After victories in both the Qualifying and Championship races at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve last weekend – round three of the FIA GT1 World Championship – JRM Racing now lies equal-second in the Teams’ points table, with Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr equal-second in the Drivers’ standings. The team now moves on to round four at theGerman circuit of Sachsenring, hoping that its winning streak will continue.
The first of the two races in Portugal was won by Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook in car 22, with Krumm and Luhr second in car 23. JRM Racing’s one-two in the Qualifying Race was underpinned by its sister team Sumo Power GT finishing in third, the result seeing Nissan score a landmark one, two, three result – the first time any manufacturer has achieved this in the FIA GT1 World Championship.
Race two looked like it was going to go the same way, before Dumbreck stopped on lap 27 with a suspected transmission problem, ending his and Westbrook’s chances of a perfect weekend. This allowed Krumm, who was in second before car 22 began to slow, the opportunity to take his and Luhr’s first GT1 Championship Race win.
With the 3.7 km (2.299-mile) of Sachsenring a different configuration to that of the Algarve circuit, the team is conservative about its chances of a repeat performance – especially as car 23 will be carrying 35kg of success ballast. Added to this, the FIA has just ruled that all Nissans on the grid will receive a further 15kg of weight in accordance with the Championship’s ‘Balance of Performance’ criteria.
Because of the one-week gap between rounds three and four, all GT1 teams have faced a logistical challenge to get cars, equipment and personnel from Southern Portugal to Eastern Germany in two days. For JRM Racing, the trucks left the Algarve on Sunday night and travelled through Portugal, Spain and then Germany, before arriving at the track near Chemnitz in the early hours of Wednesday morning.
The on-track action at Sachsenring starts on Friday with Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying. Competition commences on Saturday with Qualifying at 09.10 (CET), followed by the first of the one-hour races at 14.15 (CET), with the main ‘Championship’ race scheduled for the same time on Sunday.
Team Quotes
Michael Krumm (Car 23)
“The result in Portimao was extremely important for us and came just at the right moment. We had a difficult start of the season with almost no points scored, so the victory brought us back into the championship race. It also builds a lot of confidence for our team, which is important. I drove the previous version of the Sachsenring in the last millennium (1998), but don’t really remember much. Looking at the circuit, I feel that there are some sections that will be good for us, but the slower section will be tough, so I have mixed feelings about the track. But of course, I’m very excited about racing in Germany!”
Lucas Luhr (Car 23)
“It was great to win the last round, not just for me, but for Nissan and the team. Now the target is to move on like this and keep up the good work. It will not be easy with the success weight we have in the car, but we need to keep scoring good and solid points. I was previously at Sachsenring in 1999, but the circuit has changed. Overall it is a cool track and I hope it is good for the Nissan GT-R.”
Peter Dumbreck (Car 22)
“We had a great race-car all weekend in Portimäo and between Richard and I we could not have achieved any more. If the transmission had lasted another 20-minutes I’m sure we would have taken our second win. I went to Sachsenring when I raced in DTM in 2000 and 2001. It is a very challenging circuit and, like Portimäo, has some fast flowing corners and blind crests. The weather might not be quite as good in Germany, so we may have to work on our wet set-up.”
Richard Westbrook (car 22)
“I was delighted we came away with one win and that JRM came away with two wins in Portimäo. Obviously, our DNF in race two was bitterly disappointing, but the season is in its infancy and we are determined to bounce back at Sachsenring this weekend. It’s not a circuit I know, so we will be going into the dark, but Peter and I will work hard in practice to overcome this.”
Nigel Stepney (Team Manager and Chief Engineer)
“As you could see from the results, the character of the Algarve track suited the Nissan GT-R. This will be our first visit to the latest configuration of Sachsenring and therefore we have no data for the circuit. It’s going to be a challenge this weekend if we want to carry on from where we left off in Portugal, especially as our cars will be far heavier thanks to the additional Balance of Performance weight and the success ballast in car 23.”
James Rumsey (Team Principal)
“As you can imagine, I was delighted with the results in Portugal. It was just what we needed and a great boost for the whole team. It’s going to be a tough act to follow, but the Sachsenring circuit is new to most teams and therefore it’s difficult to predict who will go well. Whatever happens, we must aim to at least consolidate our positions in the Teams’ and Drivers’ Championships.”
Source : JRM