hollands glorie............zou ik een nederlands vlagje in de paddockcampermobiel binnensmokkelen?
lemans.org
With its aluminum body, two orange stripes, visible rivets, and retro look, no doubt about it, Spyker attracts attention.
But the pretty little Dutch car already proved at Sebring that it wasn't just a pretty collectible, but also a force to be reckoned with, capable of giving the Porsche GT a run for their money.
It was in September 2001 that the Spyker C8 Double 12 made its first public appearance during the Frankfurt car show.
For its second public outing, Spyker headed to Florida to compete in the 12 Hours of Sebring. Considering that the team had only racked up a grand total of two laps around the track for the trials, conventional wisdom was that the results looked promising and things portended well for the rest of the race.
In fact, before a fatal exit where the aluminum GT ran into an abandoned Porsche on the track, the Spyker had been keeping the pace without encountering the slightest reliability problem.
Despite the intense heat, the BMW 4.0 liter aspirated engine, reworked by Mader in Switzerland, held up well. Victor R. Muller, Spyker CEO, was quick to state : " To the extent that we didn't have a standard approved road car, that we hadn't produced the minimum quota of 25 cars and finally that the number of racecars accounted for over 10% of total production, we were penalized as provided for in the regulations by smaller restrictors and ballast.".
Back in the US, the car also made a trip to the BMW wind tunnel before running a three day test at Salzburgring.
The Dutch team is knocking on wood, since up to now no mechanical problems have surfaced that could throw a wrench into the otherwise smooth operations. With a little chance, a real life endurance test at Jerez or Dijon should enable to fine-tune preparations.
As desired by all first time competitors in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the Dutch car maker just hopes to finish the race and gain a maximum amount of experience in order to prepare its 2003 entry with two cars.