What about Spyker's GT programme?

[TWK]

Originally Posted by HORNDAWG

I am sure the answer from Spyker would be: As many as we can build, even if it means running 24/7 forever!
L.P.

They're a hell of a long way from 24/7:

Murphy’s been amazed at the resilience of Spyker Cars, N.V. He’s questioned the Dutch sports car builder’s viability before, only to watch the company careen from one disaster (F1) to another (an ill-fated SUV) and come out still standing. According to Spyker’s 4th quarter 2008 report, “The total annual production in 2008 amounted to 43 cars … an almost doubling of production as compared to 2007 (22 cars).” How does 43 cars built (not necessarily sold) support 134 employees, say nothing of other costs?

That's all models, for all purposes, for all markets. The appropriate question is not "how many they can build," but "how many can they sell." Does anyone think that they're sales will increase in 2009 over 2008?

[AX lover]

I think you are wrong there. It is "how many they can build and NOT "how many they can sell".

Why? As you might know they had a bit of a cash problem in 2007 (something with a Formula 1 team) and that caused a lot of problems with suppliers. As a result of that suppliers stopped delivering parts. It took them almost half of 2008 te recover from that.

If you were so smart to look at the quarterly updates from Spyker you would see that the production in the second half of 2008 is much higher than the production in the first half.

There is still a long waiting list (believe it or not), so the main reason why the production is so low it the fact that there weren't any parts to build cars from.

[TWK]

And that low production rate has been going on for how many years now? (No need to answer...it's "from the beginning.")

"If you are so smart..." Not sure what you mean by that, but I've been following Spyker for a number of years, and there's always a reason, financial, production, sales, etc., and it's always different, quarter to quarter.

Management changes, disputes with Euro zone authorities over financial reporting. Backlog? They've reported substantial order backlog year-after-year (including for the "delayed" SUV), so you'd think that in one of these years production might meet the previously stated backlog.

Parts? Perhaps auto sales are so hot in Europe that parts suppliers have problems meeting Spyker orders? (By the way, the "cash problem" predates the F1 team...that's become an easy excuse for Spyker performance, but it wasn't any better before the purchase and sale of the F1 team.)

Now they're off into the cell phone business.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. Mine is that Spyker's production,sales, management makeup, and financial data cannot be easily dismissed. I'll put it this way...It's not a common stock I'd purchase.

Funny how there's defensiveness around this company. I understand fans, but the auto industry is in some straits worldwide, and Spyker is certainly part of that industry. Saying so seems reasonable to me.

[jc_nl]

Everybody is free to have their own opinion, but it seems to me (personal opinion!!!) that building cars like Spyker's probably isn't about massive production runs. It's about making as few as possible to keep them rare, whist still making a profit. They managed the first bit, the second bit is still work in progress I guess.

They have always had a rather big collection of merchandise though. The phones were there last year already, i saw one at Le Mans.

[AX lover]

@TWK, I like the racing team (underdog story). But I also very critical follow the rest of the company. You will never hear me say that is it is perfect. And I am well aware of the fact that there are always a lot of excuses and weird stories.

Fact is that until 2006 production increased every year. In 2007 the problems started and production dropped from 94 cars in in 2006 to only 22 cars in 2007.

So you might say that 2008 was a turning point for them.

The fact remains that they somehow manage to have a GT2 team with a car that is quick enough to compete in the midfield amongst Ferrari and Porsche's with much higher budgets.

[Stephan2738]

Originally Posted by TWK

Does anyone think that they're sales will increase in 2009 over 2008?

Yes, I'm positive Spyker will increase both their production and sales in 2009 as compared to 2008.

The reason that I'm so positive is the introduction of the Limited Edition Laviolette LM85 and the presentation of the pre-production Aileron.

In the first 2 quarters of 2009, production will be focused on building 25 Limited Edition Laviolette's LM85. In the last quarter of 2008, Spyker produced and delivered 13 cars. So it is reasonable to assume Spyker will be able to build 25 identical cars in the first 2 quarters of 2009. Even more so as the first LM 85's have been build and delivered allready.

