Team Modena’s Korean Touring Car Star Gene Lee is back in race action this weekend in his BMW 320i, and also joined the team for the recent Le Mans 24-Hour race, his first visit to the French endurance classic. For Gene it was a great opportunity to see the team in action, and left the rapid racer eager to sample the great race for himself.
“Le Mans is a crazy race to attend for the first time,” said Gene. “I hadn’t realised just how big an event it is. I walked part of the circuit on Saturday evening and the place was just packed with people even when it was raining hard, and I only walked a small part of the track – there must have been hundreds of thousands of people there.
“It’s by far the biggest motorsport event I have ever been to, but it is frustrating too – after seeing the cars I would love to be out on the track. It was very exciting to be in the Team Modena pit and see how the team worked, and I left thinking ‘how do I get here in a car as soon as possible’!
“I was able to watch the team at work from a driver’s point of view, see what happens in a race that size and their strategy as the race goes on. I learnt a lot listening to the drivers and engineer’s discussions; it was a great learning curve about this unique event. You get excited at the start of the race, you watch it, you even go and have some sleep- and the race is still going on!
In the second round of the Korean series Gene’s BMW was severely damaged after a clash with another car. Governing body KARA reviewed the incident last week and while Gene has been given a $300 fine, his assailant is now on probation at to his on-track behaviour, while Gene’s rapid 320i has been re-built and he is fired up for this weekend’s third round.
“My next race is again at the Everlands Speedway and Team Modena have done a great job in making sure we got what we needed to get the car ready. The whole team is ready to go this weekend, and even though rain is forecast and we have not had the opportunity to test the car in the wet yet we are looking for a win.
“After seeing Le Mans – Korean racing doesn’t seem so exciting! It was a fantastic experience to go there as part of the team and see what really happens at a race such as this, I can only thank Graham, Rik and the entire team for letting me come to their biggest race of the year.”
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