At the end of a slowed down race caused by a minor collision, the duet Badey / Hassid managed to finish 12th in the Pro Am category after a great catching up. The team is maintaining its second position in the Pro Am Championship!
The beginning of the practices had started very well as Henry grabbed the second position of the Saturday morning Gentleman Drivers session. The following sessions allowed the BMW n°25 to be regularly in the top ten overall positions!
This second Blancpain Endurance Series round took place under a beautiful sun. The BMW Z4 started from the 30th place on the grid after the qualifying session
(13th of the Pro Am category led by the team).
Henry Hassid was in charge of the start and he tried to catch up with the other cars. The task is quite tough because the traffic on the track is heavy and overtaking is not so easy! While 28th, he had an impact with a Ferrari, the BMW Z4 had a puncture and had to go back to the pit! Following a quick intervention of the mechanics, he went back on the track in the 57th position. Unfortunately, the Race Direction penalized the team and gave a drive through penalty. The crew dropped to the end of the pack. Henry did his best and he passed the wheel onto Ludovic Badey.
The driver from Lyon was 53rd but he didn’t give up! He succeeded in gaining 10 positions in less than one hour! Sixty minutes before the end of the race, he handed over to Henry Hassid for the last time. Back on the track in the 45th position, once again, he gained positions. Despite a car suffering from a broken bumper and splitter, the car was still competitive and allowed Henry to overtake fourteen opponents. He crossed the finishing line in the 31st place overall and 12th in the Pro Am category (the crew being composed of a professional and a gentleman driver).
Although the race was the one expected by the team, the TDS Racing is still in contact with its most serious opponents in the championship. Indeed, all but one hardly scored any points! So, the team is maintaining the second position of the Pro Am Championship!
The TDS Racing is now working for the next round which is the pinnacle of the Blancpain Endurance Series: the Spa 24 Hours. In Belgium, the team will be able to increase the gap with its opponents because this race will give double points. For this occasion, the TDS Racing has asked Mathias Beche and Pierre Thiriet to come and lend a strong hand to Ludovic Badey and Henry Hassid. With such a strong line up, the team will be holding all its cards!
Source : TDS Racing