Nissan GT-Rs aim high

27/07/2010

The Sumo Power GT team’s target for round four at Paul Ricard was to secure strong finishes for both cars. They hit that target with a third place in the Qualifying Race for Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes and second place in the Championship Race for Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck.

The objective remains the same for Spa and according to team manager Allen Orchard the pre-race preparations the team has carried out have been extensive.

“We did some good work at the Spa test day,” he said. “We worked methodically through various damper settings and ride heights, working on finding the right set-up for the Spa races.

“Since then we have been doing a lot of simulation work so the mechanics have had plenty of time to work on the cars while the engineers have been busy with simulation. You never know where you’re at until you start running but I am hoping for another solid performance.”

After a second place finish in the main race at Paul Ricard, Dumbreck and Krumm will carry success ballast for Spa. This will give them a mountain to climb, or at least the steep hill that starts at the infamous Eau Rouge.

“I think those of us who got the good results at Ricard are going to have to race tactically this weekend,” Orchard said. “Fifty kilos is a lot of ballast to carry around Spa, especially with the long drag up through Eau Rouge and on from there.

“We’re going to aim for the top 10 so we get some points but also lose some of the weight. If we get there and we’re looking good there will be no stopping us going for the top results. Even with the weight the Nissan GT-R will still be strong through Spa’s sweeping turns so let’s go and see how it all pans out.”

After a difficult weekend at Ricard, the Swiss Racing Team heads to Spa with two success ballast-free Nissan GT-Rs. The team got some good running at the recent Spa Test and have high hopes of a good showing this weekend.

“It’s safe to say that we are not happy with our season so far,” said Team Principal, Othmar Welti. “We know that the Nissan GT-R is capable of much more. We had a good Spa test, albeit with just one car as we had some repairs to do on the No.4 car after Ricard.

“All four drivers took part and we made many adjustments. I am an optimistic man and I expect to be on the pace at Spa. We have shown time and again that we have the race pace but we need to get it right throughout the whole weekend. When just a split second is the difference between success and failure you have to get it right.”

Tweet this