A gray, cold and humid wheather, and a constant wind, We are well at the Nurburgring, in Germany. The qualifying session is divided in 3 phases of 15 minutes with a 10 minute break between each session. Each driver has 1 session to drive in. Times are then combined to keep the best time. The fuel tank is full at the start as you cannot refuel in qualifying. Seiji Ara, is the first driver for our team to start the session, with the McLaren #5. He realizes a nice 14th time.
Edouard Mondron car #15, participated in the second session and is 19th while Nico Verdonck qualified 10th. However their session was interrupted by a red flag, which slightly distorted the result. Marino Franchitti, (3rd session) is 39th, while Jerôme Thiry finishes in 32nd position. With the best time for our team.
Note that the first 39 drivers are only within 2.4 seconds of the pole position! Once again, we notice the high level of the Blancpain championship.
The race : from the 39th position to the TOP TEN! and the first McLaren !
Seiji Ara and Edouard Mondron are the drivers in our orange and black McLarens to start the race. The first stint is shortened following a red flag due to a violent crash of another competitor. Jérôme Thiry takes the wheel of the # 15 while Marino Franchitti replaces Seiji Ara on the # 5. Marino Franchitti is 19th and Jerôme Thiry is 26th as he lost 20 seconds during the pit-stop as the Mclaren didn’t want to restart .. … Marino spins, but fortunately, he can restart just behind … Jérôme Thiry. ..who ended his stint in 15th position just before Marino. Nico Verdonck on the #5 will complete the last stint ..
Knowing Nico, it is with a drive on the limit that he will try to make positions in the pack. He is now ranked 22nd. At the head of the race, the drivers are overexcited as evidenced by numerous exits. Suffering a puncture, probably due to debris on the track, Edouard cannot avoid a Ferrari collision which earned him a drive-through.
Nico Verdonck, is the author of a great comeback, as he ends in the TOP TEN ! And first McLaren. This is our best result since the beginning of the season with the McLaren. But this is not enough for us. Our cars are reliable, we now have to make them win ! Edouard and Jerome rank 27th, which does not reflect their fantastic speed. In 3 weeks already .. Navarra .. and again some changes in our team, as we have to complete the drivers line-ups…
Marino Franchitti : “It’s always a challenge to come into a new championship at this time of the year, even more so when it’s with a new team and driving a new car so we are pretty happy with a top 10 finish from 38th on the grid. Seiji, Nico and I felt we got the most out of the car, and a great strategy by the Boutsen Ginion team helped us move forward. It was a lot of fun racing in the Blancpain Series and I hope to get the opportunity to do it again soon”.
Seiji Ara : « Coming from temperatures of 30 degrees in Japan to a very chilly Nurburgring was tough, but the warm welcome from the Boutsen Ginion Team and that of my co-drivers, Marino and Nico, made me feel right at home. It wasn’t easy getting to know the car with such a short amount of track time and in such a competitive championship as the Blancpain, but finishing in the top ten and as the top McLaren made it all the more enjoyable »
Nico Verdonck : “It was not our place on the grid, and starting so far, makes things more difficult. In the race, we have passed 29 cars .. and finished as the first McLaren, which is well a good performance.”
Next Blancpain Endurance meeting : Navarra – Spain : 13-14 October 2012
Source : Boutsen Ginion Racing