Both of the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany races in Zandvoot proved to be a challenge for the drivers. The 25 cars started a dry race on Saturday. In the middle of the race, torrential rain led to the race being stopped. René Rast, who started the race in first position and managed to hold on to his lead during the race, was given a 30-second time penalty, which put him back to 16th place. He drove too fast under yellow flag conditions. His teammate Sean Edwards, who started in 2nd place and initially lost a couple of positions, finished in 1st position. Klaus Bachler started the 12th race from 13th place and worked his way up to 8th place. The race directors only distributed half the points for Saturday’s race because it couldn’t be finished. Despite finishing so far back, René Rast remains in front of Sean Edwards in the drivers championship.
On Sunday, the weather conditions were again not ideal. The track was wet although some stretches were dry, which put the drivers’ skills to the test. Sean Edwards and René Rast lost places at the start. The British driver fell back to 7th place and the German driver to 3rd place. Two safety car phases interrupted the race. Klaus Bachler started in 14th position and fought his way up to 11th place. Nicki Thiim and Norbert Siedler dominated the 13th race right to the end, but were handed time penalties and therefore lost their first places. The ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit’ drivers profited from this and took two podium places.
René Rast, winner of Sunday’s race and current leader of the drivers championship, was pleased with a successful race: “What do people say? That we learn from our mistakes. What Nicki and Norbert did today happened to us at the Red-Bull-Ring. We were too fast under the yellow flag and were handed a penalty. Today I consciously took my foot off the accelerator. At the end of the day, I was lucky and took the victory which I gave away yesterday. I’m really happy. All in all, it was a good day.“
Sean Edwards, who finished third on Sunday, has narrowed his teammate’s lead in the drivers championship and is still in second place: “I had a good start on the left hand side and was able to overtake René. Norbert also had a good start and I had to make space for him in the first bend. He then collided with me and my front wheel was damaged. Nevertheless, third place is really good. I’m pleased with my podium finish and can hardly wait for Oschersleben.”
„I’m satisfied with both races, I didn’t make any mistakes. Despite the bad qualifying sessions I got plenty of points. I couldn’t manage much more. It’s really difficult when you start so far back. I don’t understand why it didn’t work out during training. I really gave it everything. The fact is that I was simply too slow on this track. I will be carrying out a careful analysis” concluded Klaus Bachler, the Porsche Junior driver.
The ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit‘ is building on its lead in the battle for the team championship. Three podium positions and two good finishes from Klaus Bachler have given the team from Lohne more important points. Paul Schlotmann: “After Saturday’s bad luck and René’s penalty, today we were lucky that our opponents drove the fastest laps under the yellow flag and were handed penalties. Unfortunately, we weren’t really able to show our potential on the track. Klaus did a great job and drove some fast times. Although he was held up he had a great race.”
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:
16th September 2012 DTM Oschersleben
21st October 2012 DTM Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
With temperatures over 30 degrees and brilliant sunshine, the Eifel showed off its summery side.
A great deal was asked of the drivers in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany this weekend. With temperatures reaching around 60 degrees inside the cars, the ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimt’ drivers were feeling the heat. However, the sweat-inducing work was worth it. On Saturday, René Rast started in pole position, and held on to his lead throughout the race. Things didn’t go so smoothly for his team mate Sean Edwards. The British driver fought until the last lap for second place, unfortunately without success. After an impact he fell back to fourth place, in which position he crossed the line. Sean Edwards picked up a penalty as a result of this incident. He received a five-place grid penalty for Sunday’s race. Klaus Bachler started in seventh position and found himself back in twelfth position after a collision. He made up two places during the race and crossed the line in tenth place.
Sunday’s race went even better for the team from Lower Saxony. Although Sean Edwards started in seventh position, he crossed the line in second place. Patrick Petter, Sean Edwards’ chief mechanic, celebrated his birthday on Sunday at the race track, and received the best gift of all from his driver: a podium finish. “The car was really fast and unbelievable today. I started in seventh position and finished in second place. That’s great.” said the British driver.
A spectacular battle between René Rast and Sean Edwards caused the hearts of the ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit’ to beat faster during the final laps. René Rast, who handed the position to his teammate during the last lap, was pleased with his third place, which completed the yellow double podium finish: “If it hadn’t been a yellow Porsche behind me, I certainly wouldn’t have let him past.” the drivers championship leader said.
Technical problems forced Klaus Bachler to start Sunday’s race from the pit lane. The Austrian displayed his skills in a sensational catch-up race. From his start in 20th position, the Porsche-Junior driver managed to finish in seventh place. Klaus Bachler: “Unfortunately, I had to start from the pit lane. I worked myself forward one place at a time. I eventually finished seventh, and therefore got some points. And now we’re looking forward to Zandvoort.“
Paul Schlotmann concluded both races with a smile on his face: “What a weekend. After a big disappointment on Saturday with Sean getting a five-place grid penalty, we pulled out all the stops on Sunday. The strength of our team was yet again clearly demonstrated. After both races we’ve been able to build on our lead. Fantastic!”
