Attempto sets the pace – Thiim with best time
“That was quite an adventure”, laughs Nicki Thiim while he gets out of his driver suit after the 45 minutes of the free practice session. “It can’t be so bad, because I am on top of the list”, he is pleased about the advantage of 0.117 seconds on his pursuers. “However, we still have to works on our setup for the race.” Team mate Kévin Estre, who finished ninth, agrees. “Beside that I had some problems with a locking back axle while shifting down.” The two Attempto pilots were separated by eight positions and 0.6 seconds. At the debut with the new Porsche 911 GT3 Cup, the field in Barcelona showed up extremely balanced. 13 of the 25 pilots driving the 460 hp strong Cup-Porsche were within only one second.
Strong in red and white – Lukas and Giermaziak on P2 and P3
The red and white national colours of Poland lined up on positions two and three with Förch-Pilot Robert Lukas and VERVA-Driver Kuba Giermaziak. “That was not the end, we got still room to improve”, Robert Lukas appears confidently. “If I get through without mistakes we will be within the top tomorrow.” Also his compatriot Kuba Giermaziak wants to claim a top-3 position in the qualifying. “I am quite happy with the result today and I want to confirm this performance tomorrow as well.” Old-hand Sean Edwards ended up fourth with the Project 1 Team (former tolimit).
For about fifteen minutes a surprise was in the air. With Robert Lukas, Patryk Szczerbinsky and Kuba Giermaziak even three Polish drivers covered the leading three positions. However, than the race direction cancelled theirs and others lap times because of cutting the chicane.
Schoolroom news – Strong Porsche Juniors
The two Porsche Juniors Michael Christensen and Klaus Bachler came back from the session with a quite convincing performance as well. “I am really satisfied”, shines Bachler about his sixth rank in the session, only 6/100 of a second behind his Junior mate Christensen, who is at the start for the new Supercup team DAMS. Finishing on fifth position the Dane was also fastest of the rookie drivers of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup. Michael Ammermüller and Jeroen Mul covered ranks seven and eight.
Stars are close to the top – Menu and Loeb
Alain Menu and the nine-fold Rallye World Champion Sébastian Loeb reported back in the paddock finishing tenth and sixteen’s. “It was not bad, but I am not satisfied yet”, WTCC Vize-Champion Alain Menu summed up his debut in the Supercup. “However, even worse is the fact that I forgot to practice some starts. I will have to do that in the qualifying tomorrow”, he laughs. Also Sébastian Loeb, who is away in Barcelona with the VIP Carrera of the Porsche AG, finished on 16th position only 1.2 seconds behind the top, appeared in good mood. “It was a little difficult to find the right rhythm, because I didn’t take part in the test with the Porsche here in Barcelona”, says the Rallye World Champion. “When I finally found my rhythm, I had an understeering car, which we will improve with a setup change for tomorrow”, says Loeb, who was able to win two rounds of the Porsche Carrera Cup France last season.
The Qualifying for the first round of the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup 2013 at the Circuit de Catalunya takes place on Saturday, May 11th, at 12.25 pm.
