Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’ driver, Sean Edwards of Great Britain, snatched his first official Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race win at Belgium’s Spa-Francorchamps, as veteran team-mate Sascha Maassen was forced to retire with technical failure. The team’s Abu Dhabi driver, Khaled Al Qubaisi, put in a consistent performance on the demanding track to finish 23rd.

Edwards left no doubt about his target for the weekend after a sterling qualifying run saw the 23-year-old set his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup in Abu Dhabi livery on pole: “It was not a perfect lap, but enough for pole.”

Edwards clearly enjoyed driving alone, as he lead from start to finish, building up an dominant six second lead. “Before the race, I was sure that we would win if we could get a good start. We simply realized the plan. I put my head down and built a big lead and then backed off for the last few laps to bring it home. The whole team did a great job and they really deserve this win!” added Edwards.

With pole, fastest lap and the win, Edwards put on a dominant performance in the 9th round of the Porsche Mobile 1 Supercup. The Spa specialist who clinched victory back in 2008 as well won comfortably from championship leader Rene Rast, who later got a penalty, which made the winning gap 11 seconds to Jap Van Lagen.

Team-mate Maassen, however, had a weekend to forget on his ‘home’ track: “Our timing in qualifying was unfortunate. When I ran my flying lap, it started to rain again and the middle section was too wet, meaning I ended up 12th on the starting grid.” In the race, the 40-year-old – who was running in 10th place – had to withdraw because of mechanical issues.

The team’s Emirati star Al Qubaisi bravely fought the notorious track’s tough conditions, making it another completed race for the 34-year-old: “Spa is a very difficult track. It didn’t help that I am still getting used to these mixed weather conditions. Other than that, I am ok with my performance. Another race that was full of experiences for my future in motorsport.”

Team Manager Michael Seifert was satisfied: “We had to wait for a long time for this success, but finally we made it. For Sean, it was a perfect weekend. Sascha unfortunately suffered from technical failure. With Khaled, I am pretty satisfied, too. Spa is not an easy race track and he proved that he has what it takes to be a good race driver.”

tolimit Managing Director Hans-Bernd Kamps added: “We knew from the beginning of the season that we can win races. Today we showed it!”

The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup season finale will take place on September 12, in Monza, Italy.

It was a successful weekend for the Lohne-based team as Sean Edwards finished second at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race in Budapest. In addition, Sascha Maassen caught up two positions to finish ninth and Khaled Al Qubaisi finished 14th, notching up three championship points due to a guest starter in front of him.

The race at the 4.381kms Hungaroring was dominated by a severe race accident causing a long safety car phase, with six cars retiring from competition. With outside temperatures of 30 degrees and track temperatures of 40 degrees, all remaining drivers had to stand sauna-like conditions in the cars during the slow laps.

Despite the heat and after the re-start, Edwards was able to attack race leader Nick Tandy, however, despite his best efforts, he was unable to overtake his fellow countryman.

“It was a very good race weekend for us. In qualifying I managed to be back where we need to be… in the front row very close to the pole setter. At the race start, I overtook Nick on the outside of the track, however, ran too wide and had to let him pass again. Unfortunately, the Hungaroring does not offer many overtaking possibilities. At the re-start I was able to attack, but not pass. Nevertheless, I am very happy with the result.”

German racing stalwart Maassen was able to procure a good starting position in qualifying: “The car was good and I was pretty confident with my time. In Supercup, the performance density is really tight and my time meant that I started from position 11 in the end. In the race, I was again able to catch up two positions. It should have been possible to proceed further, however, the long lasting yellow flags didn’t leave much time for attacks.”

‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’s Emirati star, Al Qubaisi, is more than happy with his race, after clinching his largest ever points haul: “In qualifying, I expected to achieve one position ahead, but starting from place 20 was ok. In the race, I fought against Thomas Messer and Robert van den Berg, which was great, because such situations mean a lot of additional race experience for me. Due to the accident and many drivers finishing the race early, I collected three more championship points. A very good race.”

‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’ team manager Michael Seifert sums up: “Things are looking up. After our long wait for podium, this weekend all drivers came together to figure out what was needed and we resolved to do what was needed to achieve good starting positions. Overall, we collected 25 points for the team standings. Sean will catch up to position 9 in the driver standings. Khaled collected points for position 13, as a guest starter finished in front of him. I am more than happy.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps adds: “A very motivating result for the whole team shortly before the Supercup break. A big thanks to the whole team for the great work. It was a long dry spell for us and finally we are awarded for our efforts. Furthermore also a big thanks to our partners from Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Deutsche Post and Windreich for their ongoing support.”

The next race of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup will take place on August 29, 2010, in Spa-Francorchamps, Belgium.

‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit‘ experienced an exciting, tentative, but in the end disappointing weekend at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race in Hockenheim. The positions 12, 19 and 21 for Sascha Maassen, Sean Edwards and Khaled Al Qubaisi respectively, didn’t shed the real light on the ups and downs of the race.

During qualifying on Saturday, the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup drivers put in the most thrilling qualifying session of the season so far, which saw the pole setter and the 21st position separated only by less than a second. Former Porsche works driver Sascha Maassen again fought with finding the optimal tyre temperature: “The sprint format of the Supercup races is simply not to be compared with the endurance racing competitions during the past years. I am still stuck in a learning process and hope that I can proceed as soon as possible. Position 18 was all I was able to achieve in the end, although I was only 7 tenths of a second behind the pole sitter.”

In the race, the 40 year-old showed his full extent of experience and caught up six positions: “Qualifying is the crux of the matter. In the race I was always able to catch up some places.”

Briton Sean Edwards faced a disappointing qualifying, too: “Traffic, mechanical issues and bad timing – everything went wrong. That’s annoying, because the car was great and the teamwork as well.”

His streak of bad luck continued in the race. In just the first lap, the 23-year-old was turned around by a competitor and his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup suffered from a flat tyre. Nevertheless, the thought of withdrawing never crossed his mind: “The boys quickly changed the tyre and I went out again. I do have some pretty good experience in putting the cart before the horse.” In the end, he ranked 19th.

The regular instant starter and third driver of ‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’, Khaled al Qubaisi, was once again able to catch up some positions in his race: “Later on, Thomas Messer touched me and caused a spin. I had to do a pit stop which was very annoying. From there, I fought until the very end.”

Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit Team Manager, Michael Seifert, sums up: “It was a very turbulent race weekend for us, yet Sascha was still able to collect some important points for the team. It is astonishing how tight the competition is in this championship, however, we expected better results and are fully aware that we are able to achieve them. For us now, the most important thing is not to lose motivation and to attack again in the upcoming race in Budapest.”

tolimit Managing Director, Hans-Bernd Kamps, adds: “We can’t be satisfied with the race result in Germany, especially when we consider how much energy and effort we’ve put into the team. I know that every team member did his utmost; unfortunately we didn’t have the luck needed to give us the extra edge. I hope we do in Budapest next week. A special thanks goes to our partners from Abu Dhabi Tourism Authority, Windreich and Deutsche Post. Their more than 50 guests supported us throughout the whole weekend.”

Round eight of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup takes place on August 1, 2010 in Budapest, Hungary. Eurosport 2 will show a re-live of the race in Hockenheim on Tuesday, July 27, 2010 at 11.30 a. m.

Coming off the back of two successful race weekends in Spain and Germany, ‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit‘could not continue its good run of form at the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup race in Silverstone after Sean Edwards, Sascha Maassen and Khaled Al Qubaisi finished 12th, 13th and 19th respectively.

Abu Dhabi’s Emirati star, Al Qubaisi, was the first casualty of the weekend, after a spin out in Friday’s practice meant the tolimit crew had to work through the night to get the car back into racing condition.

Saturday saw an improved performance from the team with England’s Sean Edwards achieving a respectable third position in qualifying, just a few hundredths of a second shy of snatching pole. However, his time was canceled later on when stewards decided to disqualify his best lap time, dropping him to the back of the grid, for ‘disrespecting the course’ after all four wheels left the track.

“It’s annoying. Above all, because the track was really fast and had a lot of grip. Maybe I underestimated my speed when I left track. However, it cannot be changed,” said Edwards.

In the race, Edwards was keen to make amends and put in a solid opening assault, climbing up to 10th before rival, Tim Bridgman, caused him to run off the track again. In the remaining three laps, Edwards fought back to eventually secure 12th position

“In my first lap I overtook at least five cars in front of me. Especially at the end of the race, the car was super fast. I had a lot of fun. Unfortunately, we weren’t rewarded with a good position due to the qualifying incident,” said the 23-year-old.

Maassen’s race weekend could have gone better too. In qualifying, the German ace struggled to produce a solid lap time: “I made a mistake in my first fast lap, which was annoying as the track offered a great deal of grip from the Formula One tyres. In my second fastest lap, the track was unfortunately already more than a second slower.”

Al Qubaisi, who was making his UK debut, also found the Silverstone track a daunting task, as he span-out into the boundaries in practice after under-steering his Abu Dhabi-emblazoned Porsche 911 GT3 Cup. Yet a strong race day performance saw the Emirati driver snatch his second competitive points haul of the season – adding to the six points collected by Edwards and Maassen.

“The tolimit mechanics are the true heroes of this race. They twice worked on my car all night long. I am very thankful for this. I simply didn’t want to crash again and didn’t risk a lot,” added Al Qubaisi.

‘Team Abu Dhabi by tolimit’ team manager Michael Seifert sums up: “It was definitely a busy weekend. I have to thank the whole team for supporting each other and working long hours in order to get all cars on track. Unfortunately, the result again doesn’t show the true potential of the team. The penalty against Sean needs to be accepted, however, we would be pleased if the stewards penalized more consistently. It was not only Sean who left the track with all four wheels.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps agrees: “This was a result that had to be earned with a lot of effort. However, same as the German soccer squad, our team didn’t let the result get them down and kept on fighting. That’s how racing goes.”

A summary of the race in Silverstone will be shown on Eurosport 2 on Tuesday, July 13, 10.00 a. m. and on Eurosport 1 on Wednesday, July 14, at midnight. The next race of Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup takes place on July 25 at the Hockenheimring.

This title wasn’t only given to the Porsche Carrera Cup race at the Norisring because of the fascinating atmosphere and the Monaco-flair. Sean Edwards and Sascha Maassen from “Team Deutsche Post by tolimit“ finished on position 4 and 5, achieving the best result of the running season so far and the best team result of the weekend. 26 points were added to the team account.

Being the first time at the short-haul track in Nuremberg, Sean Edwards is satisfied with his result: “Qualifying could have gone a bit better. However, with a track only 2.3 kilometres long, it’s clear that the times are tight.” Position 6 on the grid was the best he could do on Saturday.

In the race on Sunday, the 23-year-old Briton had a very good start, however, was blocked by Nick Tandy, who started from position 4. The next laps were dominated by a British duel including some spectacular overtaking manoeuvres for the spectators until Tandy had to resign with a damaged tyre. Fallen back due to the exciting duel, Edwards focused on catching up more than two seconds to the fourth placed Christian Engelhard in the second part of the race. Again fighting with his competitor, Engelhart had to resign due to a damaged gearbox. “I had just passed him, when he got slower. The car was way better in the race than in qualifying. Nevertheless, from that point, I was scared that also my gearbox would not stand the many gear changes. There was no opportunity to catch up any further and from behind, no danger was to be expected. So I concentrated on keeping the fourth position.”

His team mate Sascha Maassen sings from the same hymn sheet: “This weekend went well, although we had a few problems in getting enough brake force on the rear suspension. I was able to pass four competitors on the outside during my start.” During the following laps, the Porsche old-hand lead and competently controlled the runner-up group. A bit of luck was necessary, when Schlegelmilch missed the breaking point and shot off Maassen’s direct follower Renauer. “That was tight, but he didn’t hit me. During the race, I added brake force by breaking with the engine. Of course I was a bit scared to suffer from gearbox failure. So in the end, I tried to just keep the position. ” In the end, he ranked fifth, achieving the best result of his season so far.

Team manager Michael Seifert, who again acted in place for Jörg Michaelis, sums up: “With this result, we more than doubled our team points. This weekend, Sean proved that he is able to bring a constant performance. His lap times were all among some tenth of a second’s time. Sascha had a clever start and controlled the runner-up group. We can definitely be satisfied with this result. We dedicate it to Jörg who can’t be with us due to sickness. That’s what’s great in sports: if you continue training and working hard, once the moment of rewards comes. From this point, we can continue improving.”

tolimit managing director Hans-Bernd Kamps adds: “This race clearly shows that we continue to learn from previous races and improve constantly. We perfectly know what we have to do in order to further improve. The spirit both in the team and in the “DTM Business Lounge powered by Deutsche Post” was great during the weekend, of course also because of the four goals of the German soccer team against Argentina yesterday. It was furthermore a very nice picture when Deutsche Post Speed Academy David Mengesdorf finished directly after Sean and Sascha, achieving his best result of the season and completing the yellow “Deutsche Post train”.“

A summary of the race will be shown in “DTM-Magazin” on channel Sport1 tonight at 9.15 p. m. The whole race will be shown on Motorvision at 9.30 p. m. A highlights programme will be broadcast on n-tv, Sport 1 and DMAX on Tuesday, 4.25 p. m., Thursday, 10.30 p. m. and Sunday at midnight, respectively. The next race of Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland will take place on August 8, at the Nürburgring.