“Fancy a trip around Spa in the Audi RS5?”
That was the presumably rhetorical question from Audi UK’s Martyn Pass in the run up to the Spa 24 Hours weekend.
The answer was, of course, yes, an affirmative response that was only enhanced by the news that I wouldn’t be driving myself.
Regular readers here will know that one of the things that gives me most pleasure in the sport is the odd opportunity that comes our way to sit alongside top talent and observe and experience their skill at close quarters.
Matias Ekstrom was the billed driver this time, and that was more than fine with me, a fine driver, and one that I had never had the opportunity to meet.
Come the Friday of the race and Martyn wandered over to apologise that Mr Ekstrom wasn’t available, but that none other than Marcel Fassler would be on duty instead!
There was hardly a sense of crushing disappointment! How often do you get the opportunity to be chauffeured by a double Le Mans winner, Spa winner and, lest we forget FIA World Champion driver?
Not often!
I’ll admit to having a real admiration for the way in which Marcel Fassler goes about his trade, my respect for his abilities was heightened very considerably by his performance in the 2007 Spa 24 Hours, a race he dominated in very poor weather conditions, one of those occasions when the stars align to create – well – another star! It was a breakthrough run for the Swiss man and saw both Audi and Corvette come calling – After a spell in the yellow GT cars it has been Audi ever since.
The rendezvous with Marcel was in the WRT garage which, despite the recent Spa form of the Audi R8 LMS, was hardly the scene of unbridled optimism, the Audis were off the pace and badly so, a fact that was even acknowledged by Stephane Ratel post race, the balance of performance was, in this instance, out of balance!
Marcel though was on good form and, after a few pleasantries, it was a walk out into the heat of the day to the F1 pit exit, from where a train of supercars were being fielded for VIP and media guests.
Bentley, Maserati and Lamborghini were entertaining guests and there was a pair of Audi R8 V10s too, any thought though that the RS5 would be outclassed in this company though was soon to be forgotten.
Fassler boarded the only RS5 on parade, it was also the only car to sport a full race livery, this the Red Bull liveried car used at DTM meetings for Ekstrom to show his moves to selected guests.
Inside though this was all road car, three point belts, leather and aluminium, with just racing helmets as a sop for the high performance action to come.
And high performance it certainly was, the car boasts the 450 bhp 4.2 litre engine from the V8 version of the R8, mated with a sublime 7 speed gearbox and, of course a quattro four wheel drive system.
Traction from a standing start was stunning, I have no idea who the driver in the Gallardo that set off ahead of us was, but I doubt it was a rookie, and whoever it was must have been mightily surprised to see this ‘coupe‘ staying right on his tail through Eau Rouge and Radillon, dragging alongside on the Kemmel straight and making it clear that Fassler wanted to go by.
The same was true of the very competently piloted others that we encountered, the car, and no doubt the driver, was well up to the task, with stunning speed carried through Pouhon, Stavelot and massively quick through Blanchimont as Marcel took me through what the car was doing beneath him, and what he could expect in the race car the following day.
One point of detail that was visually very obvious was the state of the kerbs, the usually bright red and yellow blackened almost completely in parts as the Pirellis left their mark:
“The tyres are a real issue to manage for the race,” said Fassler as we came through Blanchimont, around the outside of a fast moving Bentley, at close to the limit in the Audi.
“The problem isn’t the general lack of grip, it’s more about their unpredictability, they just don’t seem to behave the same way, at the same corner, on successive laps, they aren’t performing progressively and that can be a really big problem.”
For now though grip didn’t seem to be a problem as we reeled in yet another Gallardo out of the Bus Sop, around La Source and up through Eau Rouge, the Lamborghini puling away just a little on the straights but being gobbled up whenever the brakes or the steering came into play, the Le Mans winning driver was pushing but it barely showed, the tone from Marcel still as calm and measured as ever.
The Audi got the better run through Radillon but the Gallardo began to pull away just a little on the run down to Les Combes, the Lamborghini driver though was clearly aware of the presence of the race liveried Audi, Fassler pulled to the inside, took advantage of some slightly early braking from the Itaian supercar and, with some firm but sublime braking, ducked inside for very quick line through the turn.
“This car has good brakes, and very good traction,” said Marcel as we reeled in yet another Gallardo, this time going outside around Pouhon at rate more familiar to a racer than a road driver, the car feeling at the limits of the available grip but responding beautifully to the helm as Marcel controlled the drift, the Piff Paff was a challenge too at these speeds, “A really tricky part of the track in racing, particularly in the LMP cars” said Marcel, the closing speed here with GT cars is huge, we can go in almost flat, they must brake and hold their line, you can lose a lot of time, or worse!”
After another monstrously fast encounter with Blanchimont it was time to hand over the passenger seat to another lucky individual, but not before shaking the hand of Marcel, “It’s still a great track isn’t it,” he said, “ and this car shows it off very well, how fast it is, and how exciting too.”
It certainly does Marcel, it certainly does!
GG
