No way will this edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans be anything but a pure mythical endurance event. Looking back at the overall rankings various teams played up front. ProSpeed Competition was in a way part and parcel of this. When the team asked their drivers to go into “full attack”, their Porsche Spectra Resources-Saudi Sports Group had already experienced flats, the equivalent of six laps. Here we weren’t talking about tenths of seconds of the qualifying sessions, neither of the “leadership” in the LM GTE Am category at the beginning of the race. Unfortunately Abdulaziz Al Faisal, Bret Curtis and Sean Edwards did not cross the finish line. The Porsche #75 crashed and was severely damaged.

Rudi Penders (Team principal)
“The start of the race soon turned into a nightmare, dropping the team from almost the first spot back down into the last in its category. As night fell we asked our drivers to do everything in their power… to bring the car back up into the place it rightfully deserved. And they achieved this. In fact brilliantly, because we were then up in fifth place… of this category, the second best filled category in this event. Going off track is a mistake we understand. ProSpeed Competition has now been present for the third consecutive time at Le Mans, and this is the first time that we have not reached the finish.”

Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA – 4th June 1983 – 2nd participation)
“I was at one with the car. We managed to truly fine-tune the car with our technical team. Not only was the car performing brilliantly, but on top of that very comfortable to drive. Sean has just completed a double stint, bringing the car up from eighth into sixth spot. When it happened we were actually up in fifth place. Just as dawn breaks the track evolves and changes. There is loads of debris lying around the track. I’m truly sorry not only for my team-mates but also the entire team.”

Bret Curtis (USA – 13th December 1966 – 1st participation)
“Unfortunately it all came to an end rather too soon, but all in all it has been a great event. Not only did I discover a mythical race but also thoroughly appreciated the on- going attention from the Porsche Motorsport and Michelin Competition technicians. The links that ProSpeed Competition enjoys with its technical partners is on a level with the links that Rudi Penders and Luc Goris were able to develop amongst ourselves, the three drivers.”

Sean Edwards (GBR – 6th December 1986 – 1st participation)
“As professional drivers, we know the in-and-outs of motorsport. Retirement is always on the books. Unfortunately in our case it rather overshadowed the team’s overall performance, on the technical front, that was on true topper. Our Porsche actually led the race! It was the flint chips that caused our flat tyres. As for the broken bearing which cost us also some laps, it might well be due to an eventual shock or other.”

Eventful racing and exciting overtaking manoeuvres were on offer in the two races of the Porsche Carrera Cup at the Red-Bull-Ring. Klaus Bachler, one of six Austrians on the starting grid, achieved his first podium place of the season in Saturday’s race. Klaus, who is from Styria in Austria, crossed the line in 6th place, behind his teammates Sean Edwards in 2nd place and René Rast in 4th place. However, these turned out not to be the final results. Several drivers received time penalties for driving too fast past an accident. Among others, Sean Edwards and René Rast were given 30 second penalties, putting the British driver in 11th place and the German driver in 14th place.

Sunday’s race was less eventful than Saturday’s race, although there was an accident right at the start, followed by a long safety-car phase. After the 5th lap the Porsche Carrera Cup drivers were able to get going. Sean Edwards delivered a superior start-finish win. The ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit‘ driver René Rast also achieved a podium position, finishing the race in 3rd place. The team from Lohne therefore celebrated another double podium finish. The Porsche-Junior driver was also able to show off his abilities on Sunday. He fought his way from 10th place to 7th place, and then successfully defended this position to the end of the race.

With his first podium place and nine championship points, Klaus Bachler is extremely happy with his home Grand Prix: “I don’t know what to say. It’s an unbelievable feeling. Third at home, and that after such a difficult start to the season. The race was really great!“

René Rast views the second race of the weekend as damage limitation, following Saturday’s time penalty: “It was the best I could do, reaching 3rd place after starting in 6th place. I’m very happy. It wasn’t an easy race. I must say, everybody behaved fairly. Thank you for that. Again, it was a great result for the team, with 1st and 3rd places. Of course, it would have been nice if we hadn’t received a penalty yesterday.”

Sean Edwards maintains his second place in the drivers‘ championship. René slips to third place as a result of his penalty yesterday. The first race on Saturday was disappointing for the British driver, but the ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit‘ driver has no intention of giving up: ”We will carry on fighting for the championship!” With his first place on Sunday, he has turned his words into deeds.

Paul Schlotmann looks back at the races with some sceptisism: “Spielberg didn’t turn out quite how we imagined it to on Saturday. We were handed a 30 second penalty due to the yellow flags and the best time in the yellow sector. Otherwise, the positions would have been as we wished. We couldn’t do better than 1st and 3rd places on Sunday (. But we’re very pleased with the result. Klaus did a very good job all weekend.“

Further information, results and photos can be found at www.facebook.com/tolimit and at www.tolimit-motorsport.de.

On Mondays after race weekends, the news channel N24 broadcasts a 30 minute Carrera Cup programme at 6.30pm, with reports about the race series, the drivers, the highlights and stories about the people involved in the Carrera Cup.

The Racing Calendar:
1st July 2012 DTM Norisring
19th August 2012 DTM Nürburgring
26th August 2012 DTM Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands
16th September 2012 DTM Oschersleben
21st October 2012 DTM Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg