SA drivers take on the world
BENTLEY: JORDAN PEPPER WILL TRY TO REPEAT HIS RED-HOT PODIUM DEBUT
Youngster burning the midnight oil for four hours around the iconic Nurburgring.
Two young South African drivers will tackle international sports car races this weekend. In Germany, Jordan Pepper will take on the DMV fourhour VLN race around the notorious 17km Nurburgring Nordschleife in an Abt Motorsport Bentley.
Pepper will be looking to improve on his podium debut performance there two weekends ago.
“We are going into VLN round two at the Nurburgring just two weeks after race one, which means a lot of work to do in a very short time for the team,” Jordan said.
“I have been to the factory, spent some time with the guys and now I am spending time poring over the data to look and see what and where I can improve.
“I am teaming up with Belgian driver Nico Verdonck and German Christian Mamerow in the yellow car again this weekend.
“This race will be tough – all the same top drivers, cars and teams will be back.
“All of this is leading up to the Nurburgring 24-hour – that is what this weekend is all about.
“My pace was good last time out, but every lap counts at that place.
“I am really enjoying it - the Nordschleife is an incredible place and to drive a car like my Abt Bentley Continental GT around there on the limit is truly unbelievable,” Pepper added.
The DMV four-hour race will be streamed live from midday on Saturday - the link is on http://www. vln.de homepage.
In the United states, South African sports car driver Stephen Simpson and his team-mate Misha Giokhberg will head to California looking for a repeat success, after their Prototype Challenge class win at Long Beach last year.
The duo will also be challenging for overall victory aboard their JDC-Miller Racing Oreca.
“The Long Beach Grand Prix is a great race,” Simpson said. “It is known as America’s Monaco and has been going for over 40 years when the first of seven Formula One Grands Prix was run there back in 1976.
“It then changed to one of the highlights on the IndyCar and IMSA calendar, so going back to this historic venue is always a special weekend.
“Apart from racing in the main prototype class, the GT Daytona catory cars have been added to the race, meaning it is going to be an incredibly busy race track,”Simpson added.
The Long Beach Grand Prix will be live streamed on imsa.com from 1am on Sunday.