Tag Archive for 'Porsche Cup'
Sean Edwards arrived in Valencia with high hopes of a good result. The Konrad team had been somewhat been re shuffled, with Jan Seyffarth going to Tolimit and being replaced by Jiri Janak in the number 23 Konrad machine.
The test session didn’t go well for Sean, as while he was running his brake pads in, there was a problem with the front suspension. He came in, but the team could not fix it in time and they missed the whole session. “It’s very unfortunate, as the track is very different to drive on the Michelin tyres and ceramic brakes and they have changed the track a bit since last time, so we are on the back foot already.” Sean said after testing.
The week-end in Budapest started off with a good practice. Sean and his team mate Jan Seyffarth ended up 7th and 9th, only a few tenths off the pace. Qualifying, however was a disaster. The team just didn’t get the setup of the cars or the timing of using the new tyres right, so Sean and Jan ended up down in 16th and 17th, which meant the race was always going to be tough.
The team, not letting this bad start dampen their spirits worked hard all night to prepare the cars which paid off by both Sean and Jan both getting off to good starts in the race making up around 4 places off the line! Unfortunately Jan got taken out on the first lap and nearly collected Sean on the way causing Sean to lose a few positions avoiding him. Sean then made his way past a few cars and that’s when he started attacking Armindo, unfortunately for Sean Armindo kept blocking him and closing the door. Armindo braked a bit early at turn 12 and Sean tried to take advantage of this by diving to the inside. Armindo either didn’t see Sean or tried to shut the door again but whichever it was he just turned into the corner as if Sean wasn’t there. Sean explained later “I tried to avoid contact by going over the curb, but that just launched me into the side of him and put me out of the race with broken suspension.” This was an unfortunate and dramatic finish to Sean and Konrad Motorsports race. The race as always did go on without them seeing Damien Faulkner in 1st, followed by Jeroen Bleekemolen in 2nd and Patrick Huisman in 3rd. Continue reading…
The weekend started off with a lucky escape, as Sean was caught for speeding on the way to Silverstone. He was a little bit late for his drivers briefing, but was let off with a warning only, luckily.
The 45 min testing session was a bit inconclusive, as the team didn’t have any good tyres left from Magny Cours, due to damage done in qualifying by some F1 carbon parts on the track. So the team had to work hard on a setup for qualifying and were in the dark as to which way to go.
A very wet morning greeted the Supercup drivers in Monaco. Teams left it till the last minute to decide what setup went on the car, but as the race neared, it was clear that it would be very wet. In fact, so wet that there were two safety car laps and a rolling start, rather than the normal standing start used in Supercup.
As Bernd Maylander pulled the AMG safety car off the track, the race was on, with Jeroen Bleekemolen pushing hard a few corners before the finish line, the field was strung out a bit. But Sean Edwards was glued to the back of Uwe Altzen, following his every move, with almost 0 visibility. The race was fraught at the front, with the top 4 cars covered by no more than two seconds for most of the race. Edwards kept the pressure on Altzen and finally he made a mistake into Saint Devote, hitting Damian Faulkner in the process. Edwards was then able to get a good run out of the corner and pass Altzen on the run up to Casino Square.
Sean Edwards finally got qualifying right, with 4th place on the grid, round the super hard Monaco streets! He was running second for most of the session, but a late charge by Faulkner and Altzen, saw him drop too 4th. Nevertheless, he is in a great starting position for round 5 of the Supercup and with a 90 hance of rain for the race, it should be very interesting. Sean was also the highest Supercup and Monaco rookie, and hops to keep it that way in the race.
Sean commented after qualifying. “It’s really great to finally get qualifying right and be right up the front. The team did a great job on the setup and the car was handling great. I actually had food poisoning last night and felt really bad in qualifying, but somehow managed to pull a couple of laps out. The doctor has said I should be ok for the race on Sunday. I had a crash in the casino on my second set of tyres, trying to push for a top 3, but the car will be ok for the race, thanks to the efforts of the team. I really hope I can finish in the top 5 and stay out of trouble.”