three elements.
“-You have the peak of the new tire, which comes from the rubber.
“-You have the tire pressures.
“-And then you have the temperatures – the core temperatures.
“All those three elements, when you put them together – that is when you get the most out of it, and one of the keys to maximizing our qualifying performance.”
The team will start 17th and 18th for the 6 Hours of Spa Francorchamps, which runs tomorrow 10 May from 14.00 CET.
