RML's sportscar team completed over 12 hours of the Proximus Spa 24 Hour race at the weekend as part the FIA GT Championship.  The No 7 Saleen driven by Mike Newton, Tommy Erdos, Miguel Ramos and Chris Goodwin ran in as high as 3rd position during the race and the team collected another 3 championship points.

Both the teams Saleens enjoyed a good start with Car 7 in 7th position on the grid and Car 8, driven by Ray Mallock, Michael Mallock and Adam Wiseberg, starting from 18th.  The opening lap saw Tommy Erdos gain three places in Car 7 and move up to 4th position while in Car 8 Michael Mallock gained six places to move up to 12th position.  Both cars continued to make good progress with Tommy swiftly moving into 3rd place before his first pit stop and Michael moving up to an excellent 5th in his 24 hour debut before his scheduled handover to father Ray Mallock.

Car 7

Car 7 was now in the hands of Miguel Ramos who enjoyed a trouble free stint before pitting from 6th place to hand over to Mike Newton.  Mike's stint began strongly and he maintained a top 10 position throughout, running in as high as 5th, before he handed the car back to Miguel who had elected to drive another daylight stint. 

Chris Goodwin had his first stint in the car at the 4 hour mark and continued to run strongly despite being hit by the No 1 Ferrari.  He handed the car back to Tommy who was at the wheel at the 6 hour mark and running in 6th position overall and 4th in the GT class he collected 2 ½ championship points. 

Mike took over shortly after and again ran in 6th position until a collision with a Porsche at the bus stop forced him to pit.  An extended stop ensued with the team working tirelessly to rectify the damage and also replacing the alternator which had been damaged by track debris.  After two hours in the pits Chris rejoined to take his second stint of the race and during the night the car continued to run strongly with Tommy and Mike driving their third stints.  

Just after 4am however the team met with disappointment when a transmission failure saw the No 7 car retire on the track.  Having completed over 12 hours of the race the team collected another ½ point to take their total from this event to 3 and despite the disappointment the team were pleased to have run the longest distance by far of any of the competing Saleens.

Car 8

With Michael at the wheel of Car 8 he made an impressive race debut in the Saleen and continued to capitalise on his good start by gaining places with each lap.  He climbed up to 5th position during the first hour of the race before pitting for Ray to take over.  This was the first time that Ray had driven the Saleen, which was designed and built by his Company, RML, and he enjoyed a trouble free stint before handing over to Adam Wiseberg.

Adam enjoyed a 16 lap stint, but his Saleen race debut was cut short however when track debris pulled the oil pump drive belt off and he was forced to pit.  The team investigated the damage caused to the car as a result and were forced to retire the No 8 Saleen when damage to the bearings was discovered.

Ray commented  "I was really pleased to be part of the RML team as a driver this weekend, the car was superb, very easy to drive and it was a pleasure to be back at Spa for the first time since 1987"

Tommy Erdos commented "We quickly got a good balance in the car and all the drivers put maximum effort into each of their stints.  Before our problem I was delighted that we were able to run at the front and must thank the team for their efforts all week."

Adam Wiseberg commented "It was a shame my debut was so short lived but it was wonderful to be able to share a car with my two illustrious co-drivers.  I was pleased to see my lap times improving each time I drove the car although I certainly need to work on my fitness if the opportunity to drive arises again!  The team have been fantastic both in their preparation and running of the car and in the support they have given me this weekend".

Chris Goodwin commented "Again we showed that we had the pace to compete with the best cars in our class. All the drivers performed well and the preparation and running of the car by the entire team was fantastic throughout the event.  The Spa 24 Hours has really come of age and is now definitely one of the major 24 hour races.  I'll be back."

Michael Mallock commented "I really enjoyed my debut in the Saleen and it feels great to be back out racing. The car felt good and is really well balanced.  I was disappointed not to get a second stint but hopefully I will get the opportunity to drive the Saleen again".