Swiss Racing seek change of fortune

31/08/2010

Swiss Racing Team managing director Othmar Welti was encouraged by the pace of the team’s Nissan GT-Rs after a bruising weekend at Nurburgring.

The team emerged with one point for the 10^th place of the No.3 car of Karl Wendlinger and Henri Moser but there were genuine signs that the Swiss entry can at least match the pace of the Nissan stablemates at Sumo Power.

“This weekend we totally reached the pace of the other Nissan team’s GT-Rs. Occasionally we were even faster,” Welti said.

“However, we have to say that all four GT-Rs are not really rated ideally in the Balance of Performance. All in all we are happy with our own performance even though we still have to work on getting better in order to bring home more than one world championship point on the weekend.”

In Qualifying the No.3 finished 14^th in Q2 and out of the Q3 shootout. Wendlinger was given a three-place penalty by the race stewards ahead of the Qualifying Race for crossing a continuous white line with all four wheels in Turn 4.

The No.4, piloted by Seiji Ara, was eliminated in Q1. The Japanese pilot placed 17^th, three tenths off a passage to Q2, even though he was the second fastest driver in the field, with an average speed of 156 mph (251 kmh).

In the Qualifying Race the No.3 car was one of a handful of cars to opt to stay on slick tyres at the first hint of rain. Moser, who made a good start from 14th on the grid, was knocking on the door of the top 10 by the time of the driver change.

After the mandatory pit stops the rain became heavier and Wendlinger, on slicks, was in trouble. “We pushed our luck and made this decision, even though most teams changed to wet tyres,” team manager Erich Kolb said.

“If we had changed as well, maybe we would have reached P8 or P7. But with the slicks we had a chance to reach P3 or even P2. Unfortunately, it did not work because in the meantime there was more water on the track.” The result was P14 for the Wendlinger/Moser car.

Max Nilsson, in the No.4, came together with the Marc VDS Ford GT No.40 shortly after the start. Nilsson’s car sustained tyre damage and he was forced to drive almost an entire lap to the pit with a flat tyre.

With the tyre change complete, the Swede reached lap times similar to those of the leading group. The driver-tyre change pit stop was done without problems and the team changed to wet tyres due to rain. Ara took over and drove across the finish line in a disappointing 17th place.

In the Championship Race, Wendlinger gained three places after a handful of laps. During the pit stop, where the team did excellent work, Moser took over the car in fifth.

After the pit stop phase Moser was in eighth which he lost to one of the Sumo Nissans. Shortly after, Moser tangled with the Matech Ford GT of Richard Westbrook in the Mercedes Arena and lost a few places. Westbrook received a drive-through penalty as a result. In the end Moser reached 10^th to secure a point for the team.

In the No.4 car, Ara was able to stand his ground in midfield. A technical problem during the pit stop cost a few precious seconds and Nilsson returned to the track in 16th. However, on lap 22 the engine suddenly stopped with an electronic problem. Nilsson managed to restart the car but had been already passed by the entire field at that point.

As for the hard racing over the Nurburgring weekend which the team was caught up in, Kolb added: “Unfortunately they still compete very hard. Almost every second car has traces of fights even though during the team managers’ meeting it was explicitly pointed out that the stewards would take rigorous steps. Max and Seiji’s GT-R is damaged all around and that really is a shame.”

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