Team ‘Abu Dhabi by tolimit’s Sean Edwards was the dominating pilot in this weekend’s Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race in Barcelona with a faultless race from start to finish. Team mate Jeroen Bleekemolen finished fifth. Khaled Al Qubaisi unluckily fell out in the first lap of the race.

It was a perfect weekend for Sean Edwards. Already the qualifying session went to his utmost satisfaction: “It was a very good qualifying. The car was really good and I set an almost faultless lap at the very beginning of the session. And this was the pole.” In the race, the young Brit took the lead right away from the start.”This was obviously a great race. Although Nick Tandy had a slightly better start, I managed to hold him off and then got a big enough gap to keep it until the end. A big thanks to the team for a perfect weekend. Hopefully we can keep this performance on to Monaco.”

Team mate Jeroen Bleekemolen was not as satisfied with the race weekend: „It was a quite disappointing qualifying. The car was good, but I had some issues with the brake balance on my first set of tyres and went off track three times. Although it would have been important to set the fastest lap at the beginning, I was able to improve my time on my second tyre set. But to start form 5th is obviously not the best precondition for the race.” The race of the driver, who is well-known for his fairness, was then dominated by another duel with René Rast: “It was really disappointing. René blocked me for the second time now and touched me when breaking. So we both went off track and lost one position. I was able to gain it back later on, but with all the pick-up on the tyres, wasn’t able to fight for the front.”

Khaled Al Qubaisi did not have a smooth weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya, too. Having achieved a fastest sector time under yellow flags in free practice, the pilot from Abu Dhabi had to accept a qualifying penalty: “I went out for three laps and set out a time that was ok. I wanted to save tyres, as it didn’t make sense to go faster due to the fact that I was set back for 5 positions in any way due to the penalty.“ The race of the 35 year-old-business man from Abu Dhabi, however, was over faster than expected: “I had a good start but then was getting too close to Langhorne. I am not really sure what happened, but we both collided. I apologize to him for ruining our race. I will need to learn from it.”

tolimit head of motorsport and Supercup team manager Michael Seifert is satisfied with the result:“Everything went out perfect for Sean this weekend. It’s the maximum output for him with 20 points for the race and 2 for pole position. He takes the lead in the driver championship now together with Tandy who, however, doesn’t have a race win yet. Congratulations. With today’s results, our ‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’ caught up one position in the team standings and now ranks second with a gap of only seven points to the front. Thanks also to Jeroen for the collected points despite of some unfair actions from our competitors. Hopfefully the fight in the front stays fair, so that I don’t have to visit the stewards too often. Unfortunately, Khaled did not experience a good race weekend. It’s a pity that the collision in the first lap cost him his whole race. We will do our very best to get the car repaired as soon as possible for the next race weekend in Monaco.”

The race dates:
May 29, Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 25, Nürburgring-Nordschleife, Germany
July 10, Silverstone, Great Britain
July 24, Nürburgring, Germany
July 31, Budapest, Hungary
August 28, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
September 11, Monza, Italy

Sean Edwards experienced a weekend with ups and downs. Having been blocked in his last fast lap in qualifying, he started the race from position 6. His race was dominated by many duels with his competitors fighting for the remaining podium positions. In the end, he finished 5th and now ranks 3rd in the driver standings.

Jeroen Bleekemolen: “This was simply a perfect weekend. Many thanks to the team that managed to prepare a great car despite of the technical issues we had on Friday. I could have gone even faster at the end of the race, however, one of the other cars lost cooling water, so I decided to play safe. I dedicate the victory to our engineer Kosta, as today is his birthday. Happy birthday Kosta.“

Sean Edwards: “A very difficult race. It was so hard to overtake here. At the start Armindo held up the field. Although I got passed by Tandy, who was driving really aggressively, in the end I got passed Armindo and Van Lagen and finished 5th. That’s good points, not a disaster, the car was good. Next time, we need to make sure to get a good and clear lap in qualifying to achieve better results.”

