2017 GPVWC Supercup Preview
Racing Team Schroten Ready for 2017 Supercup Challenge
With the first round of the 2017 career ladder season scheduled for this week, all teams are working hard to be as best prepared for the new season as they can. One of these teams is the Dutch Racing Team Schroten formation, consisting of the Spanish Batalla brothers.
After the Dutch squad returned to the Supercup last year after many years in Formula Challenge, hopes were extremely high to perform well in the season. But throughout the season, the team was plagued with driver changes and finished outside the top 10. But as the year progressed, Riera was able to score the first podium for the team in the Supercup level along with regular points finishes, bringing hope to the team for the future. Now in 2017, the future has arrived, as Roy Schroten, manager of the team, explains the team’s targets, as we sat down in The Netherlands to discuss.
“Last year was a wakeup call for us. We had to work hard and had to get used to the high competitiveness of the series. But as the year progressed, results started to pour in as a result from our never ending fighting spirit. Riera and all the other drivers gave a lot of insight in the racing which we can use in the new season ahead.
Pretty early after last season, it became clear we had to start looking for two new drivers. After some talking, Eduard and Gerard Batalla were welcomed in the team. Seeing where the team originates, it is great to have two brothers driving at the team again. This makes for very easy conversations between the drivers and improves the whole ambiance in the team. I am confident that with a lot of hard work, the Batalla brothers will do an amazing year. But like we have seen last year, nothing comes easy, so we will give our uttermost best to perform at every round.”
Then, attention was shifted to Eduard, driver of the #29 car. “After a hard year of adaptation to rf2, good progress was made competing with the best drivers of FC. Now it’s time for new challenges! This year, with the support of the Schroten Team, I'm jumping into the middle category with the objective of getting a high place on the SuperCup charts. I want to keep learning and improving day by day, enjoying it and getting good results regularly to obtain the maximum possible points for the Team. I want to thank Roy for the confidence, and I hope my team mate and myself can do it well.”
Then, brother Gerard had the opportunity to explain his targets for the season. “I am delighted to return to the best championship, GPVWC - SuperCup category with the Schroten Team and with my brother, Eduard, as a team mate. With this I already complete my first target. Second target is that at Melbourne, first race, a classic one, I want to finish races scoring, adapting to rf2, as it is very different to rf1. The third target is to improve every race and learn from the best drivers in SuperCup, and to give the maximum points to the team and go as far as possible. It will be hard, but we are drivers, nothing is easy. My last target is to win, but that will be very complicated with the high level of the drivers of the SuperCup. To see Eduard on the top from the first race and help him with whatever I can. Thanks to Roy for the trust he has put in us. Let's go!”
To conclude, Roy spoke some final words. “With two fast drivers and the amazing fresh-looking “Frosty” car, we can be the surprise of the season. But who knows. We will see in eight months’ time!”
