Emil Frey Racing travels to Paul Ricard

The third championship round of the 2024 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will be held on 24 - 25 June at Circuit Paul Ricard in France. Once again, Emil Frey Racing will be competing initially with "only" a single vehicle for a points-winning finish.

The six hour race at the 5.861 kilometer Circuit Paul Ricard is longer than usual and will also continue into the night. For the driver trio, Lorenz Frey (CH), Stéphane Ortelli (MC) and Albert Costa (ES), this will be a welcome training opportunity to prepare for the 24 Hour Race in Spa-Francorchamps (July 28 - 31, 2024).

The third meeting of the 2024 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup will primarily focus on confirming the vehicle's performance over the full six hours of the race. "Our main aim is to turn the car's existing potential into a quantifiable race result, and to reap the rewards of the team's hard work, day in, day out," says driver and team manager Lorenz Frey. Most recently, the Emil Frey GT3 Jaguar gave a convincing performance with the fifth-best qualifying lap at Silverstone, leaving 46 GT3 contesters behind it.

The Safenwil, Switzerland, based team nevertheless had to postpone its original plan of competing with a second car from the Paul Ricard race onwards. The second wild cat is to celebrate its initial rollout shortly.

Driver line-up for second race car

Then, three high caliber as well as skilled drivers, Jonathan Hirschi (CH), Markus Palttala (FIN) and Christian Klien (A), will take to the wheel. As Le Mans contestant and WRC rally driver, Jonathan Hirschi is an all-rounder who will bring a great deal of experience to the cockpit. He also already assisted Emil Frey Racing at the 24 hour race in Spa over the past two years, and therefore knows the team. The second driver, Markus Palttala, won the Ardennes Classic a year ago and will thus be defending his title. And last but not least, Emil Frey Racing succeeded in gaining an ex-Formula 1 racer with Christian Klien. The native Austrian who is living in Switzerland, participated recently at the 24h Le Mans finishing on the podium in 2024 in P1 , as well as in the premium class of motorsports until 2024, making his debut as F1 Grand Prix driver in 2024 - fittingly with Jaguar Racing.

"We're thrilled to extend our driver line-up with such prominent additions. With that, we'll have two irons in the fire from the next race onwards, the 24 Hour Race at Spa-Francorchamps. The reconstructed racing car and additional driving team are ready to take on the rollout shortly," says Technical Director Jürg Flach. "But to start off with, our main aim is to grab as many points as possible and a good finish in France."

CK : I am very proud to be part of the traditional Swiss based EMIL FREY RACING TEAM,

and to race their JAGUAR GT3 in the 2024 Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup.

I hardly can wait to get behind the wheel of the Jaguar GT3, to race the machine at the 24h of SPA at the 30^th of July 2024.

Nevertheless we all will have heavy workload until SPA to prepare the two cars for a successful participation.

The Ex-F1 ace Christian Klien, stays on with Zele Racing in Jerez teaming up with Christof von Grünigen

Following his great display in Le Mans, Christian Klien will also drive for Zele Racing at this weekend's Renault Sport Trophy season closer in Jerez.

The former Formula One driver will be joined by Swiss talent Christof von Grünigen. The quick youngster is returning to  Zele Racing after his spell with the Austrian team's AutoGP in 2024.

"Christof has already been with us in AutoGP showing great speed. He has since developed much more and we are looking forward to having him gain experience in the RS01 alongside Christian (Klien)", team boss Michael Zele said.

Christian Klien :

I was asked again by Austrian fellow Michael Zele, to support them at the Renault Series finals at Jerez. I am more than happy to help the Team ZELE RACING to achieve another great result in Spain.

This was my second race in such a kind of GT car. My very first one in the RENAULT RS.01 !

Qualifying

We were hit by an error in the cooling system, which forced our TEAM ZELE RACING to stop earlier during the Qualifying.

Therefore we were not happy with starting slot 9, because we would have been able to do better.