Porsche Carrera Cup team manager Paul Schlotmann: “Our hard work during the weekend has paid off. The victory is our reward. Having this performance in mind, we are already looking forward to the next round in Spielberg.”

tolimit head of motorsport Michael Seifert: “A great performance for the whole team and the maximum outcome for Jeroen. Sean was a bit unlucky in qualifying otherwise a fully yellow first row would have been possible this weekend. But that’s racing. We are very proud on the result and take the momentum into the next races. Congratulations to Kosta not only for the result, but also for his birthday.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps: “I could have worked as a clairvoyant this weekend. As planned and expected, Jeroen dominated the race and won it with a superior performance. Sean didn’t have the same great race, but also showed a good performance. It’s great to have a local hero winning the race in front of his home crowd.”

The next Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland race will take place on June 5 at the Red-Bull-Ring in Spielberg, Austria.

The race dates:
June 5, 2011 DTM Red-Bull-Ring Spielberg, Austria
June 19, 2011 DTM EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Germany
June 25, 2011 Carrera World Cup 24h Nürburgring, Germany
July 3, 2011 DTM Norisring, Germany
August 7, 2011 DTM Nürburgring, Germany
September 18, 2011 DTM Oschersleben, Germany
October 23, 2011 DTM Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, Germany

‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’ drivers Sean Edwards, Jeroen Bleekemolen and Khaled Al Qubaisi achieved a solid performance with the positions 4, 6 and 17 respectively, at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season opener at the Istanbul Park Circuit in Turkey.

Having started the race from positions 4 and 5 respectively, Dutch Bleekemolen and Brit Edwards both had a decent start, but got passed by current champion René Rast, who came off even better and wheeled himself past them. Other than expected due to his great previous performances and due to ongoing technical issues with his brake system, Emirati driver Khaled Al Qubaisi didn’t have a very good start and fell back to position 18. In the course of the race, however, he was able to catch up one position to finish on position 17. His race was dominated by an ongoing duel with Turkish guest starter Yadel Oskan and blocking tyres – an issue that will need to be investigated back in the workshop.

The most important scene for ‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit‘ drivers Edwards and Bleekemolen happened in lap 11, when Rast was making a quite severe driving error. Edwards benefited the most out of the situation and passed both Rast and Bleekemolen on the right side to finish on position 4, while his Dutch team mate found himself blocked by Rast slamming the brakes and hardly managed to avoid him. As a result, he lost his chance for the podium and finished on position 6. With 24 points for the team standings, the Lohne-based crew achieved a solid performance at the season opener and created a good basis for the fight for the championship.

Sean Edwards: “It was a difficult race. Rast got a good start and passed me in the first corner. The car was ok, but we couldn’t completely keep pace with the cars in front. In lap 11, Rast made a mistake and I passed him on the right hand side. Jeroen obviously was hardly able to avoid him, so I found myself on position 4 in the end. It’s a decent team result for us and I am looking forward to the next race in Barcelona.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen: “It was a quite disappointing race for me. I had a good car, definitely one that could have achieved 3rd place. Rast had a good start, but made some mistakes in the race and just when I wanted to pass, he slammed the brakes and blocked me, which was somehow unfair. I was hardly able to avoid him and finally lost two positions where I could have made it to the podium.”

Khaled Al Qubaisi: “The balance of the car was ok, but unfortunately, I was having problems with the brakes and locking tyres throughout the whole weekend. We will now need to take out the brake system back in the workshop and find out what the problem is. At the end, I even had to go slow and fight hard to only keep my position. Nevertheless, it’s great to be back at in the top series of the one-make-cups. Together with our team manager Michael Seifert, I will now be flying to Germany in order to get prepared for this year’s highlight event at the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife. I look forward to it and to the next race in Barcelona.”

tolimit head of motorsport and Supercup team manager Michael Seifert: “With regards to the team result, the weekend was ok for us. Nevertheless, it could have gone better for our drivers, especially for Jeroen who stayed very fair throughout his duel with Rast, only to be blocked by him later on. This is a proof that the competition is fierce in Supercup, but we will stay focused on our overall target. However, we are looking forward to the next Supercup race in Barcelona. The race here in Istanbul showed that we have the pace to fight for the title. So we are confident to catch our first race win soon.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps: “A decent start into the season for our ‚Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit‘ and a performance that we can work on. As always thanks to our partners Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Deutsche Post, Windreich, DHL, aabar and SR Technics for their support. We will continue working on our performance and I am convinced that they will see their brands on top of the podium quite soon.”

