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QUAIFE AND DUEL RACING MAINTAIN 24H SERIES PODIUM STREAK AT PAUL RICARD

  • British ace maintains A3T class points lead with third place

 

Phil Quaife helped maintain his and Memac Ogilvy Duel Racing’s 24H International Endurance Series A3T class championship lead with a third podium in as many outings at the Hankook 24 Hours of Paul Ricard last weekend (July 10-12).

 

The McLaren Test and Development Driver, who shares the Moutran family squad’s SEAT Leon Cup Racer entry with brothers Nabil, Ramzi and Sami, finished third at the former French Grand Prix venue to establish an 18-point lead in both the Drivers’ and Teams’ standings with just two rounds remaining.

 

The 2015 campaign’s opening two races at the Dubai Autodrome and Mugello in Italy had seen the squad pick up a victory and second place, respectively, before skipping Zandvoort’s 12-hour encounter. But with the five best results from the six-round calendar counting towards the final points total, Quaife knew that a strong finish in southern France would be vital for maintaining momentum.

 

Having contested both opening races with its ageing SEAT, Duel Racing saw Paul Ricard as an ideal opportunity to introduce a more up-to-date variant of the Leon Cup that should prove better suited to endurance racing as the season develops. Prior commitments meant Quaife wouldn’t have a chance to sample the car before Friday’s qualifying session, but that didn’t stop him from securing a front row grid slot for the race start that afternoon.

 

Much can go wrong over a twice-around-the-clock event, but all four drivers performed impeccably to steer the SEAT clear of trouble throughout. And ultimately it was only excessive brake wear – twice necessitating extended pit-stops – that prevented the crew from finishing higher than third.

 

Nevertheless, Quaife was still delighted to have maintained the squad’s podium streak with only two rounds remaining.

 

“Paul Ricard was another brilliant performance from everyone at Duel Racing,” said the British ace. “We’ve been so consistent this season, which is a really important element in scoring a good endurance racing result. We had the outright pace to finish higher were it not for the excessive brake wear that meant we spent too much time in the pits. But considering the car’s new and we’d done very little testing prior to the race I think we can consider third a decent result. Finishing on the podium is always good and helps consolidate our grip on the championship.”

 

Quaife and his Duel Racing co-drivers will be eager to take an even bigger step towards this year’s titles at Barcelona’s 24-hour round on September 4-6.

 

For more information on Phil Quaife please visit www.philquaife.com