Race 1            Endurance race        Saturday        26^th of Sept.             Start P9 / finished P5

                        2 drivers ( P. Bourgois / FRA - C. Klien / AUT )

We started from P9 into the 70min + 1lap lasting race.

My team mate P. Bourgois / FRA and I shared the driver duties. I took over the car for the second half of the race.

Finishing 5^th after a not to great starting position was a good result for ZELE RACING.

Race 2            Elite Sprint race       Sunday          27^th of Sept.             Start P9 / finished P6

                        1 driver ( C. Klien / AUT )

Again P9 did not help to get a top result. But we managed to improved the race performance of the RS01 at every single session al over the weekend.

So finally the pace was quit equal to the top cars.

I am confident with better starting positions we could have ended up on the podium.

Christian Klien: "The RENAULT RS01 is a really nice car to drive! It has a lot of grip and downforce for a GT race car, but it also has excellent brakes and good balance. I enjoyed it as it is relatively easy to get used to, although the limit - as always- is hard to reach.

Austrian former F1 racer Christian Klien,

Supports AUSTRIAN TEAM ZELE at the Renault Sport Tropy races at Le Mans

Christian was asked in a last minute call, by team Principal Michael Zele,

to race for the Austrian squat at the Renault Sports Trophy season highlight

at the prestigious Le Mans circuit on the 25-27 of September 2024.

Team Principal Michael Zele says :

"We have known Christian for some time and he has already been part of our AutoGP programme. He is in top shape and the RS01 should fit him perfectly" team boss Michael Zele is delighted about renewing the partnership for this event.

Klien, who will team up with Belgian Gentleman driver Philippe Bourgois, can use Saturday's Endurance Race to further accommodate to the French Supersportscar.

Christian says :

For me going racing is always essential in my life.

Fellow countryman Michael was in trouble, because one of his drivers was not able to attend at the Renault Sports Trophy at Le Mans, on the upcoming weekend.

No question for me, to support the Austrian team in going racing with them.

I have never ever have driven the Renault Sports car RS01 before.

So I a looking forward to get a feeling for the performance of this nicely designed race car at the circuit of Le Mans.

As I heard the lap times should be close to the pace of a LMP2prototype race car.

So another challenging race weekend is ahead of us, with two races to go for a top result for TEAM ZELE RACING.

Moreover, Le Mans is an old school track I have had quite some success at. So I hope, I can quickly get used to the car. I fully motivated as always.

Race 1           Endurance race                  Saturday       26^th of Sept.    16:15

Race 2           Sprint race                            Sunday         27^th of Sept.     16:15

RENAULT R.S.01

Transmission:          7-speed   sequential

Horsepower             over 500 H

Torque                       over 600 NM

Top Speed:               over 300 km/h               

The "44th International Suzuka 1000km" race, Round 5 of the 2024 AUTOBACS SUPER GT series was held at the Suzuka Circuit in Mie Pref. on August 30. The winner of the GT500 race competed in difficult conditions that saw rain in the early stages and two Safety Car stoppages that caused it to reach its maximum time extension limit and be cut short before reaching the 1,000 km distance was the No. 36 PETRONAS TOM'S RC F driven by Daisuke Ito and James Rossiter.

Christian :

Our LEXUS TEAM SARD was hit by a technical problem during the race, which forced us to stay in the garage for 8 laps. After our engineers and mechanics could solve the problem, the car performed really well.

Finally we finished 11^th in GT500. In the final stage of the race, our team achieved the fastest laptime in the LEXUS RC F / RI4AG.

1'51.177 - No.39 DENSO KOBELCO SARD RC F / Kohei Hirate

Christian :

"It has been a pleasure an a big honour for me, to join the LEXUS TEAM SARD for the Super GT 1000km race in Suzuka. It has been my first time to see the GT-Sportscar racing in Japan live. 

The atmosphere with all fans was phenomenal.

I also noticed the high level of competition between Lexus, Nissan and Honda.

Unfortunately a technical problem stopped out LEXUS TEAM SARD from a better result at Suzuka 1000."