Zurich based racing driver, Fredy Barth (35), put in some seriously quick lap times at the first round of the Blancpain Endurance Series. Those were the highlight of a tough weekend as the car limped our with oil pressure problems
With Emil Frey Racing having spent a winter highly developing their Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar lofty ambitions had been set ahead of the season opener in Monza. Those ambitions quickly became a reality with Fredy Barth posting lap times to worry the established top teams.
It wasn’t all sunshine and butterflies, as an oil pressure problem appeared after just a few laps in free practice. Erring on the side of caution the team completed a full engine swap of their Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar in time for qualifying. With team having done their job it was time for Barth to do his, and he delivered in superb style, ending the session 15th from 60 participants – well inside the team’s “top third” target.
As qualifying moved into the later sessions the oil pressure problem reappeared leaving colleague Lorenz Frey diving back into the pits after just the out lap. Once again it was over to the Emil Frey Racing mechanics to work furiously to isolate and resolve the problem in time to take the grid for the 3-hour race. Starting driver Gardel made a superb start and began posting some excellent laps times, enough to gain many places. But the team were racing on borrowed time as once again the car succumbed to the problem.
Press release Fredy Barth]]>
Fredy Barth: « We are obviously very disappointed by the result. We completed 2000km of testing over the winter and not once did we have any oil pressure problems. The silver lining to this weekend’s cloud has been our lap times. The Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar has made a huge leap forward and that gives the team and I great confidence. The lap times were so good that we can achieve our ambitious target of being in the top third. I am now looking forward to the next race at Silverstone on the 23-24th May. »