Eurosport will show a summary of the race on Tuesday at midnight in the ‚Race RX‘ show. The next round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup will take place on May 22 in Barcelona, Spain.

The race dates:
May 22, Barcelona, Spain
May 29, Monte Carlo, Monaco
June 25, Nürburgring-Nordschleife, Germany
July 10, Silverstone, Great Britain
July 24, Nürburgring, Germany
July 31, Budapest, Hungary
August 28, Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium
September 11, Monza, Italy

After a qualifying with ups and downs, ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit’ drivers Sean Edwards and Jeroen Bleekemolen achieved 3rd and 4th place at the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland season starter in Hockenheim. With regard to the mixed weather conditions, the team kept its nerves in the tyre choice and stayed on slicks, while many competitors calculated with rain showers.

Obviously, ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit’ had calculated that it would face some setup issues at the first race of the season. However, that the party into May Day would become “working into May Day” was not to be foreseen. Due to some technical issues with the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup cars, e. g. the team made three engine changes at Sean Edward’s car alone. In free practice and qualifying, both the Brit as well as his team mate Jeroen Bleekemolen experienced some errors in the engine control unit. However, together with Porsche, the team was able to solve all issues throughout the weekend.

Sean Edwards comments: “In qualifying, my engine lost water in my third fast lap. The lap was good enough for a top 10 position, however, due to the water hose coming off, I span and ended on position 14. The race was absolutely crazy. We waited until the last minute with our tyre choice and decided to go out on slicks, which was the right decision. Starting so far from the back, I was battling with the guys on the wets at first and lost quite some time. But later on I was able to catch up. To come from 14 and end on position 3 is just amazing. Thanks to the whole team for the great work.”

Jeroen Bleekemolen adds: “We faced some issues with the engine control unit in qualifying which resulted in position 7 on the grid. We made the right decision concerning the tyres for the race. Position 4 is ok taking into consideration the issues we had throughout the weekend.”

tolimit head of motorsport Michael Seifert: “This was definitely not a party into May Day, but a lot of work at night. Our team did everything to have the cars ready and perfectly prepared for the race. And it worked out. Thanks for all the hard work, especially on Saturday night. Positions 3 and 4 are a great basis for our target to win the championship. With 30 points, we are currently on top of the team standings.”

Porsche Carrera Cup team manager Paul Schlotmann: “To find the right setup on both cars has been more intensive than expected on this weekend. However, now we should have sorted it all out and be well prepared for the next race.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps: “This was the first step on our way to the top. Once again, we showed that we can deal with difficulties and are going our way despite of them. Thanks to our partners from Deutschen Post and Windreich, that kept their fingers crossed throughout the whole weekend. And thanks also to our friends and business partners on site for their support.”

The next Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland race takes place on May 15 at the Circuit Park Zandvoort, in the Netherlands.

The race dates:
May 15, 2011 DTM Circuit Park Zandvoort, The Netherlands
June 5, 2011 DTM Red-Bull-Ring Spielberg, Austria
June 19, 2011 DTM EuroSpeedway Lausitz, Germany
June 25, 2011 Carrera World Cup 24h Nürburgring, Germany
July 3, 2011 DTM Norisring, Germany
August 7, 2011 DTM Nürburgring, Germany
September 18, 2011 DTM Oschersleben, Germany
October 23, 2011 DTM Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg, Germany

SEBRING, Fl (March 20, 2011) – NGT Motorsport’s Sean Edwards, Henrique Cisneros and Carlos Kauffmann combined for 12 grueling hours of racing Saturday and when the day was done, the team had earned a third place finish in their first ALMS Presented by Tequila Patrón effort at the 59th Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

Cisneros and Kauffmann are entering their second year in the IMSA GT3 Cup Challenge by Yokohama, and the drivers and team owner Ramez Wahab decided to step up the program in 2011 to contest the highly competitive GTC division in ALMS. When British European Porsche Supercup veteran Edwards joined the team in time for February’s winter test, the pieces were in place.