Production for the Aileron is scheduled for may 2009, and the first Ailerons will be delivered at the end of the second quarter of 2009.

With the new 9-cell production line in place, I expect Spyker to build at least 30 Ailerons this year. That will be an average of 15 over the last two quarters.

So production will be significantly higher, at least in my view. 25 LM85's and 30 Ailerons will make 55 cars in 2009. And that's LM85's and Ailerons only. I'm sure Spyker is able to squeeze a couple of Spyders and laviolettes in as well.

So that's considerable more than 43 cars, so even if the production of the Aileron is slower than I think, there is still quite some margin to still exceed 43.

Sorry to be off-topic by the way, this is a racing forum afterall!


But for all people who are interested in Spyker in general, please take a look at the Spyker forum: http://www.spykerowner.com/forum/

[GTfour]

I'm quite optimistic too,especially when I read the interview with Jeroen Bleekemolen at PlanetLemans about his time in the 2009 GT2 Spyker,during last weekends Paul Ricard outing.

[AX lover]

Interview with Victor Muller (CEO Spyker Cars) about ao the GT2 programm:

DS: What is the importance of motor sports for Spyker Cars?
VM: We are really dedicated to racing and especially GT2. GT2 and Le Mans are part of our strategy and there’s an incredible match between Spyker Cars and racing in general. Spyker Cars will again take part in the 24 hours of Le Mans this year. The problems we experienced over the past years are under control. They were mostly related to the engines. Investments into an analysis of the errors have paid off in the end. We are really confident on making our laps. Staying in the race is the most important during the 24 hours.

DS: Will there be a replacement for the C8 Laviolette GT2R?
VM: Spyker is planning to start racing with the C8 Aileron in GT2 in 2010. We do think the new C8 Aileron has better racing capabilities due to its longer wheel base, new chassis developed together with Lotus and increased aerodynamics.

DS: Is the knowledge and experience gathered with Spyker’s motor sports activities used for the street cars?
VM: Yes, all we learn from racing is used to improve our road cars. The engineers working on the race cars work at the same facility as the engineers who build, test and develop the road cars, which makes it easy to share knowledge and ideas to make our road cars better.

DS: Recently we heard rumours that Spyker has been talking with Honda F1 about taking over their F1 team, is this true?
VM: No comment.

DS: How do you look back on the time Spyker was active in the F1?
VM: We’ve had some trouble, but in general I think F1 and Spyker were a great match. If I would get the chance again, I would definitely do it again only better.

Full interview: http://www.gtspirit.com/2009/03/20/i...o-spyker-cars/

So it looks like we will see the C8 Aileron GT2R in 2010 on the track

[GTfour]

" DS: Recently we heard rumours that Spyker has been talking with Honda F1 about taking over their F1 team, is this true?
VM: No comment.

DS: How do you look back on the time Spyker was active in the F1?
VM: We’ve had some trouble, but in general I think F1 and Spyker were a great match. If I would get the chance again, I would definitely do it again only better. "


Noooo! Not again! Has he(VM) learned nothing from that huge and moneywaisting F1 debacle?
In my eyes,the whole F1 aspiration of Spyker is coming from this Victor Muller himself. A selfish wish to be amongst the jetset and pooha called F1.

[AX lover]

Good to read in the pressrelease that there are a lot of updates on the car!

Peter van Erp, Managing Director Spyker Squadron: “I think you could say that we have never been so well prepared for our first race in the season. We had a good test at Paul Ricard -the team claimed the third quickest time in GT2- and will bring some new updates, such as a new rear wing and front splitter, to this first race in Barcelona. Both aero devices have been further optimised and will increase down-force whilst reducing drag at the same time”.

Peter continues: “We have also fitted the final version of our new rear-wheel suspension to our Barcelona car. A system that we tested earlier on at our Vallelunga test but not at Paul Ricard earlier this month. The new rear-wheel suspension will result in better and most of all ‘easier’ steering behavior. Of course the efficiency level of all these new post-Paul Ricard updates depend on our abilities to maximise the use of the two 1,5 hour training sessions to correctly set-up and align all updates. If we can manage that, I do not see why we cannot drive top-5 times”.

