TINCKNELL TARGETING WEC ROSTRUM FINISH AT MAJESTIC SPA VENUE
Britain's Harry Tincknell is targeting a FIA World Endurance Championship podium finish in Belgium next Saturday (7 May). Harry contests the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps along with co-drivers Andy Priaulx and Marino Franchitti in their No67 Ford GT.
The Spa event marks Harry's second race for the Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT WEC programme and having posted an encouraging fourth place in the 6 Hours of Silverstone on the team's FIA World Endurance Championship debut and his first race in the Ford GT, Tincknell is optimistic a top-three finish around the legendary Belgium track is achievable.
The race around the magnificent, fast and undulating 4.352-mile track marks Tincknell's third WEC race at the Ardennes venue having finished second in the LMP2 category on his WEC debut in 2014 and winning last year. Harry previously competed in two Formula Three races at Spa having made his debut there in 2011. Three practice sessions beginning on Thursday precedes qualifying (Friday) with the race scheduled to start at 1330 (UK time) on Saturday.
Harry says: "The aim is most definitely to get on to the podium at Spa having just missed out on the Ford GT's WEC debut at Silverstone. I believe that we can realistically aim for a class top-three in Belgium. We undertook a two-day endurance test at Aragon in dry and wet conditions after Silverstone. All went well and we clocked up a lot of mileage which was useful for the team. While I've tested and raced in the LMP category for the past three years, GT is obviously still very new for me. I'm learning all of the time but encouragingly my lap times as I gain a better understanding of the Ford GT. I'm loving every minute of the programme. The Spa race is important as we prepare for Le Mans. The circuit is probably the closest you can get to Le Mans. We have to have another fault free race to achieve a top result because of the intense competition but the most important thing is to come away from the Spa weekend knowing we are in good shape for the 24 Hours in June."