Webb is turning on the speed ahead of Le Mans

OLIVER Webb left Belgium last weekend feeling encouraged after setting a speed record on the way to a sixth-place finish in the second round of the FIA World Endurance Championship at Spa.

The Manchester driver, racing for the privateer ByKolles outfit, was in the mix with factory-backed teams Porsche and Toyota throughout the six-hour race and clocked a top speed of 320.6 kph on the Belgian Grand Prix course, a track record in the WEC.

The team, also consisting of Briton James Rossiter and Austrian driver Dominik Kraihamer, qualified in 11th amongst the LMP2 cars as they focused on using the race to develop ahead of next month’s 24 Hours of Le Mans.

Webb took over driving duties in the middle of the race and turned in a succession of consistent laps to keep the team in a respectable position.

The strong finish provided the team with a much-needed shot in the arm after a tough start to the season at Silverstone.

“We tried many aero configurations and went with one that will be best for Le Mans knowing it wouldn’t be perfect for Spa, but we used this as testing,” said Webb. “An overall podium at Le Mans could be a possibility if reliability is on our side.”

Before Le Mans, Webb will be back in action this weekend racing a McLaren in the Blancpain GT Series for Strakka Racing at Silverstone.