Nissan concluye el fin de semana con otra victoria en Portugal
- © FIA GT1.JPG (207.51 KiB) Visto 4492 veces
Los pilotos Lucas Luhr y Michael Krumm logran darle una victoria mas a Nissan este domingo en Portimao para cerrar un exitoso fin de semana para la marca nipona y para el equipo JRM. Stefan Mucke y Darren Turner ocuparon el 2do puesto al caer la bandera a cuadros con el Aston Martin del equipo Young Driver, soportando la presion que ejercio David Brabham, terminando en la 3era posicion con su compañero Jamie Campbell-Walter, ambos pilotos del equipo Sumo Power tuvieron un excelente stint cada uno.
Todo indicaba a que la carrera terminaria con un 1-2 para el equipo JRM cuando la dupla compuesta por Richard Westbrook y Peter Dumbreck tuvieron un primer stint impecable partiendo desde la primera posicion y logrando una parada en pits perfecta que les permitio mantener el liderato sobre sus coequiperos, pero ya en el segundo stint el GT-R empezo a sufrir problemas en su transmision viendose Dumbreck obligado a abandonar la carrera a falta de 12 minutos para el final.
Tampoco ha sido un buen fin de semana para el otro Aston Martin del equipo Young Driver de Tomas Enge y Alex Müller quienes ayer fueron parte de un incidente durante la carrera clasificatoria que los dejo fuera con un problema en la suspension delantera y hoy tambien han tenido que retirarse de la carrera por problemas que aun se desconocen.
Comentarios de los pilotos:
Lucas Luhr, JRM Nissan GT-R No.23
“First of all I have to admit that I was a bit nervous that we would all get through the first corner OK. Obviously that worked out today. I had a good start and I was side-by-side with Richard (Westbrook) but I couldn’t do him in the first corner so I backed off. He seemed to be struggling a little in the first one and a half laps then he just hooked up and took off of me. I just tried to build a gap to the guys behind me and stay close to Richard.
“Our boys did a great job at the pit stop which allowed Michael (Krumm) to come out of the pits one and half seconds behind Peter. Obviously our sister car had a problem at the end but that’s the way racing is, sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are unlucky. With the 1-2-3 yesterday, it has been a good weekend for us.”
Michael Krumm, JRM Nissan GT-R No.23
“Today the conditions were very much hotter so it was difficult for everyone to protect the tyres for the whole stint. I was sitting close to Peter (Dumbreck) and I thought it is going to be a really long battle to the end. I backed off a little and thought I would cool it and wait for the last 10 minutes when the tyres had dropped off more to have a better chance for a move to take the lead.
“Then suddenly there was no warning going up the hill, he just slowed down immediately and I almost ran into him. Of course I was relieved that I didn’t have to battle with a team-mate because we don’t want to crash into each other. It was a shame because they won yesterday and they deserved to win as much as we did today.”
Darren Turner, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8
“I was very conscious of how strong the Nissans had been over the weekend and having David (Brabham) behind me was quite daunting at times. I just thought well he’s been my team-mate before and what would he do in this situation, just stay calm so I thought if I stayed calm and make no mistakes there wouldn’t be an opening for him to squeeze through. From the fact that we started 13th on the grid yesterday and moved up to fourth in the first race and ended up on the podium today and really been the only car that’s managed to take the shine off the Nissans, I am very pleased with the Aston and the team.”
Stefan Mucke, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8
“The whole first stint was very close. I had no chance to overtake the Nissans, they were just too strong on the straights. The car was good over distance and we were not expecting that here on this circuit so I have to thank the team for giving us a consistent car. The pit stop was just brilliant and we won the third position at the pit stop. It was a good team result for us.”
Jamie-Campbell Walter, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21
“It was nice to get through the first corner all nice and clean after the last few races we’ve had so that was good. Unfortunately our tyre pressures went way too high from a very early stage so Stefan (Mucke) was able to keep me honest and I had to work very hard to drive as smoothly as possible and not to overdrive the car because the pressures were going up and up. I managed to hold the position until the pit stop. It’s a fantastic result for Sumo after what happened in Zolder.”
David Brabham, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21
“After Zolder it was a bit soul-destroying for the team. They had two cars to repair and a hell of a lot of work to be done. Yesterday when we got here the car wasn’t still quite 100 per cent so we lost a session with that. It’s been a fantastic recovery. This racing is great. Any slip-up and you’re going to get nailed. I am really enjoying it. Darren (Turner) was as strong as I was out there. I just couldn’t get close enough. I was trying to put pressure on Darren but he didn’t make a mistake and they richly deserve their second place.”
Peter Kox, Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini No.5
“We had a good result, especially if you see we started from the back of the Qualifying Race because I got turned around from P6 in qualifying. It was our best result, so it was a shame I got a push. To come from there to finish fifth in the Championship Race is not a bad result. It is a new car and we are still learning but the team keep getting better. They did a great job in the pit stops, and we got good points – now we just try to keep doing that and we will see where we are at the end of the year.”
Marc Basseng, All-Inkl Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.38
“It was really difficult for me to pick up speed because of my tyres and the weight we had. The fight we had was really cool though, really fair racing which was enjoyable, and the points we gained were perfect. I saw the No.22 (Nissan JRM) struggling which means we keep the lead in the championship, so it was a good weekend for us and also for the No.37 – the first time they finished both races and they scored good points. I am really pleased as a driver and a team manager.”
Michael Rossi, DKR Corvette No.47
“Really good relationship with Matteo Bobbi, but this is the only good thing from the weekend. The rhythm, the lap time, the new engineer, the car problem – really we don’t know yet the problem. Very professional, good for the driving change and we are on the same pace, so positive for the future.”
Christopher Nygaard, Belgian Racing Ford GT No.9
“We definitely made an improvement today compared to yesterday. We have been working hard to improve the car, and today we were not far away. It was a pleasure to drive – the team was making it easy for me. I made some mistakes myself yesterday and we were struggling a bit, but we were able to use the data from the VDS guys and that helped a lot.”
Bas Leinders, Marc VDS Ford GT No.40
“It was not too bad a race – Marc (Hennerici) made a good start and we had good pace, but it was a struggle to pass even when we had good slipstreams, especially on the Nissan. Luckily some of the drivers made mistakes - I don’t and I take care of the tyres, so we were able to get by. The problem is the Ford can be third with a bit of luck, but it is so hard to win races. We have a very good driver line-up, with Maxime (Martin), Fred (Makowiecki) and Marc but we are struggling.”
Dominik Schwager, All-Inkl Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.37
“In the early stages I was overtaken by the Nissan and there was no way I could hold him back on the straight, so I just tried to keep it clean and stay out of trouble. For us though it is the first time we have finished both races, and from now on we have to push for the championship. This for sure was not a Lamborghini track but we could have been on the front row in qualifying. We were a little bit surprised by that, but hopefully we have had our bad luck out the way and the season starts now.”
