Nice result, breaks in half.!
After a long break the MSpeed team could prepare itself for the 32. RCM DMV Grenzlandrennen. During the Friday afternoon practice session the same trio of drivers as the previous races, Norbert Fisher, Marco Seefried and Nick de Bruijn were able to familiarize themselves again with the track. Over the break a few changes were made to improve the car, but these were not showing their true performance yet. It was necessary for the MSpeed crew to make a few other changes so that the balance in the car would return.
This time it was Marco who was allowed to go out first and set a bench mark. He was not very lucky as he was held up by another contender on his hot lap and so could not get the maximum performance out of the car. After Norbert it was Nick’s turn to show his capabilities and set a time. Though during the end of Norbert his stint the car suffered an issue with the fuel pump. Before Nick was allowed to go out, this had to be solved as risking stopping on the track was not the best idea. When the problems were solved Nick managed to get one lap which put them on the 15th spot for the race. As a precaution there was a emergency solution added to the car for the race, in case the problem with the fuel pump would return, so that the car would always be able to run.
The start was this time taken care of by Nick, a first time with the MSpeed team. It was a huge chaos in the first corner as everyone bulked up to get around the tight hairpin. Nick lost a few positions, but managed to regain them going on the outside of turn 2 and 3. This made him already move up the order, though it was still a long way to go. From the first moment on it was a battle between the drivers that really never stopped during the race. In lap two there was another exciting moment when the Eiffelblitz, with driver Duncan Huisman behind the wheel, lost its water hose. This was quickly followed by the catching up of the back markers. The real overtaking was about to begin as these groups of slower cars make it really difficult to set good laps! When Nick entered the pits for the driver change in lap 9, while driving on the 8th position, it was Norbert who took over the wheel. He was straight from the pit in a good rhythm and putted down a number of solid laps. Then it was Marco’s turn who could take over the car from Norbert while the MSpeed machine was in 6th place. For Marco it was to see if more was possible. The gab to the front runners was pretty big and so in the first part of his stint he tried to shred of a few seconds, but at least maintain his position as they were on course for a podium in their class. Though stretching the gab to the chasing pack he was not able to narrow the one in front of him quickly enough to catch them up before the end of the race. Then out of nowhere it hit the MSpeed team, a mechanical failure dropped them out of contention. After the race it became clear that the driveshaft broke while exiting the carousel corner. With only a few laps to go a real shame as another good result was about to be made..
Nick told us after the race; “It was a real action filled first stint in which a lot of overtaking was done. The main thing to do was keep cool and don’t make any mistakes while driving to the front of the pack as far as possible. The other cars sometimes looked like mobile chicanes, you had to go overtake on the left side, right side and thru the middle to be able to set a reasonable lap time. Also it was in the second lap when I had to press my butt cheeks together when the Eiffelblitz lost her water. We were sliding in the direction of the guardrail with a speed over 200kmh!!” After the race also team manager Michele Rinaldi said; “It is all part of racing! Technical failures happen as it is a mechanical sport, too bad it happened while being on course for another podium. We hope to be stronger when we get back for the next race on the 3rd of Oktober.”
| 05 Oct | Nice result in the cold cold Eiffel!! |
| 22 Jul | Real Eiffel Conditions!! |
| 30 Jun | Short, but strong weekend!!! |
| 15 Jun | FINALLY TOP-10 |
| 05 Jun | New Team!!.. |
| 27 May | Solid Performance!! |
| 05 May | Bad Luck!! |
| 21 Apr | The "Green hell" lives up to its name!! |
| 08 Apr | Nick de Bruijn has an blasting debut at the Nürburgring with Porsche |
