FIA GT1-Swiss Racing well-prepared for Portimao

Swiss Racing well-prepared for Portimao

The three-week break since the second round of the championship in Zolder has given Swiss Racing time to put in some solid preparation ahead of the third round at Portimao this weekend.

With the takeover of both cars from Reiter Engineering happening at very short notice and the schedule at the start of the season being very tight, the team has had little opportunity to work with the cars, according to team principal Othmar Welti.

“We were able to use the time after the last race to prepare the cars for Portimao," he said. "Now we need to qualify car No.5 (Karl Wendlinger and Peter Kox) for Q3 and No.6 (Max Nilsson and Jiri Janak) for Q2.

"We want to score as high as possible in Portugal and we hope that nothing happens with the cars during the weekend because it will only be one week until the next race at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany.”

Team manager Erich Kolb confirmed that the team has solved the oil pressure problem that blighted the No.6 Lamborghini in Zolder as the team looks for plenty of points. "Now we are looking forward to the Portimao race and we hope to score with both cars," he said. "The fourth place in Zolder raises hopes that Karl and Peter are prepared, and we are also happy about Max’s and Jiri’s start position of eighth. We have a great team that has been working hard in past few days."

Hans Reiter, of Reiter Engineering, is fully aware of the steep learning curve the Swiss Racing team is on having switched from Nissan GT-Rs they ran in 2010 to the Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670 R-SV for this season.

“I am very happy that Swiss Racing Team scored in both races, even though the cars are new to the team," he said. "Most teams have been participating longer and know their cars and the championship. It is only the second year for the Swiss with their own team and they have been more successful this season with the new cars.

"They need to concentrate on the cars now and catch up with regard to the know-how. This can take a while considering that a GT1 car needs a lot of service and work after every racing weekend. Othmar (Welti) is a respectable technician and a good engineer. However, the tight schedule got in his way. He and his team will get better with every race

Info : FIA GT1 Championship/acreditated and autorized media press.