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

“Team Deutsche Post by tolimit“ would have expected way more from the third round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland at the Lausitzring: Sean Edwards saves two points for the team standings with position 14, Sascha Maassen drops out with a damaged radiator in lap 4.

The weekend actually started well – as expected: Sean Edwards constantly ranked among the potential podium positions in the free practices. Sascha Maassen also constantly hit the top ten.

In qualifying, however, a strategy fault at Sean Edward’s car: The Brit from “Team Deutsche Post by tolimit” achieved the quickest sector times and would have been able to achieve pole, however, had to break off his fastest lap shortly before the start-finish-line. “In the first part of the qualifying, my lap times were sensationally fast. Unfortunately, we had a strategy issue.” Thus in the second part, he fought with low fuel levels. Position 10 on the starting grid was the best possible result.

In the race, the 23-year-old again had a good start, however, clashed with Philipp Wlazik, the pilot in front of him. It all resulted in a drive-through-penalty imposed by the race stewards. Withdrawn to position 19, the ambitious race driver fought back to 14th place in the end: “On Friday, I was surprised, how well I was getting along with the track. It’s my first time at the Lausitzring. The more annoying it is that I wasn’t able to attack again in qualifying. In the race, I pushed hard to get upfront. Unfortunately, this attempt backfired. Once again, it is not the result we expected to achieve“, the Brit sums up.

Sascha Maassen experienced a weekend to forget at the Lausitzring. Oversteer and a penalty in free practice – his fastest lap happened under yellow flags – resulted in position 20 on the starting grid. A radiator damage in lap 4 of the race forced him to give up. „If you start that much on the back of the field, you try to push as hard as possible. Thus I push-started the one in front of me. My car didn’t like it obviously and redeemed with a radiator damage” the experienced pilot comments with a grim sense of humor.

Paul Schlotmann, who at the Lausitzring acted not only as technical director, but also as team manager for the diseased Jörg Michaelis, sums up: “We expected way more from the weekend. We know that we are fast. Unfortunately, we had some adjustment issues at Sascha’s car and a strategy fault in Sean’s qualifying. In the race, some things happened that are quite normal in such tight position fights. Thus we were only able to achieve two points for the championship standings.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps adds: “Now we need to make sure that the team does not hang the heads and continues to look ahead. Success means to stand up once more than you fell down. Despite quick lap times, we don’t achieve the results that would be expected. And we will change that quickly.”

Next race of Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland takes place on July 4, at the Norisring (Nurnberg). A summary of the race at the Lausitzring will be broadcast on June 9, in the “Motodrom” show. “n-tv“ and “DMAX“ show race extracts on June 8, in “PS Spezial“ (4.25 p.m.), respectively on June 13, in “DTM Magazin” (noon).

Sean Edwards was able to bring his Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority (ADTA)-backed 911 GT3 Cup undamaged through the starting collisions to defend his starting position of 4th but had to cut a chicane in order not to collide with competitors. And although the cut did not bring him any advantage, the stewards decided to fine him with a drive-through penalty.He moved upto 3rd place and held this position for the whole race whilst the team fought the stewards over the decision. But it was to no avail, four laps from the finish he had to serve the penalty and dropped down the order to 10th.

“In the starting turmoil, I didn’t have any other chance than to cut the chicane. I don’t understand the penalty, as the move didn’t bring any advantage. Nevertheless, the stewards told us before the race that they would immediately fine, especially in the first laps. And I have to accept it if I like it or not. Silly things have cost us three podiums over the last three races, so our bad luck is now over and we will deliver a good result in Carrera Cup”

Sascha Maassen from ‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’ battled through with clutch issues at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race in Monaco – an issue which hampered his winning ambitions when it led to a drive-through-penalty for a jump start. Team mate Sean Edwards was also penalised with a drive-through and eventually scored 10th position. Khaled Al Qubaisi achieved a respectable 22nd position in his first showing in the Principality.

Widely acknowledged as the ‘tight race specialist’, Sascha Maassen showed his competitors in qualifying why he is fully deserving of the title after he secured a second placed qualifying spot – his best performance so far. However, at the race start his 911 GT3 Cup moved off the line too early, resulting in a jump-start penalty. “The jump start was caused by some problems with the clutch I had throughout the whole weekend. Obviously, it looked as if the endurance racer had starting problems. That’s of course annoying,” said the team’s most experienced driver.

For sure, his premature start was noticed in race control. The following damage limitation resulted in a short engine break-down. After some additional turbulence in the first curve, he re-joined the field in position seven. The serving of his penalty finally resulted in him finishing 19th.

Khaled Al Qubaisi, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup Emirati rookie, also went through a turbulent race: “It was my first start in Monaco and my ultimate ambition was to stay out of trouble… which I managed to do. Nevertheless, the race was very confusing. There were a lot of rule breaches around me, which were quite irritating. I don’t have a lot of experience on street races so I am looking forward to the race in Valencia to help build confidence.”

Team manager Michael Seifert commented on the race weekend with mixed emotions: “We started into the race with a lot of expectations. We worked hard, the sun is shining despite of a rainy weather forecast. Now we leave with the swallow of another bitter pill. Of course, Sascha wanted to show a good performance. Unfortunately, the clutch put a spoke in his wheel. Sean had to accept a severe penalty for the second time in a row. From Khaled, we only expected him to stay on track and to manage the 107% rule this weekend. It was his first entry in the tight street course so we are very pleased with his improving performance throughout the weekend.”

Technical director Paul Schlotmann added: “Let’s see it positively: we are happy that all cars are undamaged. In the short period between Barcelona and Monaco, the whole team pushed the envelope of burden. The result that we expected after the qualifying performance would of course have been motivating, however, I am sure that we will get our chance to show our performance.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps commented: “All good things come in threes. All bad things obviously, too. Monaco is of course always a special race in which many unforeseen things can happen. Drive-through penalties of course don’t belong to the anticipated ones. The whole team does a lot of hard work, for which we unfortunately have not been rewarded so far. I would like to thank our partners from Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Deutsche Post and Windreich AG, who all were on site to cross their fingers for us and to go with us through all ups and downs.“

The next Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race takes place on June 27, 2010 in Valencia, Spain.