Emil Frey Racing is set to début their Lexus RC GT3 at next week’s Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup at Nürburgring as they continue their test and development programme which has seen them competing in the GT Open Championship and making a run for the title with two pole positions and three race victories so far this year.
“We have proven the capability of the Lexus RC F GT3 and feel now is the right time to take the program one step further”, said Hannes Gautschi, Technical Coordinator Emil Frey Racing.
“We have no high hopes or are not aiming at any point results, we will use this race meeting purely as a testing ground to see where we stand with our car in such a competitive field and surrounding.
“It will also be a totally new experience for us to run on Pirelli tyres since we have only ever tested with Michelin and Dunlop, so we will get some very important knowledge on how the car handles on different tyres.”
Albert Costa Balboa will lead driving duties in Germany while Emil Frey Racing stalwart Stéphane Ortelli will join him, Ortelli already has experience of the Lexus after racing it at last year’s VLN.
“We are very proud of what we have achieved so far in this program, which was so new to us at the start of the year and we are excited to see where we will stand in the Blancpain GT Series”, said Lorenz Frey, Team Principal Emil Frey Racing.
“We have competed in the Blancpain GT Series for several years with another manufacturer and know of the incredible competitiveness of this championship. All the premium brands race in the Blancpain GT Series, not only in Europe, but worldwide.
“To test our Lexus amongst some of the fastest and most developed cars in GT3 racing is a great step forward and the perfect way to test, if this competition could be something of interest to us in the future.”
Costa Balboa added, “I am so excited to join the Blancpain GT Series with Lexus, because it marks a new adventure for me as well, as driving in the Sprint Cup is completely different than the Endurance Cup.
“Since I started working with Emil Frey Racing, it has always been my dream to race together with Stéphane Ortelli in the Sprint Cup, because we are very small drivers, we share the same seat, and we have more advantage during the pitstop and driver change.
“I only recently drove at Nürburgring so I am still quite familiar with the track. I believe in my team and I am sure we will enjoy the weekend a lot, I really cannot wait.
“We are doing the job amazingly good, if we keep this up we could achieve a good result, but in the end, we are here to learn and to improve ourselves and I am proud that we go so quickly with our development program.”
