For the seventh race of the FIA GT1 World Championship the GT dream cars competed in the Algarve, Portugal. The just over 3 miles (almost 5 km) long Circuito do Algarve is definitely a special track with its route of ups and downs. However, high temperatures and big bumps on the track cause trouble for the tyres, especially on the rear axle which pushed the teams to their limits even with economical use of the limited tyre sets. Reiter duo Christopher Haase (22, GER) and Peter Kox (46, NED) had an unusually bad start after their success in the Eifel. Peter Kox drove the REITER Engineering Lamborghini Murcieloago 670 R-S in the first qualifying session and did not reach the Top16 for the second session with P21.
“We do not know yet, what the problem was. Nothing seemed to work. I did not have the required grip at any point. It is difficult to push forward from such a start position but of course Christopher and I will do our best,” says Peter Kox. In the qualifying race Haase was faced with the difficulty of starting in the very strong middle field. The native Frank managed the start very well and gained a few places at the start-finish straight benefitting from the SRT-NISSAN’s slipstream before the group pushed through the dip with the subsequent right-hand bend. Haase lost places in the crowd and finished the first lap in P14. Very quickly it became obvious that the Lambo was at a disadvantage at the long straight. “We decided to use more wing in the quali race in order to preserve the tyres. However, now we could feel the disadvantage at the straight. I am sure that I would have been able to show more resistance with less wing but it is surprising how well my tyres were preserved.
“ Exciting fights for the best position resulted in the formation of little groups in the field. In front of the hairpin turn Haase kept to a Ford GT and positioned himself beside it. The Ford closed in on him and Haase was forced to back down. „We touched but it was definitely a racing accident,” says Haase. Kox took over from Haase. He went on track after a spectacular pit stop of less than 27 seconds and drove across the finish line in P12. In Sunday’s main race Haase/Kox clearly had an advantage with their tyres. There was a new tyre set available for the stints of both pilots. Very useful for a start from the middle field. Kox did a good job and reached P11 despite lots of touches with his competitors. Temporarily reaching P9, Haase took over the Lamborghini from Kox in P11.
Haase got caught up with two Aston Martin’s (Young Driver and Hexis) and was not able to pass. Martin’s/Leinders’ Ford GT came up from behind. “I was not able to hold him back. We still had a problem with the pace at the straight. By then we used less wing. However, we reached the limiter in sixth gear. A clear disadavantage for passing. I was able to keep up in the slipstream but when I ty to pass a car I reach the limiter and have to throttle. I tried to fight through the turns with distance. That worked pretty well,” says Haase. The Lamy Aston-Martin fought against a massive deterioration of the tyres. Christopher Haase used this weakness and positioned himself beside Lamy in a left-hand bend. Haase had an adavantage accelerating out and passed him. The loser tried to pass him again in the next right-hand bend and ended up spinning. Haase passed the second Aston Martin as well. The second car with Menten on board did the same. Haase finished the race in 7th place scoring 6 points for the world championship.
Source : Christopher Haase