Veloce Racing is currently on the bottom of the standings, only earned 4 points in total due to Stéphane Sarrazin’s early crash during qualifying session in the Desert XPrix in Al Ula, Saudi Arabia last April. This crash resulted in team’s withdrawal from the rest of the event and had to go through an extensive rebuild. It was revealed that a significant refit was required owing to a damaged roll cage and suspension.
Right now it just a few days left until Ocean X Prix, teams have already landed in the paddock to prepare for the race weekend. Veloce is one of two teams (the other one is ABT Cupra) that went through an intensive rebuild. A small team of mechanics from Competition Partner ART GP and Veloce Racing Team Manager Ian Davies will complete an estimated 75-100 hours of labour in Senegal to ensure the SUV is race-ready. An ultra hectic work, but one of the team’s lead advisor Adrian Newey is putting all his trust to the team and it’s clear that he’s already convinced with their performance.
“I’m really excited to see what the team can achieve at the Ocean XPrix. Clearly we didn’t have the oppoortunity to show what we’re really capable of in Saudi Arabia, but I think it looked promising before Stéphane’s roll. I know that the team are going to come back fighting.” said Newey.
“I have seen plenty of setbacks throughout my career and the team has reacted to the adversary in the right way. It takes hard work and dedication to recover from an incident like we experienced at the last race. There is still a lot of work going on in Senegal to get the car ready, and don’t underestimate how much that will motivate our drivers. All of them are working flat out to be as prepared as possible.”
Speaking about the Ocean XPrix area, Newey had few thoughts that its racing track surface might retain a similar component with the one that they raced in Saudi but refused to draw a conclusion that both tracks are identical.
“It looks like the terrain is going to be similar to Saudi, but the course will be totally different and pose entirely new challenges for even the most experienced drivers!“
