Fourth time right for 'flying Finn' Markus Palttala? Few days after his return from the U.K. Markus Palttala is happy to host the 24u.be team. He went there for an impressive 1000km of Silverstone on a Porsche GT3 RSR with the Gordon/Gulf team. Palttala has been surprising friend and foe, honouring his 'Flying Finn' nickname. Our 28-year old Markus started in 39th position, fighting his way up under pouring rain and coming in for a pit stop after 2 hours in... sixth position. A field of highly experienced GT1, GT2 and LMP2 drivers couldn't keep up! Could we expect a similar trick at Zolder?
Markus Palttala: "I'm afraid there aren't any prototypes to pass at Zolder... Are there? Just kidding. I'm very grateful the team was confident in me taking the start. They offered me a wonderful car and I enjoyed it. That stint at Silverstone was only possible under really dreadful circumstances. It was like the first short Belcar stint at the Spa 1000km, mid april. The track was really dangerous. You couldn't see anything. I was just cruising and trying to keep an easy pace, aiming to bring in the car in one piece and lasting to the first scheduled pit stop. I thought I was going slow, yet others were going even slower. Sometimes the car was just 'floating', eventually almost hitting one of the proto's while going flat out in fifth gear. The proto had spinned on the straight, just a few meters in front of me. I was lucky to be at the 'wrong' side of the track, avoiding that car. Others weren't that lucky! I'm always hoping for rain. Yet half of the Belcar field would be drowning with this kind of weather. I'm not looking forward to drama. Yet it's a Belgian summer – possibly extremely hot, or just cold and moist. Why not snow? I'd be even more at home..."
 Palttala will be running his fourth 24 Hours of Zolder. He didn't know much luck at this event just yet. Not a single time he could take the checquered flag on Sunday. After three non-results he's really looking after a good finish. "In 2000 it was my debut in Belgium, and with PSI. I was sharing a Porsche GT3 Cup with Marc Goossens and Philippe Tollenaire. We were doing well until a broken fuel pump ended the event at night time. I could park the car right in front of the Villeneuve chicane. Marc will never forget. He'll keep reminding me how long it took for me to make my way to the boxes. He's still convinced I got lost on the way. In 2003 I joined Leo Van Sande and my fellow countryman Risto Vartanen on the RTM Biturbo. We were leading the race, yet after six hours Risto got into an accident with two other cars. I spent the rest of the night at the local hospital with him, as he was suffering from a headache and not feeling well. Still he was declared healthy and that's the most important. Last year we did a great effort on the PSI GT2-R, teaming up with Leo Van Sande and Marc Duez. We were challenging the GLPK Viper, taking the lead several times – until a very rare mechanical failure (piston) forced us to retire. We would certainly have finished top-two. In brief, I've never finished this race. And that's about to change!"
Markus' best memories are with his rookie year in Belgium. It was his first participation in the Zolder 24 Hours and his first endurance race on a Porsche. It was also a great pleasure for him to team up with legends like Marc Duez and Marc Goossens. The Flying Finnn is still impressed by Duez's effort: "He's got an incredible team spirit, and lots of talent. And we sure know he's a funny guy too! I hope I can live trhough something even more special this year. I've been leading the race at the last two editions... I think an overall victory is a realistic target. We're entering once again the GT2-R. Obviously we have some strong competition and we're not the only ones looking for victory. Right now we're talking to a lot of possible drivers, yet no decision has been made. Not even if we're going for three pilots or four. Sadly we can't call upon any FIA GT pilots as they are working at Oschersleben. The ALMS pilots have a tight schedule so they are out of the matter. Kurt Mollekens will be joining the PSI team at Zolder, though it's not been decided on which car – the Turbo or the RSR, along with Jos and Fred. We have equal championship scores and both cars are aiming high for the championship.
 The Eupen-based (Belgium) Finn has not been lucky through the last few years. Will he get it right, fourth time? The team is not relying on luck this time. The car has been perfectly prepared for the Zolder 24 Hours. "We chose to fit the standard H-type gear box, instead of a sequential one. In spite of the advantages of a sequential gear shift, we want to play safe. The engine will be running lower revs to improve reliability, while also limiting fuel consumption. Now we're aiming to find a good race setup, adapted to comfort all drivers. It doesn't really matter if we're starting from pole of fifth place. Qualifications don't really matter. It's more important to run less miles before the race, and to keep the car in good shape. It might sound a cliché, yet it's our aim to finish without major troubles. We have to concentrate on our championship's positions. Sure we'll be going for the points at the 6-hour and 12-hour marks, still the real race only starts in the morning. We'll keep an easy pace and run our own race. All pilots will follow the team's trategy and the according target times. A trouble free race will automatically award us with a good ranking. So we're not pushing for a television gig during the first race hour."
 The Euphony 24 Hours of Zolder is a true wearing battle for men and machines. Markus Palttala agrees: "The Zolder 24 Hours are probably the most demanding 24 Hours race in the world. The track is extremely damaging to the car, with the brakes especially suffering. At several places you need to to brake very hard, only to accelerate flat out again. Zolder is a short track, hence you will be permanently overtaking in this crowded Belcar field. Also physically it's a very demanding race, offering no long straights allowing to relax for a few seconds. It's braking, turning, shifting and accelerating all the time. This is one of the few reasons why we're evaluating starting the race with four drivers... as it is more convenient to race with only three."
Lastly Markus rewarded the hard work of the website crew: "It's wonderful to have a Live-website, well updated like 24u.be. The number of people following motorsports via the Internet is growin fast. This website is absolutely serving their needs. It's existence is also tremendously important for the drivers and teams, as their sponsors, friends and supporters not able to make it to the race track can keep up wth things. I'm convinced that quite some Finnish people will be reading this website, as there's no other place offering that much information on the Belcar championship."
(MK)
Photography: Racingworld.be - Martijn Wouters and MarkusPalttala.com
 VZW 24u.be - Jan-Frans Lemmens on Friday 19 August 2005 at 00:22. | 
