LE CASTELLET, 17th and 18th of March 2009 – On Tuesday 17th and Wednesday 18th of March, the Donkervoort Racing team has kicked of for the FIA GT4 racing season with the Balance of Performance test days at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet (France). After careful adjustments and improvements performed during the winter, the Donkervoort D8GT’s are fully prepared to compete for this year’s championship in the FIA GT4 Supersports and even managed to obtain a second training time already.

FIA GT4 Supersport
The FIA GT4 category is enjoying success again this year, with no less than 13 different brands  being tested at the famous Circuit Paul Ricard in France on May 17th and 18th. The new GT4 Supersport series is integrated into the existing FIA GT4 series and was introduced by the FIA for road-legal sports cars with a minimum weight of 750 kilograms (which means Donkervoort even has to add weight to be able to compete). This season, the Donkervoort D8GT competes against brands like KTM (X-Bow) and Peugeot (207 Spider) in the Supersports series, as well as with Aston Martin (N24 and Vantage GT4), BMW (M3 GT4), Corvette (C6 GT4), Ford (Mustang FR500C), Ginetta (G50), Audi (TT), Maserati (Gran Turismo MC), Nissan (350Z) and Porsche (997 GT3).

Donkervoort Racing
Even though Donkervoort Racing only participated in the last three events in the 2008 season, drivers Wintenberger and Donkervoort managed to obtain a fourth and fifth place respectively in the GT4 Sports Light championship. Therefore, the expectations are very high and the Donkervoort Racing team will compete for this seasons’ championship.

The Donkervoort Racing team will enter with no less than three Donkervoort D8GT’s in the 2009 season. The two pure white GT’s and one black/grey GT will be driven by the French driver Stéphane Wintenberger, the Swiss/Dutch Nico Pronk and the Dutch Denis Donkervoort.

Improvements and adjustments
A big improvement compared to last season was made by the SRO – the organization behind the FIA GT4 European Cup – itself. Last season the GT4 Lights were forced to mount street legal road tires. This season the Supersports teams are permitted to mount full racing slicks with grooves. The Donkervoort Racing Research & Development department have had a busy time during the winter. New developments such as a brand new braking system and other smaller adjustments resulted in the further optimization of the Donkervoort D8GT4.

Balance of Performance test days at Paul Ricard
The Balance of Performance test days at Paul Ricard emphasized the improvements made during this winter; the Donkervoort D8GT4 showed its potential once again with excellent lap times. This resulted in a second training time by the end of the test days, making the expectations for this season very high

The 2009 season for the FIA GT4 European Cup will start at Silverstone on May 1st until 3rd, in the context of the Silverstone Supercar event, which also includes the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy, the British round of the FIA GT Championship.

The provisional calendar for this season: