JMW Motorsport take 9th Place But The Title Fight Lives On
JMW Motorsport had a tough weekend at the fourth round of the Le Mans Series, held at Nurburgring.Fresh from their maiden victory at Portimao in the third round, JMW Motorsport qualified fourth on thegrid which saw just 0.5 seconds cover the top 4.
Gianmaria Bruni started the race and the pace of the JMW, Dunlop shod Ferrari was evident from theoutset. Within just a few laps, Bruni took the lead and set about pulling out an impressive gap. A smoothdriver change saw Robert Bell take the wheel and further add to the team’s enviable lead, measuring over50 seconds at one point. With no full course yellows, the #92 JMW Ferrari was looking dominant whendisaster struck.
On track Bell was seen to be cruising but was able to nurse the car back to the pits where a brokendriveshaft was seen to be the problem. In a display of teamwork and ability which left the commentatorsand onlookers speechless, the team completed fitting a new driveshaft in just 13 minutes! Bruni returnedto the driving seat and the car rejoined 12th in class and four laps down from the first of the pointsplacings.
What followed was nothing short of a heroic display by Bruni and Bell, whose lap times constantlyremained sub 2 minutes for the remaining 4 hours of the race, though all appreciated to reach any vitalpoints would mean attrition for those ahead. The team raised the car from 12th to 9th by the chequeredflag, setting the race’s fastest lap with an impressive 1m58.080.
The team were, unsurprisingly, somewhat despondent in the initial moments after the race as TeamManager, Tim Sugden summed up “It is a bitter blow not to score points today not least because thedetermination and teamwork was second to none in today’s race.
“The driveshaft change was nothing sort of awesome and that spirit was taken back on track by Rob andGimmi whose lap times for the remainder of the race were stunning. Now we dust ourselves down, remindourselves the Championship title fight remains alive and we head to the final round, our home round, atSilverstone firing on all cylinders!”
So still in the running for the Championship win, JMW head to their home race, and final round of the2009 Le Mans Series, at Silverstone on 11-13 September 2009.
