NEWS

FIA GT1 2010: Xavier Maassen Spa Interview

Mad-Croc Racing took its first victory of the FIA GT1 World Championship thanks to Dutch drivers Xavier Maassen and Jos Menten.

The experienced pairing won the Qualifying Race in the No.11 Corvette having put the car on pole earlier in the day.

One week after their win, Maassen reflects on the much-needed change of fortune and what the success means for the team for the rest of the season.

What is the feeling after the team’s first ever win?

It’s a great feeling of course. It all started with that pole on Friday morning, my first pole since the Formula Renault 2.0. I was very happy with that achievement, as it proves that the team, the drivers and every partner of the team are doing a great job.

We had already achieved some good results before, but too often bad luck spoiled our race weekends. I also have to thank Jos Menten as he did a great job in the second session, allowing me to take part in the final part of Qualifying.

We had a perfect car, the strategy was great and we drove a faultless race. Winning is the aim of every driver, so what more can I say?

Tell us about the Championship Race?

The second race of the weekend, on Saturday, could well have been a win also, but a flat tyre ruined our chances. However, the most important thing is that we proved to be competitive and we gained confidence for the remaining rounds of the series.

How important is the role of Mad-Croc in this success story?

Thanks to Mad-Croc the team improved a lot, especially from a PR and marketing angle. It looks very professional now, which is very important in such a high level championship as this.

The FIA GT1 World Championship is very different from the FIA GT of the former years, it’s much more professional, the driver level is impressive and all together, and this is the second most impressive racing series in the world, after Formula One of course.

Mad-Croc allowed us to improve and this resulted in our first victory. I also like the crocodile look of the car, our Corvette is different from the other cars in the field and that’s important as well.

What about the rest of the season?

We struggled a bit in the opening rounds. First of all, the problem with the electronics of all Corvette C6.Rs ruined our first two rounds. Magnetti Marelli and Corvette found the solution and since then, our results have become ever better, even though we still had some bad luck in Brno and Paul Ricard.

But this first victory changed a great deal and I’m confident that we will score more podiums and why not more pole positions and victories. Every driver or racing team wants to win and so does Mad-Croc Racing.