Snoras Spyker Squadron finishes fifth in Le Mans 24 Hours

14 juni 2009 Le Mans, 14 June 2009 - Spyker's factory race team, SNORAS Spyker Squadron, finished in fifth place in the 77th edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The Dutch team started yesterday from an eleventh position. The Spyker C8 Laviolette GT2R was driven by the Le Mans Series' drivers Jarek Janis (CZE) Tom Coronel (NLD) and last year's LMP2 class winner Jeroen Bleekemolen (NLD). In the race, the team chose the strategy to drive at a constant speed, without pushing the car to its limits. The drivers were able to quickly move the car to the eighth position. After midnight, continuing their steady pace, they moved even further up to the sixth place. After one of the Ferrari's in front of the Spyker had to return to the pitbox for repairs, Spyker's driver Jarek Janis was able to claim the fifth place and finished the race in this position (see also http://vimeo.com/spykersquadron). Victor Muller, CEO of Spyker, said: "As from the day we launched the company in October 2000, we have consistently used endurance racing as one of our marketing pillars. Since 2002, we have raced at Le Mans every year, except for 2004, and used the event as a powerful marketing tool. We strongly feel that racing breeds our brand and that our commercial effort to sale our product is greatly helped by the exposure generated by our GT2 cars at Le Mans. Until now, these efforts did not bear the desired fruit: a successful finish in the most challenging 24-hour race in the world. Today, that all changed. Our team Spyker Squadron came in fifth in the GT2 class, preceded only by four Ferrari's F430 and left six Ferrari's, five Porsches and one Aston Martin behind. For a manufacturer such as Spyker, this is an unprecedented achievement for which I would like to thank Peter van Erp as the team's dedicated chief as well as our sponsors, in particular our title sponsor Snoras Bank. We are convinced that this first successful finish at Le Mans will be followed by many more such finishes in the years to come. We remain dedicated to GT racing as part of our overall marketing strategy." 24 Hours of Le Mans The 24 Hours of Le Mans (24 Heures du Mans) is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since 1923 near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France. The most grueling endurance race, commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance, is organised by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO) and runs on a circuit containing closed public roads that are meant not only to test a car and driver's ability to be quick, but also to last over a 24-hour period. About Spyker Squadron Spyker Squadron was founded in 2001 to underwrite the performance of the highly exclusive hand-build Spyker sports cars. Spyker Squadron is a dedicated team consisting of engineers, drivers and supporting personnel that develops, builds and supports the Spyker GT2 race cars. The team is based in Zeewolde, the Netherlands, where it has a high-tech workshop to support its operations. Note for the press, not for publication For further information please contact: For a picture of the Spyker finishing fifth (CR2 file) please contact the office at press@spykercars.com Spyker Cars N.V. Victor R. Muller, CEO Lydia Altena, PR & Communication Manager Edisonweg 2 3899 AZ Zeewolde, The Netherlands Tel: +31 (0)36 53 58 787 Fax: +31 (0)36 53 58 780 E-mail: press@spykercars.com This announcement was originally distributed by Hugin. The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement.