An impressive drive by David Brabham and Jamie Campbell-Walter in this weekend's round seven of the FIA GT1 World Championship at Paul Ricard, saw the Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R #21 score a well-deserved fourth place and set the fastest lap in Sunday's Championship Race. It was also a top-ten finish for their team-mates, with Enrique Bernoldi and Nick Catsburg claiming seventh in car #20, results that mean the team come away from the weekend with a good haul of championship points. For Bernoldi, things got off to a particularly bad start when, just after he landed in France, it transpired he had contracted flu. This meant the poorly Brazilian did just a handful of laps during Friday's Practice and pre-qualifying sessions and spent the rest of the day trying to get himself better. Qualifying and Qualifying Race Catsburg drove the first of the Qualifying sessions and made it through Q1 to hand over to Bernoldi who mounted a gallant effort to secure 11th place in Q2. Campbell-Walter and Brabham were very pleased with the way their GT-R was performing and, having safely made it through to Q3, were satisfied to set the fourth fastest qualifying time. In what is becoming a regular feature in GT1, both Sumo Power GT cars became caught up in first-lap incidents in the Qualifying Race: Brabham, who was first to drive car 21, had to take evasive action at turn three to avoid an almost certain accident and dropped three places, whilst Bernoldi found himself in a Ford GT40 sandwich and, having been hit from both sides simultaneously, lost a few seconds whilst he recovered from the resulting spin. This meant that when the field streamed across the line at the end of the first lap, car 21 was sixth and car 20 was 14th - with the front end showing the damage that was sustained in its first lap incident. Both moved up a place before the start of lap four, at which point the Safety Car was deployed when an Aston Martin hit the barriers at the exit of turn seven. After three laps of convoying slowly around the 5.809km circuit, the racing recommenced and the two Sumo Power GT-Rs proceeded to chase-down the cars ahead of them. Unsurprisingly, Bernoldi was the first of the Sumo Power GT drivers to make his compulsory mid-race pit stop to change tyres and, to his relief - as he was still not feeling 100% - drivers. Catsburg then took the wheel for the second half of the race and, after a quick changeover, rejoined the track in 10th place. Brabham came in a lap later to swap with Campbell-Walter who set off determined to make up places and, on lap 17 executed one of his hallmark overtaking moves to take fifth. However, because of the hot conditions and the track's abrasive surface, the performance of his tyres began to fade and, before too long he was caught by the following cars. With just a few laps to go Campbell-Walter defended as best he could but, in doing so, crossed one of the blue-striped run-off areas for which the circuit is well known. Although not gaining any ground - in fact even lifting off the throttle to make sure there was no chance of an advantage - officials ordered a drive-through penalty. With the penalty applied so late in the race, Campbell-Walter took his punishment on the last lap and therefore passed the chequered flag in the pits. Although an innovative tactic, the stewards deemed it unacceptable and applied a 30 second penalty for the Qualifying Race and a three-place grid penalty for the following Championship Race for crossing a run-off area. This resulted in car 21 tenth, just behind car 20 in ninth. Qualifying race results (pdf) <http://www.rpmpromotions.com/jrmotorsport/pdf/GT1QualifyingRaceResultList.pdf Championship Race With many of the other cars receiving penalties for exceeding track limits and crossing the circuit's distinctive blue and red-striped run-off areas, Catsburg was to start Sunday's main Championship race P7 and Campbell-Walter P11. With all competitors now edgy about cutting corners and, at the same time, trying not to succumb to the usual first-corner mayhem, the pack bunched up during the first few corners and, although Catsburg held his ground, Campbell-Walter was pushed back to 12th. Feeling that he had a car beneath him that was capable of far greater things, the Brit embarked on one of his overtaking sprees and, by the time the pit window opened after 25 minutes of racing, he was up to eighth place and had set the fastest lap in the process. A stunning pit stop by the Sumo Power GT crew - which was the quickest of all the teams in the race - further boosted car  21's position and Brabham exited the pits in sixth. Catsburg had consolidated his position and was pleased to have delivered a strong performance for the team in what is only his second race weekend for Sumo Power GT. Bernoldi, who was thankfully feeling a lot better, then took the wheel of car 20 and set off determined to make the most of his improved health. The Brazilian also started to battle against other cars and, on lap 24 became 'involved' with a Lamborghini, which resisted the challenge a little too much and was shown the black and white flag for its tactics. Meanwhile, Brabham was feeling happy with the way his GT-R was performing and continued where Campbell-Walter had left off during his stint and, with one lap to go, pulled off a classic overtaking move to pass a Ford GT. With car 21 crossing the line in fourth and car 20 in seventh, the Sumo Power GT team were more than satisfied with its day's work and now prepare for the eighth round of the FIA GT1 World Championship - which takes places at Ordos in China on 3rd & 4th September - knowing that it is very close to claiming its first race victory of the season. Championship race results (pdf) <http://www.rpmpromotions.com/jrmotorsport/pdf/GT1ChampionshipRaceResultList.pdf Team Quotes Jamie Campbell-Walter (Car 21) "Having started from P4, the first race didn't work out like we had planned. It was due to a combination of the tyre degradation and then the penalties. The team made some changes overnight - that worked really well - and the car was great for the second race. I was pleased to be able to catch and pass other cars and then our team did an awesome sub 20-second pit stop which jumped us two places. Brabs then drove a great second stint and almost put us on the podium again. So all-in-all, it wasn't a bad weekend at all." David Brabham (Car 21) "It's been a very encouraging weekend. I was very pleased that we were able to qualify in fourth, but Saturday's Qualifying Race was a bit disappointing as I had to take evasive action at the start and lost a couple of places. I struggled with the tyres and then, after the race, we got a penalty for going into a run-off area. However, the car felt the best it's been all weekend in Sunday's Championship Race and Jamie drove well to get from P11 on the grid and up to eighth. He also set the fastest lap! The guys then did the best pit stop we've ever had and I came out in sixth. I was able to push and make up two places before the finish. This was a really strong race for us." Enrique Bernoldi (Car 20) "It has been a difficult weekend for me. I was very disappointed to feel so bad just before the race weekend - especially as we now have a few weeks before the next race when it would not have been so much of a problem. I was pleased I felt better for Sunday's Championship Race. The car was good and I don't think we lost too much because of the way I was feeling." Nick Catsburg (Car 20) "Although I would have liked Enrique and I to have finished a bit higher, I am happy with this weekend. I feel a lot more at home in the car and with the team. The first race was a bit difficult at there was some damage to the front of the car that affected the down-force a little. I was pleased that my stint in the second race was quite strong and I was also pleased Enrique was feeling better. With a little more work in certain areas, I know I can improve even more and I am sure we can expect even better results." Hiroki Furuse (Team Manager) "After a good Qualifying session we had a frustrating first race this weekend. However, we did the best we possibly could in the second and this was down to a concerted effort by the team and a fantastic pit stop for car 21. So far this season we haven't had good results when things get difficult, but this time we did and I'm delighted that both cars ran so well from start to finish. Andy Barnes (Team Principal) "Overall I'm pleased with the outcome of the weekend and to have walked away with a good haul of points. The penalties for car 21 in the first race were unfortunate - and a little harsh - but Jamie, David and the pit crew did a great job in the second to get up to fourth. Car 20 also performed well considering it had its set-backs. I am very happy that, after a few changes earlier in the year, the team is really working together well now, which bodes well for the next race in China."