After missing out a possible win last time out at Monza, Rob Bell says he is looking to take a trip to the top step of the GT2 podium as the Le Mans Series heads to Valencia this weekend for the second round of the season.
Bell and Virgo Motorsport team mate Allan Simonsen saw their chance of victory in Italy disappear when they were delayed in the pits during a stop, with the #96
Ferrari eventually coming home third in class at the end of the 1000km race.
Although Valencia is making its first appearance on the LMS calendar, Bell does have prior experience of the circuit from his time in the World Series by Renault, and he will hope to at least match his result of third from his last outing at the Spanish venue some three years ago.
As I won't have to learn the circuit I'll be able to concentrate on car set-up right from the off, he said. It's a bit tight and twisty for a sportscar and with the maximum number of cars allowed competing, that's forty six, it'll be fairly congested. Getting a clear lap in qualifying isn't going to be easy and I'm sure traffic will be the biggest talking point of the weekend. It's quite a challenging circuit with a high speed corner at the end of the front straight, and a mix of high and low speed corners in the mid section, but it's fairly narrow, so not easy to overtake here.
We are looking for a win in Valencia, simple as that. We learned a lot about the car in Monza, and we were on the pace there, so now we can target a win quite confidently. It's a six hour race though, so reliability is a priority. It'll be four or five fuel stops, with the two of us sharing the driving. How long our stints will be are in the hands of the way that the race pans out with safety cars and also our fuel economy.
"One thing is for certain, it'll be great to be out there racing the Ferrari again.