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:
26th August 2012 DTM Circuit Park Zandvoort, Netherlands
16th September 2012 DTM Oschersleben
21st October 2012 DTM Hockenheimring Baden-Württemberg
Konrad Motorsport still sets the Benchmark in the team standings of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Sean Edwards after a thrilling finish at his home race in the British Silverstone delivered his team a third rank, and with that he also claimed valuable points for the driver standings of the championship.
The Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, being a support race of the Formula 1, once more delivered a race to the spectators, which was really thrilling until the chequered flag. Started from third spot in the grid, Sean Edwards soon improved to second position and further on was close behind race leader René Rast. “I pushed really hard and tried everything, but there was no chance to overtake him”, Edwards reviewed the race.
The fact that the view of Sean Edwards was focused straight ahead was proven by a very special incident: The Porsche-Professional lost his rear mirror and with that he had to let Norbert Siedler pass him in the last lap of the race. “My mirror dropped off, so I couldn’t see where Norbert was when he attacked me”, explained Edwards, who finally celebrated his third rank. With 77 points, Edwards ranks second in the driver standings, only one point behind the championship leader. “With the third rank we could claim some valuable points. I am really looking forward to the next race, where I want to strike back and take over the championship lead again”, Edwards shows great fighting spirit.
Unlike Edwards, Christian Engelhart had bad luck. In the timed session on Saturday the German was able to qualify for sixth spot on the starting grid and had good hopes for a reasonable race, with which he wanted to close the gap to the top in the driver standings. However, a burst tyre stopped the ambitious drive of the 25-year-old. “I don’t really know what happened. All of a sudden the tyre was gone. It’s a pity, I could have easily improved positions, because the performance of the car was really promising”, said Engelhart.
In the fastest one make cup worldwide, the team Konrad Motorsport after the round in Silverstone with 124 points on its credit ranks still at the top of the team standings. The goal is to increase this lead in the next rounds of the series. “In Hockenheim we want to attack again, and hopefully we claim two perfect results in order to make some progress in the driver standings as well as in the team standings”, team manager Franz Konrad feels confident.
A review of the Porsche Supercup race in Silverstone is provided by Eurosport 2 on next Tuesday (July 10th), at 11.00am. Already on Sunday evening at 23.00pm Eurosport provides a summary of the best moments of the race in its magazine “Motorsports Weekend”. The next round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup takes place in Hockenheim, on July 22nd.
The eighth and ninth races of the Porsche Carrera Cup were lucky races for the German ‘Team Deutsche Post by tolimit’ drivers. With two pole positions, René Rast had the best chances at the Norisring, which he put to good use. He shone in both races with a perfect start–finish victory. “It was a great feeling. Up to now, I’ve never been able to win at the Norisring. I’ve also taken over the lead of the drivers championship, which is brilliant” said the delighted René, who comes from Frankfurt. With a sensational lead of 17.8 seconds over the second placed Kévin Estre, he confirmed his deserved position at the top of the drivers championship on Sunday.
His team mate Sean Edwards also started both races this weekend on the front row, in second position. With his third place in Saturday’s race, the team from Lohne again celebrated a double podium victory. Sunday’s race was on a wet track and did not run according to plan for the wet weather specialist. But despite an engine problem, he finished in sixth position and therefore holds on to his second place in the drivers championship.
The Porsche-Junior driver achieved his best starting positions in the Porsche Carrera Cup, with eighth place on the grid in the first race and fourth place on the grid in the second race. Saturday’s race was turbulent from the start. A pile up on the first bend forced many of the drivers to retire early. Klaus Bachler collided with Sean Edwards and had to retire. The race had the highest number of retirements of any race so far this season. The Austrian driver had better luck in Sunday’s race. “The track was wet this morning and we started the race on slicks. I started in fourth place and lost two places at the start. After the fifth lap I gained fourth place again. My speed was good but unfortunately I span coming into the Schöller-S bend and I fell back to tenth place. I managed to finish eighth.” said the Porsche-Junior driver.
Paul Schlotmann believes results were mixed: “tolimit went to the Norisring with very high expectations. We did well in training and qualifying. We were put back by the collision in Saturday’s race. René was in a class of his own this weekend. Sean did well despite engine problems, and Klaus reached his top speed. He was too optimistic today and unfortunately lost a couple of places because of his spin.”
This weekend will stay in the memory of the teams in the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany. Saturday presented a huge challenge for everybody. Damage to the track meant that the second practice session had to be moved from Friday afternoon to Saturday at 7.15am. This meant that, for the first time this season, the practice session, qualifying and the race all took place on the same day.
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:
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
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.”