SERIES LEADER PORON TAMES THE GREEN HELL
Talented French driver and 2004 Formula X Sport Series points leader, Benjamin Poron, made the best of his visit to the legendary Nürburgring by taking pole position for both of tomorrow's rounds. He was closely followed across the line by both Team Goh supported Japanese drivers, Kasuyuki Nishizawa and Shinsuke Yamazaki, the latter of course being the winner of the very first ever Formula X race at Monza last May. Seven drivers made their Formula X debut and all loved it. "It was difficult getting them out of the cars in the practice and qualifying sessions. They have to race each round with the same set of tyres they have used in the respective qualifying sessions, so it doesn't always make sense to keep on running. But I guess they're enjoying it too much to come in early," said Formula X organiser, Claude Chantala.
Indeed, not a single car had to call at the pits for any problems whatsoever during all of the free and qualifying sessions, except for Julien Gerbi who had a slight off in the first session. "After our teething problems in Monza we have had time to address all the issues with our different partners, and now everything works the way it should," Chantala concluded.
The competitiveness of the cars was again demonstrated by the qualifying times in both sessions, with rarely more than a few tenths between any two drivers. Among the new drivers was Belgian touring car ace Sylvie Delcour. Normally used to driving (and winning in) her tubeframe BMW M3 in the Belgian Touring Car Series, she now had her first "open-car" experience. "It's good fun," she said. "At first I needed some time to adapt to being seated in the centre of the car with your head in the wind, but once I got used to that it was just a matter of trying to brake later and go through the corners as smooth as possible. The Nürburgring is a very technical track, so there are many chances to get it wrong, but the car has just some much mechanical grip that it is very forgiving." Although it was her first outing in a Formula X Sports car, it wasn't her first visit to the famed Green Hell, as the Germans call the Nürburgring. Two years ago she raced a 2CV here…
Another first timer at the 'Ring was Pierre-Yves Mallat. "It's a super track, with just no boring corners like you sometimes find on other tracks. The gears might be a bit too long for this track, but on the other hand the car is so forgiving and easy to control that it's fun to drive here. If I have some time left tomorrow I'm going to take my road car for a lap or two around the old Nordschleife (the 22-kilometer long "north loop") and see what racing must have been a few decades ago!"
Round 3 of the 2004 Formula X Sport series starts at 10am tomorrow; Round 4 at 2pm.
Qualifying times Round 3 - Nürturgring
1. Poron (F) 2m04s495 2. Nishizawa (J) 2m04s5373. Yamazaki (J) 2m05s4944. Casoni (I) 2m06s0765. Regout (B) 2m07s1416. Merche (B) 2m07s1977. Panzavuota (I) 2m07s8688. Wolff (D) 2m07s8989. Mallat (USA) 2m07s95610. Delcour (B) 2m08s20011. Huber (D) 2m08s37912. Hauser (L) 2m08s54513. Dansembourg (B) 2m10s33914. Gerbi (F) 2m10s45115. Van den Hove (B) 2m12s80716. Depauw (B) 2m14s522
Qualifying times Round 4 - Nürburgring
1. Poron (F) 2m05s1202. Yamazaki (J) 2m05s1643. Casoni (I) 2m05s8614. Nishizawa (J) 2m06s2685. Wolff (D) 2m07s3906. Delcour (B) 2m07s6087. Merche (B) 2m07s6528. Regout (B) 2m08s1389. Panzavuota (I) 2m08s17110. Mallat (USA) 2m08s23811. Huber (D) 2m08s36312. Gerbi (F) 2m08s67213. Dansembourg (B) 2m11s18014. Hauser (L) 2m12s66215. Van den Hove (B) 2m13s40516. Depauw (B) 2m15s834
