The Swiss driver, on pole with the Jaguar, completes an incident-packed race with third place in the Silver Cup
Alex Fontana’s 1000 Km at Le Castellet, the third round in the 2018 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup, concluded with a bittersweet podium finish. At the wheel of the Emil Frey Jaguar Racing car, the Swiss driver put in a fine weekend’s work in terms of both absolute performance and recorded times and on track racing. The Jaguar started from the third consecutive pole position in the Silver Cup, the category reserved for young and promising drivers who in previous years have race in open-wheel categories and who have shown well in GT series. Alex took the first stint, but was bottled up in the chaos caused when the Aston Martin all but stalled as the lights went out, creating a moment of tension. The Swiss driver showed his experience in reconstructing his race, regaining the leadership in the race and moving into the top-10 overall in a field of over 50 cars. He then handed over to his teammates Adrian Zaugg and Mikael Grenier, with whom he then alternated for a second stint during the course of the six-hour race. However, a slow change during the second pit-stop, a puncture and a penalty inflicted by the race officials when during a Full Course Yellow and problem with the radio saw Zaugg sanctioned, knocked car #54 out of the running for the leading positions. Thanks in part to a well judged strategy that had saved a set of new tyres for the finale, Alex and Mikael fought back in the final hour through to 3rd place in class and 16th overall, a placing that was almost as a good as a win given the problems faced.
Alex Fontana
“This was perhaps one of the most difficult races of my career since I moved into covered-wheel racing in recent years. The joy of finishing on the third step of the podium after everything that had gone on repaid every sacrifice. We know our car is quick, not just in the Silver Cup but overall and we proved this in qualifying. However, in a six-hour 1000 km race anything can happen. As a team we had the strength to react and stay united in the face of every difficulty and this made the difference, both in terms of the final result and the mood within the team. Even though we’ve only been working together for a few months, we manage to give the best of ourselves. In a few weeks time we’ll be facing another challenge, again with the Jaguar but in the Sprint series on the Misano track in Italy.”