KC Motorgroup Ltd. (KCMG) successfully rounded off FIA World Endurance Championship’s Nurburgring test last July 27 – 28 after a five-week hiatus from LMP on-track action. The two-day event, which was hosted by Toyota, saw the Le Mans-winning LMP2 team cumulatively complete 232 laps with Richard Bradley, Matt Howson and Le Mans overall winner Nick Tandy share driving duties in the Nissan-powered ORECA coupe.
Day 1 of WEC’s mid-season test allowed the team to evaluate different settings on the car as changeable circuit conditions were experienced throughout the day. Bradley and Howson posted a total of 82 laps and was second fastest LMP2 during the first day of the Nurburgring test.
Day 2 saw Nick Tandy rejoin the Hong Kong-based squad after claiming an historic overall victory at La Sarthe with Porsche. The British ace sampled the Dunlop-shod ORECA 05 on Nurburg’s treacherous 5.148km track ahead of the world championship’s forthcoming six-hour round in Germany, where he will once again represent KCMG alongside Bradley and Howson. The British trio completed 150 laps and placed the #47 LMP2 in fourth place on Tuesday.
Richard Bradley: “I’m delighted with how the Nurburgring test went and we’ve made further progress with the car. The most important thing for me was to learn the track that I’ve never been before and did this successfully, posting some competitive lap times. It’s a very different style of track than what we’ve seen before in WEC as it’s narrower and doesn’t have enough straights. I really enjoyed it and I’m looking forward to the race at the end of August.”
Matt Howson: “The first test since our success at Le Mans was extremely productive. It was my first time driving the Nurburgring Circuit and a chance to do some proper testing. We have a championship to win and the car performed brilliantly in all conditions, so it’s up to us to deliver now!”
Nick Tandy: “This week has been a chance for me to see exactly how the team and especially the new car has improved since my last time driving at Silverstone back in April. Now I can see why they had such a good run at Le Mans, the car is noticeably better in every area. Long runs and race pace was particularly good at this Nurburgring test.”
Erich Kolb, KCMG WEC Team Manager: “The team is happy with the outcome of the Nurburgring test as we’ve made further progress, taking advantage of the variable circuit conditions to assess different set ups for the car. We are looking forward to be back at Nurburgring in August, especially with Nick rejoining the team.”
FIA WEC’s 6 Hours of Nurburgring will be held on August 29 – 30. To know more about the FIA World Endurance Championship, please visit: www.fiawec.com
For more information about KCMG, visit www.kcmg.com.hk. To keep track of latest updates, please like KCMG’s Facebook page or follow @KCMotorgroup on Twitter and Instagram.
Photo courtesy of Dan Bathie of DailySportsCar.com
