Marco Seefried: "Rain is where you can screw up or pull the joker"

Last year’s stars of the Saturday hours during the 24 Hours of Spa were Emil Frey Racing. The Jaguar team, going it alone without any support from the British manufacturer, ran at the front and challenged the works-supported squads for hours upon hours, until it all fell apart during sunset. Marco Seefried, the Swiss team’s latest arrival into the fold of drivers, is confident they can do it all over again this year—and make it stick.

“I’m hopeful for a good result,” the German says confidently. “The SRO organization has divided the tracks into four different Balance of Performance categories: A, B, C and D. This year, Spa is in the same category as Paul Ricard, and there we ran in the top 10 with both cars. The layout of the track should also suit our car.

“This gives us confidence. If we do everything right and if we’re spot-on with the decisions, especially with the weather-factor which might be a very important one where you can screw up or pull the joker, then I think we should be able to go for a top 10 on our own strength with speed and performance. But there are always ‘ifs’ and ‘whens’.”

A lot, as Seefried says, will depend on the weather. When it comes down to it, Seefried believes the team and car are ready for the expected rain during the race.

“I think the team will be up for the task. I can be very much mistaken, but what I’m hearing so far, what they did last season when it really started to rain, they did well, so I’m optimistic about that.

“Me, personally, I haven’t driven our car in the wet, so far. There never was a chance this season. In Silverstone I was close, but it was just a little drizzle and I kept the slicks on. My teammates all report that the car handles quite nicely in the rain, so I feel fine with what they say.

“Let’s see what comes. It’s part of the game. I don’t think we will go through the whole race with just one type of tyre—either wet or slicks. I think it’ll be a mixture again.

“If you look at the weather forecast, it’s been changing every day since Monday. You have to take it as it comes; you have to be smart. That’s also the thing during the race, it’s what’ll separate the experienced teams from the newcomers. It’s definitely a big factor.”