Challenging weekend concludes with top-ten finishes for JRM Racing FIA GT1 World Championship - Round Two Report Zolder Circuit, Belgium
In contrast to its double second-place success in round one, round two of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship at Zolder in Belgium proved to be a challenging event for the JRM Racing team. Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck in car 22 were victims of other competitor's errors, which resulted in retirements from both the weekend's two races, whilst Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr in car 23 scored a hard-fought seventh and ninth respectively.
QualifyingThe Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying sessions on Friday saw the two JRM Racing Nissans go through a programme of adjustments to find the best set-up for the technical 4km Zolder circuit, which was blessed with dry and sunny weather from the time the team arrived to the time it left. The first competitive element of the weekend was Qualifying on Saturday morning, with the team pleased to see both its cars make it into Q3 to compete for the top eight places, where car 22 went fifth quickest and car 23 seventh.
However, because car 23 - and a number of others in the 18-car field - were reported to not have slowed down enough when a yellow flag was shown during Pre-Qualifying, each was penalised by three positions for the first of the weekend's two, one-hour races. This resulted in Krumm/Luhr starting ninth on the grid and Dumbreck/Westbrook third - P3 an impressive performance bearing in mind car 22 was carrying 25 kilos of success ballast following its two second places in Abu Dhabi.
Qualifying RaceTurn one at Zolder is a tightening left-hander, only 300m from the start-line and therefore, is prone to generate car-to-car contact - and the GT1 Qualifying Race was no exception. As cars exited the bend, the Lamborghini and Aston Martin that occupied the front row touched and, trying to avoid them, Westbrook found he had no-room to manoeuvre and clipped one of the cars as he tried to find a way past.
As well as damaging his car's left front wing, the impact also bent a steering arm and, at the end of lap one, he had no choice but to return to the pits. A sad conclusion following such a promising qualifying performance.
Krumm, in car 23, found his way past the chaos and completed the first lap in seventh, a position he maintained until the compulsory mid-race pit stop to change drivers and tyres. Usually a procedure that takes less than 30-seconds, Luhr was unable to get away for over a minute, a problem with an airline causing the delay.
Once getting onto the track, Luhr found himself in tenth and over half-a-minute away from his nearest competitor. With little chance of being able to make up places, a solid drive saw him hold station and, as cars ahead of him dropped out, he crossed the line to claim a respectable seventh place.
Championship RaceThe outcome of the first race dictates the grid positions of the second and therefore, Luhr in car 23 started seventh and Dumbreck in car 22 16th. Another incident, this time as the middle of the pack crossed the start line, meant that Dumbreck was almost caught up in other people's accidents once again but, keeping out of trouble, he was able to climb to 11th by the end of the first lap.
Luhr had also managed to make a clean getaway and maintained his start position, with his pace over the next few laps allowing him to circulate at the same rate as the front-runners. Dumbreck was also making up ground, catching and passing a Ford GT at turn three on lap four and claiming tenth place.
He then attempted the same move again on another Ford GT a lap later, only this time the driver didn't see him and turned into the front of his Nissan. This caused Dumbreck to spin and he was consequently hit by the Ford he had overtaken on the previous lap!
The impact broke the Nissan's rear suspension, leaving Dumbreck to slowly make his way back to the pits and retire. With a Ford GT and a collection of debris left on the track, the Safety Car was deployed on lap six and the pack closed up as it followed in convoy.
When the Safety Car came in, just one more lap remained before the pit-stop window opened and, as cars streamed in for the compulsory mid-race tyre and driver change, Luhr stayed out. Now, with a clear track ahead of him, he posted three blistering lap times before making his call to the pits whilst lying in second place.
Unfortunately the stop was not as quick as planned and the time lost meant that Krumm emerged from the pit-lane in 11th. It was clearly visible that he was not content with his position, as he charged-down the gap between him and the cars ahead of him and eventually crossed the line in ninth place.
Although it was a determined and faultless drive by the German pair, the end result was far from what they and the team had hoped for this weekend. But, with Zolder always likely to be a challenging circuit for the Nissans - as they were unable to take full advantage of the engine's power - the JRM Racing team now looks forward to round three on 8th May in the Algarve, where last year Krumm and Dumbreck recorded their first GT1 race victory.
Team QuotesPeter Dumbreck (Car 22)"Having not driven in the first race I was hoping for a longer spell in the second. The driver in the Ford GT could not have seen me and just turned in. Once I could see what he was doing, I tried to back out of the move, but I was right alongside and it was too late. It would have probably been OK, but I was hit by the Ford I had just overtaken - and that was that. We've had better weekend's and I hope we can pull things back at the next race in the Algarve."
Richard Westbrook (car 22)"Well, that's two early baths for us. All we can do is learn from what's happened this weekend and move on. We now have to concentrate on the next race. I like the Algarve circuit and I think we can do well there, especially as we've lost the success ballast we got from Abu Dhabi."
Michael Krumm (Car 23)"This was not a good weekend for us. The team has had some bad luck and, although Lucas drove a great stint in both races and I tried all I could to get past other cars, we still finished further back than we wanted. This was not helped by two slow pit stops. Our Nissan went very well, as our lap times have showed. So even though this track is not ideal for the car, I think we have a good package for Algarve."
Lucas Luhr (Car 23)"After finishing seventh in race one I was hoping we could do better today. I was pleased I was able to stay out of trouble at the start of race two and the car felt really strong. Our strategy was very good today and staying out after the Safety Car worked well. If things had gone a bit better, I think we could have easily finished much higher."
Nigel Stepney (Team Manager and Chief Engineer) "Of course, it was disappointing to see Richard and Peter get caught out by other people in both races, as there was no doubt that - even carrying extra weight - their car had good pace. We had the right strategy for Michael and Lucas, but we lost time with the pit-stops. We know what to fix at our end and, if the drivers can keep out of trouble, then the results should follow."
James Rumsey (Team Principal)"It was not the best of weekend's for us, that's for sure and some of the driving standards we have witnessed were appalling. Something really must be done about this. We had better pace than I thought we would at Zolder, but this doesn't show from the end results. We'll now focus on getting back to where we should be for round three. "
