LMS Rd 1 ~ Catalunya

Friday 3rd April 2009

Free Practice 1 (local time 4.20pm-5.50pm)

Free practice became somewhat of a shortened affair for JMW Motorsport when an engine misfire raised its head. After running for ten minutes the source of the misfire was not clear so the team were immediately into detective mode. The wiring loom was changed overnight.

Saturday 4th April 2009

Free Practice 2 (local time 10.45-12.15)

The engine misfire from Friday has been beaten and Rob and Gimmi were able to make full use of Saturday’s free practice session. The car ran perfectly, finishing 2nd in the LMGT2 times which were all extremely close. It certainly looks like the competition will be fierce in the GT2 class.

Qualifying (local time 3pm-3.20pm)

Gimmi took the wheel for the fast and furious 20 minute qualifying session. Leaving it to the last half of the season Gimmi required just 4 laps to put himself and the team in pole position with a time of 1m48.606s. This was enough to keep a spirited attack by Team Modena’s Garcia at bay by just six one-hundredths of a second! Indeed the top six were covered by less than a second and all capable of taking the win.

Team Principal Jim McWhirter was obviously delighted “That’s a good result for the boys. It’s been a very hard few months and that’s the first point in the bag!”

The sentiment was echoed by Team Manager Tim Sugden who added “The whole team is delighted. The bottom line is we are a new team though many aspects are familiar and this is a great way to start.”

And as for Gimmi “We did a very good job. We lost time on Friday and fixing the electrical problem meant we went into this session a bit blind but as you can see we are going in the right direction”.

However, Gimmi has expressed one word of caution with regards to new, young drivers in the other classes, LMP1 and LMP2. “There is a big problem with a lot of drivers in LMP1 and LMP2 not being able to drive in traffic because of inexperience. They are not treating the GT2 cars well and I will put money on there being a safety car after Turn 1”. Hopefully this scenario will be avoided as the GT2 class is poised to provide some thrilling racing.

LMGT2 Grid - Rd 1, Catalunya

Sunday 5th April 2009

Warm Up (9am local time)

Warm up goes ahead without any glitches and Gimmi posts the quickest LMGT2 time.

Race - 1000kms (11.30am-5.30pm local time)

The team took to the grid with Bruni at the wheel. Dropping to 3rd on the opening lap it was a 1-2-3 nose to tail battle in the LMGT2 class which was to last the first hour of the six hour race. After a smooth pitstop and driver change Bell’s first stint continued Bruni’s hard work and the car raised to 2nd and into the lead as the next flurry of pitstops approached.

With Bruni at the wheel for his second stint he slotted into 2nd and made a storming charge on Leo Mansell in the leading Team Modena Ferrari to take back the lead with the Felbermayr Porsche also making headway. Into the fourth hour and Bell’s second stint saw the first real gaps in the GT2 class form with himself and the Felbermayr Porsche breaking away from the other contenders.

When the Felbermayr Porsche took the lead, Rob was never far behind in what was turning out to be a real battle. The final round of pitstops saw Bruni back in the car as the Porsche’s slight advantage eked out a lead and luck favoured them as a final safety car period came in just as the LMP1 leader split the Felbermayr Porsche and JMW Motorsport Ferrari, giving the former the opportunity to gain the better part of a lap.

With 2nd position safely in the team’s pocket, a quick ‘splash and dash’ was more caution than necessity and the team celebrated their first podium.

Rob Bell was quick to praise his ‘new team with familiar faces’ after the race. “That’s a fair start for the first race of the year. We are learning all the time and the team were fantastic. Prefect pit stops, the boys did a great job.

“I predicted the Lietz/Lieb pairing in a Porsche would come out strong and I was right! We’ll do our homework now and then roll on Spa!”

Team Principal Jim McWhirter was equally pleased with his new venture “I’m very proud of the team. They worked exceptionally hard and have come together to form a strong crew. As always Rob and Gimmi have given 100%. The GT2 class is looking very competitive this year. We know and relish the fact that we will have be at the top of our game at all times.”

The next race is the 1000kms of Spa, Belgium on 8-10 May 2009.

LMGT2 Round 1 Result, Catalunya