After a qualifying record in VLN 7 for Manuel Metzge VLN 8 saw a race lap record for Nico Verdonck in the Alzen Motorsport entered Ford GT.
The new record, 7:58.558 came in the Belgian’s second appearance in the VLN aboard the Ford.
“To be back behind the wheel of this car gave me great pleasure. I thoroughly enjoyed myself at the wheel of such a powerful machine which is incredibly entertaining to drive.”
“HTo manage that time not in the quieter qualifying session but in fact during the actual race, with lots of traffic and with a pretty heavy fuel load on board leaves one with an awesome feeling. You need to be hyper concentrated and extremely alert when it comes to the slower competitors. But what a feat!”
Unfortunately, the race lap record performance was not reflected in the final result.
“During qualifying one section of the circuit was neutralised just as I was putting in my fastest lap”, Nico clarified. “As such I found myself 14th on the grid and second in the SPX class. However, having analysed lap times per sector I had spotted that there was some potential! With some fifteen odd GT3 machines this weekend and a fair number of official drivers, the level was pretty high … During my first stint I managed to climb up through the pack and found myself level pegging with my former teammate Adam Christodoulou, who was at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT. Following a first pit pit-stop, we were virtually battling it out for second place, as various drivers ahead still needed to call in to the pits. But just as I was exiting the Karussell I felt I was losing power … and I was obliged to come to a standstill next to the track. It was already over! A great pity because I truly believe we could have aimed for an overall podium place.”
