Spains Jesus Diez Villarroel, taking part in the GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux at the wheel of a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup fielded by SpeedLover, made a good debut in the series for Team Icer Brakes.
Teaming with Carlos Rivas, Dez Villarroel achieved a third place and finished 7th twice. Team Icer Brakes and Blido Racing, the Spanish outfit, continued their joint venture with SpeedLover after Hungary 12 hours but this time participating in the GT3 Cup Challenge Benelux. Jess Dez Villarroel, one of the most experienced GT drivers in Spain at the moment, was behind the wheel of the car racing under Team Icer Brakes banner once again. For the season opener of the seriestaking place with FIA World Endurance Championship-, Dez Villarroel was teaming with Luxembourgs Carlos Rivas they had to face a strong field with both local and international presence.
After Friday sessions, when Dez Villarroel proved his speed and experience at Spa-Francorchamps in championships or races like Le Mans Series or Spa 24 hours, Team Icer Brakes drivers were 7th fastest even when the Spaniard driver only completed a single qualifying lap due to his car ran out of fuel. Rivas took part in race one on Friday and was able to finish third after 25-minutes, a worthy and meritorious result for the team. For Saturday there were scheduled other two races: another in sprint format and a second one longer consisting of fifty minutes. In my sprint race I was on used tires, because we were saving our good ones for the endurance race. In spite of the level was quite high, with drivers and teams working on their pre-season tests at Spa, I finished 7th, he said afterwards.
For the endurance race Dez Villarroel made the start for Team Icer Brakes and his experience proved to be valuable, as the Madrid-born driver was 3rd at the beginning. By the halfway point Dez Villarroel pitted and Rivas took over, but unfortunately the pit-stop wasnt that good. We lost time when pitted. A real shame because I think our result could have improved with a standard pit-stop, the Spanish driver pointed out after finishing 7th again. He analyzed that the weekend was very positive. The entry list was quite good, with drivers from several different countries, and names such as Charles Espenlaub, Bert Longin, Jeffrey van Hooydonk or Paul van Splunteren on track. Taking into account we didnt test here before, I think results for Team Icer Brakes and Blido Racing were quite good.
Team Icer Brakes and its driver, Jesus Diez Villarroel, have new challenges ahead. They will debut in the Euro-Racecar NASCAR next weekend, at another famous track: Dijon-Prenois.
