The last few seasons have seen many single seater racers making the switch to endurance racing and the ELMS has witnessed many successes. Bent Viscaal has become the latest success story, the Dutch driver making ELMS history on his debut in Le Castellet.
Competing with Algarve Pro Racing, Bent Viscaal, and teammate Sophia Floersch, became the first double silver driver pairing to take an overall podium in the ELMS, with Floersch becoming the first female driver to stand on the second step of the LMP2 podium.
The 22-year-old driver has tasted success in every step of his career.He won two titles in karts, the Euro Wintercup and the German Junior Kart Championship, before switching to cars.In 2017 he finished second in the SMP F4 series and finished the 2018 season as EuroFormula Open Vice Champion.
Moving up the career ladder Viscaal finished as a race winner in the 2020 FIA Formula 3 Championship and concluded the 2021 FIA Formula 2 championship with two podium finishes to his credit.
We caught up with Bent Viscaal as he prepares for the next challenge, the 4 Hours of Imola in Italy in two weeks’ time.
Q: Welcome to the ELMS.You made your endurance racing debut in Le Castellet with AlgarvePro Racing and you scored a podium finish with Sophia Floersch.What was the secret behind your successful debut?
Bent Viscaal: “Algarve Pro Racing, Sophia and I were always aiming to be on the podium, but to do it in the first race in Le Castellet is fantastic and I’m very happy. I could only be happier if we reached the top step! I don’t think there was any secret, I just think we worked very well together as a team.
“Official Testing didn’t start fantastically well, but we worked hard, even in the days between testing and the race weekend, and our race setup was a huge improvement on what we started the week with. Conditions were tricky and ever evolving, but dedication from the team made it happen.”
Q: The deal with Algarve Pro racing came just before the start of the season.How did it come about?
BV: “I had been in contact with Stewart Cox and Engineer David Leach for some time. Many things had to fall into place for me to race with Algarve Pro in the European Le Mans Series, so I’m very happy about it.”
Q: Your podium with Sophia was the first for two silver rated drivers and the best overall finish for a female driver, in ELMS history.The LMP2 field this season is the strongest ever, so it must feel extremely pleasing when you see the drivers and teams you are competing against?
BV: “Yes and no. I’m not really the type of driver who focuses on the rest of the grid. I believe you need to concentrate on your own performance, rather than anything else. Of course, it’s good to see so many big names in the world of endurance racing competing in the ELMS, but it doesn’t mean much to me personally. I’m just very happy that we got it together in the end.”
Q: You come to the ELMS from a single seater background, with two podium finishes in the FIA Formula 2 Championship last year.What have you had to do to adapt to endurance racing and what’s the biggest difference for you as a driver?
BV: “Race strategy and working together with a teammate is quite different to what I’ve experienced in Formula 2 and Formula 3, where you only have to set up the cars to your liking. In endurance racing you need to make more of a compromise, although I have to say mine and Sophia’s feedback was very similar.
“Full Course Yellows are completely new to me, too, and you have fuel-saving to think about, which isn’t necessary in single-seaters. There are so many new elements I hadn’t experienced before – too many to name. I certainly had a lot to learn in only a week.”
“Some things you can’t replicate in testing, so you learn on the fly in the race. I was grateful to have competed in the Virtual Le Mans Series because that turned out to be very good preparation for traffic management, fuel-saving and learning the various racing lines. I’m a big believer in sims and I’m probably the first generation to grow up with them, although I was only playing games like F1 2010 on the Xbox to start with.
“Still, I didn’t expect sim racing to help me too much in the real world, but it turned out to be very useful at Circuit Paul Ricard. It’s amazing how realistic sims can be and, if you keep in mind that there is always an offset compared to the real world, it’s a great tool to have.”
Q: The next race is in Imola, which is a very different circuit to Le Castellet.What are your thoughts on the circuit and how will you approach the second weekend on the ELMS calendar?
BV: “I’m training intensely on the simulator because I’ve never been to Imola before. From all the images I’ve seen on television and the laps I’ve done on the simulator, it’s clearly an old-school track. Hitting the Variante Alta chicane in the perfect way will be key, and then there are classic corners like Acque Minerali, which is quite something.
“It’s going to be a very exciting weekend. Again, I’m going to enter it with a positive mindset with the view of improving myself lap-by-lap, but I won’t be focused on the result at all.Mine and Sophia’s stint averages were very close in Le Castellet, and I think that bodes well for the rest of the season. I can only see us getting stronger as the season goes on. I will only get more familiar with the car, Sophia will improve as well, so I expect a lot of progress this year.”
The 4 Hours of Imola is Round 2 of the 2022 European Le Mans Series and will take place at the Autodromo Internazionale Enzo e Dino Ferrari on Sunday 15 May.
