Press Release June 19, 2011 No
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Press Release June 19, 2011 No. M 57/11 Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland, round 4 on the Lausitzring Nicki Thiim narrowly wins turbulent race Stuttgart. Fourth race, fourth winner – and 24 laps of high suspense: The Lausitzring race of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland was a real thriller. Cup-returnee Nicki Thiim from Denmark won his first race at Germany’s one-make series brilliantly but by a very narrow margin. Only 0.3 seconds separated the Hermes Attempto pilot from Sean Edwards (Great Britain, Deutsche Post by tolimit) in second. Third place went to Nick Tandy. Driving for Konrad Motorsport, the Briton heads to round five - which takes place at the Porsche Carrera World Cup as the season highlight - as points’ leader. On 25 June at the Nürburgring, more than 100 competitors from one- make race series worldwide tackle the greatest Porsche race in history. Fans were treated to gripping racing already at the start of round four on the 3.478 kilometre Lausitzing. Tandy, who started from fourth, took the outside line and in the first corner surprised pole-sitter Thiim and second in the qualifying, Supercup cham- pion, René Rast (Germany, Förch Racing), by passing them. Behind the leading trio a turbulent scene developed. The first victim was reigning champ Nicolas Armindo. The Frenchman (Hermes Attempto Racing) became sandwiched between two oppo- nents and landed in the gravel trap. Two laps later it was René Rast’s turn: out after a light nudge from Robert Renauer (Germany, Herberth Motorsport). Uwe Alzen (Germany, PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive) retired as a result of the colli- sion with Armindo. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 1 of 4 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] Press Release June 19, 2011 No. M 57/11 The fight at the top was extremely gripping. At times, only six-hundredths of a second separated Tandy, Thiim and Edwards. The leader was finding it increasingly difficult to fend off the two rivals. In the ninth lap came the crunch point. At the end of the back straight, Tandy ran with understeer too far to the outside, Thiim and Edwards slipped through and were able to pull away from Tandy. The current points’ leader then came under pressure from Zandvoort winner Jeroen Bleekemolen (Team Deutsche Post by tolimit) and Martin Ragginger (Schnabl Engineering). The Dutch- man and the Austrian delivered a fair fight over much of the sprint, with Bleekemolen putting in an immaculate drive to hold the upper hand. Fourth at the flag left him in second overall, but he shares the same points’ tally as his tolimit teammate Edwards in third, followed by Ragginger in fourth. Three Carrera Cup newcomers profited from the retirements. David Jahn from Ger- many finished sixth in the Lausitz, and brought home a better result than his team boss and colleague Uwe Alzen, and his second top ten result. The 2010-rookie Stefan Wendt (Germany) planted his Attempto Racing 911 on seventh ahead of spe- cialist Jan Seyffarth (Germany, SMS Seyffarth Motorsport). Two Cup debutants Philipp Frommenwiler (Switzerland, Attempto Racing) and Damian Sawicki (Poland, Förch Racing) celebrated their ninth and tenth place as if they were a victory. Nicki Thiim (winner): “The race was exciting. After Tandy snatched us both in the first corner I thought I wouldn’t regain my position. But then I noticed that he was experi- encing problems so I stuck to him like glue and waited for a mistake. But at the same time I had to contend with huge pressure from Edwards. I’m so happy I’ve managed to bring home my first Carrera Cup victory!” Sean Edwards (second): “Great race! Even though I was obviously annoyed I missed out on my first Carrera Cup win by such a close margin. My car was perfectly set-up but it was not possible to get past Nicki unscathed.” Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 2 of 4 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] Press Release June 19, 2011 No. M 57/11 Nick Tandy (third): “That was one of the most difficult races of my life. After a light nudge in the first corner with Nicki Thiim, my car no longer ran perfectly. I heard strange noises and it was very hard to control. Considering this, I’m pleased with third place and the points’ lead.” Race result 1. Nicki Thiim (DK), Hermes Attempto Racing, 34:50.590 minutes (143.739 km/h) 2. Sean Edwards (GB), Team Deutsche Post by tolimit, + 0.379 seconds 3. Nick Tandy (GB), Konrad Motorsport, + 4.763 4. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), Team Deutsche Post by tolimit, + 5.450 5. Martin Ragginger (A), Schnabl Engineering, + 5.810 6. David Jahn (D), PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive, + 15.781 7. Stefan Wendt (D), Attempto Racing, + 17.995 Drivers’ classification after 4 of 9 races 1. Nick Tandy (GB), 70 points 2. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), 62 3. Sean Edwards (GB), 62 4. Martin Ragginger (A), 42 5. Jaap van Lagen (NL), 39 6. Nicki Thiim (DK), 38 Team classification after 4 of 9 races 1. Team Deutsche Post by tolimit, 124 points 2. Konrad Motorsport, 90 3. PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive, 47 Round five of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland takes place as part of the Por- sche Carrera World Cup on 25 June on the Nürburgring (combination Grand Prix cir- cuit/Nordschleife). GO Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 3 of 4 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] Press Release June 19, 2011 No. M 57/11 Please note: Images of the Porsche Carrera Cup are available for accredited journalists from the Por- sche Press Database under the internet address https://presse.porsche.de. On this website you can also activate the Porsche Motorsport SMS Info Service to receive the latest news and information from race tracks around the world via text messages. Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche Aktiengesellschaft 4 of 4 Public Relations and Press Porscheplatz 1 Motorsport 70435 Stuttgart Oliver Hilger Tel +49 (0) 7 11 9 11 – 2 65 09 e-mail [email protected] .