Paul-Ricard-Winner Emil Frey Lexus Racing gearing-up for Misano

Emil Frey Lexus Racing is gearing-up for the next race, following its sensational win at Paul Ricard 1000 kms. The thirds Sprint Cup weekend is taking place at the Italian Misano this coming week, where the Swiss Team will participate for the very first time in the history of Emil Frey Racing. Despite both successes from Paul Ricard and Silverstone, a big task is awaiting the team at the unknown track located south of Rimini. Thanks to the latest good results, Emil Frey Lexus Racing is currently running in second place in the Blancpain GT Series Team Championship. The team is sixth place in the Sprint Cup ranking, which the Safenwil-based squad is aiming to improve in Misano. “After the two endurance races at Silverstone and Paul Ricard there is now a Sprint Cup again. This is what makes this Series so exciting as you have the constant change, because with two one-hour races you have a totally different starting point. Other strategies and other race tracks are the main challenges”, says Hannes Gautschi, Technical Coordinator Emil Frey Lexus Racing. “In the meantime, we have to look at the wear and tear of both cars, repair them and take further preparations for the upcoming 24-hours of Spa.” Misano will be the last showdown for the racers in the Blancpain GT Series, before the field is heading to the highlight of the year, the biggest GT3 race in the world: the famous 24-hours of Spa at the end of July. The first race at Misano serves specifically as a good preparation, since the race starts at dawn and finishes after one hour in the darkness. “It has been a very intensive season so far, now it is the first time for a long time that we have a three-week break between races, which gives us the needed time to work intensively on the Lexus in our Workshop at Safenwil and check all details”, says Lorenz Frey, Team Principal Emil Frey Racing. “Despite taking victory at Paul Ricard we must stay focused at work. The race win was a great reward for everyone in the team and a confirmation of the Lexus RC F GT3. As Emil Frey Lexus Racing we are racing at Misano for the very first time and we are looking ahead to the next race weekend with a lot of excitement.” The third Sprint Cup weekend takes place from 22 to 24 June 2018 at Misano (Italy). Qualifying and the first race will commence on Saturday, 23 June 2018 at 1:50 pm and 7:40 pm respectively. The second race of the weekend goes ahead on Sunday, 24 June 2018 at 2:00 pm. All live streams via: www.blancpain-gt-series.com/watch-live Driver Quotes Emil Frey Lexus Racing #14 Albert Costa Balboa (ESP) “Paul Ricard was quite intense, it felt amazing and I am still floating high. The team really did a great job and now we have to see that we are still running competitively even on tracks as Misano, that don´t suit the Lexus that much. It will be a premiere for me racing at Misano and I am very excited about the weekend.” Christian Klien (A) “After Le Castellet, the whole team is highly motivated, however the last two tracks were good for us. All tracks with semi-fast to fast corners are ideal for the Lexus RC F GT3, it functions best there. Misano is a totally different track with another characteristic, slower with mechanical grip and traction. Albert and myself as well as the team will go there for the first time. It will be difficult for sure, but we have to try and get a good result, but there is definitely a lot of work ahead of us.” Driver Quotes Emil Frey Lexus Racing #114 Stéphane Ortelli (MCO) “Misano has a lot of slow corners, but many corners are very technical and there is one special thing. I raced there in the past, but the difference was the track routing, which used to go the other way. Now we race anti-clockwise. I have, however, raced a Blancpain GT Series race with the new track routing and it was certainly different and interesting. There are always a lot of fans and the people are very nice, it´s great to have many spectators.” Norbert Siedler (A) “Misano is our next race, I took Pole Position there in 2015 and won both races straight from the start. Therefore, I have super good memories. I am excited, and I am sure we will give our best.”