Vesti ‘Loving the Challenge’ of GT3 Debut in 24H Spa

Frederik Vesti will be ‘leaning on his teammates’ as he makes his GT3 debut with GruppeM Racing in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, saying he ‘loves the challenge’ of adapting to endurance racing after years in single seaters.

The Danish racer, last year’s runner-up in FIA Formula 2, joins Ralf Aron and Daniel Juncadella aboard the No. 130 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo for the centenary edition of the Belgian endurance classic.

His event debut comes as part of a split program in sports car racing for the 22-year-old, who is also racing for Cool Racing in the European Le Mans Series alongside his duties as a reserve driver for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team.

Vesti explained that his debut at Spa comes as part of a willingness to continue actively racing alongside his commitments as a reserve driver, using it as “an opportunity to train and practice” throughout the year.

Speaking to Sportscar365, Vesti acknowledges the task he faces in making his GT3 debut in the 24H Spa, but believes banking on the experience of his co-drivers will allow him to get up to speed.

“I approach it with all the knowledge I have from different cars and championships from earlier,” Vesti said.

“And then I just try to take on board everything. I think leaning on my teammates is quite important.

“Ralf Aron with some good experience. And of course, Dani Juncadella with a ton of experience with this car. So he knows exactly in which direction we need to go.

“I can drive the car. I can also give feedback. But I probably can’t quite yet give the detailed direction of setup changes because I don’t know the car at all.

“I think from my side, it’s a weekend of learning and experience. And of course, I want to win. I think we all do.”

Vesti outlined that he has only completed three days of testing at the wheel of Mercedes-AMG’s GT3 challenger, but was already able to recognize the difference in approach needed compared to single-seater machinery.

“The car is really heavy,” he said. “It has a lot of movement on the body, so the car is moving a lot.

“Being aggressive with the wheel does not work at all. In F2, you need to be extremely aggressive. Also in LMP2, you can be not as much, but also quite aggressive.

“Here, the car will completely not react to it and you will just be slow. So you really need to relax and almost try to be in a really calm state of mind.”

That difference forced him to significantly adapt his driving style after years climbing the single seater ladder, Vesti admitted.

“I did the first few laps yesterday and I was very aggressive on the wheel,” he said.

“I got to a reasonable pace on lap two, but then the next step to go to be at the top, that was definitely being smooth.

“Suddenly, I could see on the delta I was three tenths faster just by relaxing and really trying to be ultra smooth on everything I did.

“I think that’s also a lot about adaptation and understanding what you need. Because it’s good to have an engineer who will tell you after the session how you need to do this.

“But if you can do it yourself in the car, then you’re already ahead. And I definitely learned that by doing it here.”

“Very smooth, very clean on the wheel is key. Another thing is the ABS. It’s only my road car I’ve driven with ABS and it’s not often I use that.

“So yeah, there is definitely a lot of things, but I really love a challenge like this where I have zero experience, but I still need to perform.

“Another thing that’s really helpful, putting a quality lap or race lap together in a GT3 or F2 is exactly the same thing.

“On a mindset side of things, you need to be in the right state of mind.

“You need to be aggressive at the right times and maximize the package you have. And I think practicing that is key.”