Malaysian top single-seater driver, Jazeman Jaafar, is set to participate in endurance racing by competing in the Spa 24 hours for HTP Motorsport’s Mercedes. Jazeman had tested the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG in Spa as part of the Blancpain Endurance Series, finishing the day third fastest. That was also the young Malaysian’s first foray with a GT car.
Team boss Norbert Bruckner said “We were really surprised at what he did: we expected him to be good, but not that good. He only got new tyres in the end, so he had to learn about where he had the extra grip, so there’s no doubt that he could have gone quicker.”
HTP Mercedes is one of Europe’s top team in Endurance GT racing, and they will field three Mercedes for the famous 24 Hours race at Spa-Francorchamps track in Belgium. Jaafar will drive the third Mercedes HTP in Spa on July 26/27, sharing the car with two of last year’s winning drivers, Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Gotz. Germany’s Bernd Schneider, who won the 24 Hours last year with Buhk and Gotz, will drive alongside Harold Primat and Nico Verdonck in the #84 HTP entry.
On the other note, Jazeman had mix fortunes in last weekend’s Formula Renault 3.5 in Moscow, where he finished fifth in the first race, but was out of the points in race two. The aspiring F1 driver needs to gain more high level racing experience; hence this stint at Spa will be a great learning curve for this young Malaysian. Should F1 didn’t work out for him, he can always compete in the high-octane world of endurance driving; which is gaining momentum in the world of motorsports recently.
[Source: Autosport, Image Source: Jazeman Jaafar FB page]
