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Japanese Grand Prix
Suzuka International Racing Course
Tuesday 2nd of April 2024 19:00:00
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May 27, 2016

 

The Canadian debutants to GPVWC reflect on their first full half-season of competition in the league.

The 2016 GPVWC World GT Series is halfway over already. Here is STAX Racing's report about their debut season so far:

STAX Racing felt that Round 1 was always going to be a struggle. With little preparation time between the announcement of the entries and the green flag in Fuji, the team entered their first ever race looking for valuable knowledge about the car's characteristics and setup behaviour.

There was some drama before the race meet had even begun when primary driver Andrew Waring suffered energy blackouts in the build up to the race, causing the team to call upon their reserve driver Geoffrey Fournier to take the drive alongside Diego Carranza.
STAX Racing left Japan with points in the pocket, thanks to Fournier's attacking drive on a 0-stop strategy which proved to be the correct decision. Carranza didn't fare as well, having to pit to repair damage early on and chasing the race for the remainder of the event. None the less, he saw the chequered flag, which was the team's goal for Race 1.

Following on from their successful debut in Japan, STAX Racing rolled on into Brazil and the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, hoping to score more points and consolidate their position in the midfield. There was good news in the run up to the race with Andrew Waring returning.
In qualifying, Carranza displayed a noticeable increase in performance with P10, feeling a lot more comfortable in the Aston Martin. Waring completed a fine team performance with 13th, underlining STAX Racing's quest for a double points score. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Warring had technical difficulties, resulting in his computer freezing up. With the race only lasting another 4 laps, it was a desperately disappointing end to what was a promising race for the Canadian, who was running in the points despite having to make a pit stop. However, Carranza saved STAX Racing's day with a superb run to 8th place, matching Fournier's result in Round 1. Once again the team utilised a 0-stop strategy and was able to remain competitive throughout, pressuring far more established teams around them.

The third round of the season took place at the drivers-favourite Istanbul Park circuit. Following on from a reoccurrence of technical issues, Andrew Waring once again took to the sidelines whilst he looked for a solution, meaning series newcomer Carlos Andres Ladines being handed a debut, resulting in an all-Peruvian STAX Racing line up.

The race was largely expected to be dominated by the teams running the Ferrari 458. Indeed, the top five on the grid were all prancing horses. However STAX Racing were able to score their first ever podium in only their third event, as Ladines debut was one to remember, finishing in third place. Carranza made the result STAX Racing's first double points finish, coming through the field to take 11th place, cementing STAX Racing's championship position in the top six.

The main news coming out of the STAX Racing team in the build up to Round 4 of the 2016 GPVWC World GT Series was that Andrew Waring decided to step down from his primary driver role due to his continued technical issues. His departure meant Carlos Andres Ladines was rewarded for his incredible podium debut last time out at Istanbul Park with a permanent drive for the remainder of the season.
And indeed, Ladines celebrated the news in style at Spa-Francorchamps, starting off by qualifying in 2nd place. Unfortunately, team mate Diego Carranza was unable to qualify, meaning he would start the race at the back of the grid.

The race saw the team return to the podium in the hands of Ladines. Once again taking third place, Ladines was able to remain at the sharp end of the pack throughout the race. His second podium out of two races catapulted him to fourth in the series standings, despite having competed in half the races. Carranza also performed brilliantly, coming through the pack to take home seventh and complete STAX Racing's first double top ten result and pushing the team up to fourth in the team standings at the halfway point of the season.

Team boss Christian Zoerner had following to say: "I am very happy about the development of the team so far. Considering that the 2016 GPVWC World GT Series is our first series as a team, I expected some teething troubles early on and would have been happy to see the team just finishing races early on. To see the that we were competitive right from the start was frankly quite a surprise, given that the drivers didn't know each other. All the credit goes to them, they put in the hours developing setups and discussing race strategies, and it paid off. I am very eager to see what the rest of the season holds for the team."

The fifth round of GPVWC's 2016 World GT series will be held in Brno on the 26th of May, 2016. The race will be broadcasted live on www.gpvwc.com/tv.

You can follow STAX Racing on facebook (http://facebook.com/staxracing) and on twitter (https://twitter.com/STAXRacing).