Tekno Autosports’ international imports Jeroen Bleekemolen and Marc Lieb are confident of building on their solid Sandown efforts when the Pirtek Enduro Cup continues at Bathurst next month.
The duo arrived at the Sandown 500 without having completed so much as a seat fitting in the respective Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb entries, let alone a pre-event test.
Quietly going about the business of learning the cars and the circuit on Friday, a tough run for the team through Saturday’s qualifying races ensured that they started the 500 from deep in the field.
Bleekemolen held his own among the mid-pack during his 66 lap spell in the VIP Petfoods entry, before watching on as Shane van Gisbergen survived a brush with the wall on his way to a 12th place finish.
“I was pretty happy with the pace we had, it wasn’t easy coming in without testing at all, so we took practice to get up to speed,” Bleekemolen told Speedcafe.com.
“I could definitely keep pace with the guys ahead and pull away from those behind me. I learnt a lot during the race with the tyres and how to handle the car over a full stint.
“There are for sure a few little things we can improve for me with the seat and things like that, but I think it was a good performance. I had some great fights with some very experienced guys.”
Lieb meanwhile had started 23rd and spent the majority of his two stints outside the top 20, but was happy to have kept the car straight for Webb after copping the worst of the thin tyre allocation.
“Starting at the back is always difficult, just trying not to crash the car into somebody else at Turn 1,” he told Speedcafe.com after watching Webb bring the car home 13th.
“I was quite happy with the pace considering that we didn’t have good rubber in the first stint to save tyres for Webby.
“We were not quick enough to pass other cars, we were just hanging in there trying to stay safe and on the lead lap for when we had new tyres.
“I learnt a lot and it was good fun. These cars are very tricky to drive, particularly when they’re on old, hard tyres.”
Bleekemolen has experience at Bathurst having last year raced for Erebus Motorsport in the 12 Hour before returning for a one-off Carrera Cup appearance at the venue in October.
The 31-year-old impressed on both occasions, scything to the front in semi-wet conditions during the opening half of the 12 Hour, and pushing Porsche master Craig Baird all the way in the Carrera Cup.
“It’ll be the hardest car I’ve driven around there,” he notes of the V8 Supercar.
“With the SLS GT3 it (Bathurst) is really easy, I think any track in that car is easy.
“The Porsche Cup Car was already a lot harder but with this thing it’ll be very hard to learn.
“I think it’ll be like learning a new track again, the way this car deals with the bumps, crests and blind corners.”
“For me,” adds Lieb, “it’s difficult compared to Jeroen because I don’t know the track.
“It’s completely new and will be a big challenge, but I think we’ll have enough practice time to learn it.
“I always like circuits that flow a lot so I’m really looking forward to that track. It’s one of the biggest races and it’s been number one on my list to do it. It’ll be a great experience.”
Bleekelomen and Lieb will both head to Austin, Texas, this weekend for the combined World Endurance Championship/American Le Mans Series event at the Circuit of the Americas.
Lieb will then be free to focus on Bathurst preparations, while the ever-busy Bleekemolen will race in the ADAC GT Masters at Hockenheim, Germany, and the following ALMS round at Virginia International Raceway in the lead-up to Bathurst.
