NEWS
22.03.09
Dolan and Hancock show strong pace on VdeV debut
Simon Dolan and Sam Hancock got their season underway by showing strong pace in their Jota Sport Ligier JS49 at Jarama in the VdeV championship, despite a couple of technical problems preventing a strong points finish.
Former Le Mans Series LMP2 champion Hancock has again teamed up with racing novice Dolan in 2009, running dual campaigns in the European VdeV championship and the predominantly UK-based SPEED series. The step up from Radical racing comes as part Dolan’s continued career-progression under the expert tutelage of The Drivers Club, the team’s bespoke driver training programme.
Despite suffering some teething problems in practice which affected the Ligier’s straight-line speed, Hancock qualified on the fourth row of the 26-car grid for the four-hour endurance race and was up to third early in his opening stint.
A gear shift issue prevented him from challenging the leaders and dropped the Ligier down the field and out of contention, before a small spin and stall during Dolan’s stint lost more time as the car had to be towed back to the pits.
In the closing stages of the race however, Hancock was able run trouble-free and match the pace of the leaders, setting the fifth best lap time in what was a promising first run.
“It’s a new car and new championship for both the team and the drivers, but despite us having couple of small technical problems, Simon and Sam both did a good job and we’re happy with our overall pace,” said Jota Sport Team Principal Sam Hignett.
“This has been a very enjoyable start to our season and a good welcome to the VdeV championship,” said Dolan. “It’s a pleasure to be able to put everything I’ve learned with The Drivers Club into practice in a race situation and we move forward to the next round with confidence having learned a lot from this weekend.”
ENDS
Notes for editors
The Drivers Club, run by world-class Le Mans and Porsche racing team, Jota Sport, offers private, high performance driver training and exclusive driving events to discerning individuals who demand the best of the best. For more information, please visit www.thedriversclub.co.uk.