NGT missed qualifying after Cisneros lost control of the #030 Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car in turn 17 during Friday morning practice. The team worked all night, replacing just about every part on the car to insure its survival for the entire 12 hour race. The car shook down well in the warmup Saturday morning, with Edwards setting the quickest time in GTC at 2:07.396.

The practice time set the tone for the early hours of the race, as the NGT Porsche stayed right with the leaders, swapping positions between first and fourth as teams came into the pit lane and changed drivers. Edwards started the race, then it was Cisneros’ turn – his first stint in an ALMS event. Both Cisneros and Kauffmann are used to the IMSA GT3 races, which are 45 minutes long, so 90 minutes in a race car on a hot and sticky Florida day made for a very tired, but exhilarated driver at the end of that initial stint.

“It was tough,” said Cisneros. “But it was a lot of fun out there. I passed a couple of cars, which for me was an achievement. I got up to third place and that’s all I could ask for. I have to say, I had a little too much adrenaline when I got in the car, so I knew I would to be calmer the next time. The adrenaline really hit me when I got out – I felt fine in the car, but when you get out, you realize how hard you’re pushing.”

The next stint went to Kauffmann, who had been suffering from a cold and was down on power. But there’s something about a race like this that can help you forget that you might not be feeling all that great.

“I was feeling really, really tired during the GT3 races, but today, with all the LMP cars out there, I just went on adrenaline,” said Kauffmann. “The car was great – I actually thought I was slow! I asked my team how my speed was and they told me I was fastest. I said, how can that be since I felt like I was so slow! At the end of that first stint I had one of the fastest laps, so I’m really happy.”

All three drivers settled into a groove as day became night. Each driver seemed to have a “moment” on the track, with Cisneros surviving a bumpy ride through the dirt in turn 13 and Kauffmann getting put off at 17, with the car somehow coming out relatively unscathed.Then, during a yellow, a wrongful pass around was made, with the resulting four minute penalty taking them out of contention for the title. Cisneros and Kauffmann each took their last stints and handed the wheel to Edwards to bring them home

“Unfortunately, I got bumped at 17 by one of the Corvettes and spun,” said Kauffmann. “I ended up with the nose against the tires, but there wasn’t any damage to the car. Then we had the penalty, which really hurt. But my last stint was quite an experience as the sun was in my eyes as it was going down, but even then I was able to keep the pace. I really enjoy the track and to be on the track with all the Peugeots and the Audis when they come here, it was great.”

Edwards drove the bulk of the night run and when the checkered flag fell, NGT Motorsport had taken third spot in the nine-car GTC field.

Ramez Wahab was proud of the team – not only of the drivers, but of the crew who put the car back together quickly and solidly after Friday’s crash. It’s one thing to fix a car to run for one hour – to run and run well for 12 hours is quite another. And given the number of pit lane violations handed out during the 12 hour event, the fact that NGT ran a clean race without a single penalty on pit lane in their first try is rather remarkable.

“It’s pretty exciting – the whole race was exciting. It’s really awesome to finish third in our first 12 hour race. At least we know we have the speed and I’m sure we can get it done next time“

The race came together pretty much as Edwards had predicted.

“The guys did a great job getting the car back together,” said Edwards. “We knew the car was quick – we were fastest this morning and should have been on the pole, since we had led most of the sessions. But we knew it was a 12 hour race. We worked our way through on the first stint then focused on being there at the end. The race went pretty much as we had planned, except for the penalty – we kept it together, mostly kept it on the black stuff and stayed out of the way of the LMP cars.”

Cisneros tried to sum up his feelings as the race came to an end, proud especially of the way the team bounced back from the penalty.

“What an unbelievable come back. We were down, but we were never out. Sean Edwards was amazing – he was the fastest GTC car out there. The car handled beautifully – we couldn’t ask for a better day.”

NGT Motorsport will again compete in the GTC class at the American Le Mans Series Monterey Presented by Tequila Patrón, September 15–17. To see all the results for NGT Motorsport or for more information on the team, visit www.ngtmotorsport.com.