Sascha Maassen, Sean Edwards and Khaled Al Qubaisi from Abu Dhabi Team by tolimit finished their first two races in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season 2010 on the positions 7, 8 and 20 as well as 9, 15 and 21.
It was the first liaison of a newly assembled team: Sascha Maassen, for a long time endurance racing specialist, Sean Edwards, sprint race talent and Khaled Al Qubaisi, who is on a mission to fulfil his dream of racing with his start in Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Supplemented by a new team of mechanics and engineers, a package that gives hope for a successful season.
The team representing the Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority at the 2010 Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup announced its driver combination for 2010 during its annual Pit Stop Party. tolimit has chosen three drivers, creating a combination of experience, internationality and ambition.
Sean Edwards is an ambitious talent in motorsports and is particularly well known for his good performance in FIA GT2 /GT3 and in the Porsche one-make cup series. The 23-year-old Brit was the 2006 champion in the FIA GT3 European Championship. In 2007, he completed his first 24-hour race in Spa, earning him third place on the podium along side Sascha Maassen, his new teammate.
Sean was out in Abu Dhabi coaching the drivers from Alex Renner Motors when he was called in at the last minute to race alongside Khaled. He was happy to oblige and his first laps of the circuit were in qualifying, sticking the car in 3rd place on the grid behind the Porsche 997 Cup S of Rene Rast and the Covette GT3 of Karim Al Azhari!
Khaled took the start of the race and the power of the following Dodge Viper meant he lost a place, but settled into a nice rhythm in 4th place. A late call on the safety car created a panic in the pits, as everyone came in at once, with Khaled handing over to Sean. He came right out behind the 3rd place Viper, but the leading Cup S and second place Corvette were behind, it seemed as though the safety car had made a mistake and the first two cars had managed to lap the whole field in the confusion.
The 5th edition of the Dubai 24 hours again took place in January, during the UAE’s so called winter of 30c. Sean Edwards, along with fellow countryman Oliver Morley had set their sights on a podium finish. Rule changes for 2010 had meant that the 997 RSR’s were heavily restricted with extra weight and power reductions, so the race was not going to be easy. But, a 24 hour race is the ultimate endurance test for any driver, team and car. To finish, let alone finish well, so many thing have to go right, with the possibility of so many things to go wrong, it’s the toughest challenge around.
Practice was difficult, with the track being very “green” and the team using the new Dunlop tyre, there was a lot of setup work to be done. By the end of the test session, Sean and the team had worked hard and got the car to where they wanted it for the race. “There was so much oversteer in high speed corners, it was almost undrivable, especially for a long distance race, but I am glad we have resolved the issues now.” commented Sean after the second test session.
Sean Edwards clinched a fabulous second place in the final round of the DTM supporting German Carrera Cup. He was drafted in by the Hermes Attepmto Racing team for Barcelona and Hockenheim, to try and help them move up in the team standings. He scored a 5th and 2nd place respectively, to help move the team into second place in the final teams standings!
The team had a new sponsor called Otto on board for Hockenheim and their 60th anniversary logo provided a very colorful car for Edwards to race. The Otto branded car was on form all weekend, clinching 3rd place in qualifying behind the two title favorites Jeroen Bleekemolen and Thomas Jager. “The car was great in qualifying” commented Edwards “Third is a good place to start and I will try and go for the win tomorrow. Unfortunately the second lap on my new tyres I had traffic in sector three, after I had set fastest times in the first two sectors, so pole might have been possible, but this is racing.” The other team cars placed 5th, 9th and 10th respectively.