The fifth round of the FIA GT1 World Championship again provided high-quality hotly-contested racing, to which the Hexis Racing team made a big contribution as its cars were in the thick of the battle among the front-runners. The no. 2 McLaren MP4-12C GT3 driven by Grégoire Demoustier and Alvaro Parente had to retire, but in no. 1 Fred Makowiecki and Stef Dusseldorp scored their third consecutive podium finish. The Franco-Dutch pairing is currently lying third in the drivers’ championship ratings only six points behind the leaders: they are still in the running for the world title!
It’s a pretty good performance given the fact that the McLaren GT is only in its first year in the championship. No. 1 fought its way up through the field after its twelfth place in practice to see the flag in fourth in the qualifying race on Saturday. On Sunday, Makowiecki shot forward from his grid position on the outside of row two to snatch second in the first corner. He gave nothing away in his first stint, and Stef Dusseldorp spent a few laps in the lead after the driver change. However, the Portimao layout seemed to suit the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMGs better, and Fred and Stef finished in third place keeping their title hopes intact.
“We did the maximum,” said Fred Mako: “I stayed out a lap later than the quickest Mercedes and this gave Stef the opportunity to rejoin in front. The circuit suited front-engined cars better as they had more grip.” Stef Dusseldorp added: “We knew this would be a difficult race so I’m happy to have scored points on two occasions after our poor qualifying session. Once again we showed our team spirit. I hope we’ll continue this great string of podium finishes.”
Despite their determination to win the drivers in the no. 2 McLaren won’t have great memories of the Portuguese round of the FIA GT1 World Championship. Alvaro Parente made it into Q3 and the car finished the qualifying race where it started – in eighth place. Greg Demoustier had a hectic start to the championship round. “A car nudged me in the first corner and I couldn’t avoid tagging a Ferrari, which spun in front of me. I had to go round it and I lost several places. To my surprise the drive trains of the car were intact. I kept up a good rhythm despite a loose diffuser, which made the road holding tricky in the quick corners. I passed a Lamborghini in the middle of my stint and I pitted in tenth place.” Alvaro Parente would have liked to have scored a podium finish at home. “The best part of the weekend was the early stage of the qualifying race as I was fighting in the leading group. Despite the incidents at the start, we could have finished sixth, but seven laps from the flag I saw the oil pressure warning light come on and I had no choice but to switch off the engine.”
Team Principal, Philippe Dumas, summed up the Portuguese weekend. “We saw a couple of very good, very close races in Portimao with little to choose between the cars. We ran into a few small hiccups in free practice that handicapped us in qualifying. We’re talking about a world championship with a very high standard of driving, especially on a difficult circuit like this one. You have to rack up track time to be in the mix, but as we knew we’d suffer at the start of the event it wasn’t dramatic. We came out of the qualifying race well despite a few incidents. I was hoping for better things from no. 2 and the pit stops weren’t perfect. It has to be said that the McLaren causes us a few problems in this area. Finally, the Portimao race proved that the circuit doesn’t suit mid-engined cars. No. 1 scored a great result, and Fred and Stef are in the running for the drivers’ world championship title. I’m disappointed for no. 2′s engine failure as Alvaro and Greg did a good job. Our four drivers did everything expected of them.”
Source : Hexis Racing