Source: http://www.planetlemans.com/2009/03/...e-mans-series/

Podium finish for Spyker this weekend?

[Stephan2738]

In an effort very late in the 1st Free practice session, Jarek Janis managed to put the fastest time in.
Excellent, Well Done!

1. #85 - Snoras Spyker Squadron 1:49.984
2. #77 - Team Felbermayr - Proton 1:50.085
3. #76 - IMSA Performance Matmut 1:50.490
4. #91 - FBR 1:50.575
5. #84 - Team Modena 1:50.733
6. #90 - FBR 1:50.863
7. #89 - Hankook - Team Farnbacher 1:50.894
8. #92 - JMW Motorsport 1:51.663
9. #88 - Team Felbermayr - Proton 1:52.007
10. #99 - JMB Racing 1:52.389
11. #87 - Drayson Racing 1:52.571
12. #96 - Virgo Motorsport 1:52.996
13. #81 - Easyrace 1:53.357

[AX lover]

It looks like all the hard work during the winter finaly paid off What was their fastest time last year?

[The Badger]

Brilliant to see Spyker up there . Hopefully they can make it last and take the scap to Porsche & Fiat .

Nice to see another name up there , best news all day , and good to see Janis on top too .

[FIRE]

[Stephan2738]

Originally Posted by AX lover

It looks like all the hard work during the winter finaly paid off What was their fastest time last year?

The fastest Spyker laptime last year was set by Speedy Racing Team: 1:50.860

So they are allready faster than last year. Please keep in mind that the ACO changed the regulations in order to make the cars slower...

For comparison: The fastest Ferrari laptime last year was: 1:47.844 and the fastest Porsche laptime last year was: 1:47.891 The fastest laptime in this session for a Ferrari was: 1:50.575 and for the fastest Porsche: 1:50.085

I know it's only the first session so it's early days but things look very promising for Spyker Squadron

[ger80]

Hopefully people will start complaining about another Audi engine dominating LMS soon

[NightStalk3r]

Originally Posted by ger80

Hopefully people will start complaining about another Audi engine dominating LMS soon

No disrespect to Spyker, but i very much doubt it.

[ger80]

we had a Panoz winning in LM - why not a Spyker this year?

[Lipp]

Didn't they change the Audi engine to another one? Or was it just the stroke sequence?

(I did love the sound of the old one... but hey, I'm dutch...)

[skycafe]

Good for them! They have the underdog appeal to me, and even if the engine note has changed, I really do like Spykers.

[Marcel ten Caat]

Mind you that it was not Jarek Janis but Tom Coronel who set the fastest lap time.

[Stephan2738]

Originally Posted by Stranger

Mind you that it was not Jarek Janis but Tom Coronel who set the fastest lap time.

Yes I read the report on Planetlemans but according to live timing jarek was in the car but i noticed not all the drivernames appear on live timing so maybe the live timing info was not correct.

[AX lover]

They still have the Audi engine. The only change is that it is 3.8 instead of 4.0 liters

[ger80]

They went 3.8 - 4.and now back to 3.8, didnt they? Is the firing order of the new 3.8 the same than the old 3.8 or that of the 4.0 engine?

[Stephan2738]

Spyker managed 6th place in the second, and last, free practice. That might sound a little bit dissapointing after setting the fastest time in the previous session but if we look at the gap it is not looking too bad for the race. The time difference between Spyker and 3rd position is less than 1/2 a second.

1. #77 - Team Felbermayr - Proton 1:48.145
2. #92 - JMW Motorsport 1:48.729
3. #76 - IMSA Performance Matmut 1:48.966
4. #84 - Team Modena 1:49.250
5. #99 - JMB Racing 1:49.343
6. #85 - Snoras Spyker Squadron 1:49.386
7. #89 - Hankook - Team Farnbacher 1:49.872
8. #90 - FBR 1:49.938
9. #96 - Virgo Motorsport 1:50.599
10. #88 - Team Felbermayr - Proton 1:51.138
11. #87 - Drayson Racing 1:51.237
12. #81 - Easyrace 1:52.424
13. #91 - FBR 1:52.569