Nick Tandy snatches back points’ lead after victory
Stuttgart. With two races left on the calendar the tension is mounting. With his second win of the season on the Nuerburgring, Nick Tandy reclaimed the top of the points’ table in the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland. The Briton profited from the bad luck of his compatriot Sean Edwards (Team Deutsche Post by tolimit). Leading the field, the previous front-runner of Germany’s fastest one-make race series suffered tyre damage three laps before the flag and went home empty-handed. Presumably, he picked up a carbon piece on a collision site. Second place at the gripping race on the 3.629 kilometre Nuerburgring sprint circuit went to Jaap van Lagen (Netherlands, Land Motorsport) ahead of Norbert Siedler (Austria, Aust Motorsport) in third place.
For Sean Edwards, the winner of the sixth Carrera Cup round on the Norisring, his zero result is particularly bitter. Taking up the race from pole position, he nailed the start perfectly and drove a faultless race despite constant pressure from his rival Nick Tandy. The Konrad Motorsport pilot shadowed the leader over 20 race laps less than a second behind, sometimes with just three-tenths of a second between the two. Tandy, as winner of the season-opener and last year’s vice-champion, wasn’t prepared to jeopardise his championship chances.
Tandy wasn’t the only driver to celebrate his podium spot. After a spirited fight, Jaap van Lagen and Norbert Siedler were also delighted with their second and third positions. For the Dutchman, this marks his second best performance so far this season after his victory from the rain race in Spielberg. Siedler clinched a commendable second at the Porsche Carrera World Cup, but competed there for his Supercup team. For the rookie team Aust Motorsport, their Austrian pilot’s podium result is something very special.
After securing tenth on the grid in yesterday’s qualifying, the two-time Carrera Cup champion Uwe Alzen was more than happy with his fourth place in the race today. This marks his best result so far this year. Alzen belongs to the group of pilots who fought valiantly and fairly over many laps. The German (PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive) profited from guest driver Christopher Mies’s (Germany, Team Deutsche Post by tolimit) extremely late braking which punted Jan Seyffarth (SMS Seyffarth Motorsport) out of the way, and slightly nudged Nicolas Armindo (Hermes Attempto Racing). This was particular tough for the German. Seyffarth had just seen his chance when Siedler massively flat-spotted his tyres in front of him and seemed like easy prey. Instead, it was ‘Auf Wiedersehen’ for the 2008 vice-champion. The French title defender Armindo was able to continue and saw the flag in fifth place.
Hermes-Attempto teammate Nicki Thiim from Denmark took home crucial points for sixth place from a non-eventful race. Poland’s Robert Lukas was delighted with his seventh place and his best result of the season. However, this was small consolation for his Förch Racing squad: Starting from second on the grid, his teammate René Rast was relegated far back in the field after a collision. This handed the current leader of the international Porsche Mobil1 Supercup and winner of the Carrera World Cup another disappointing result in the German brand trophy series. Martin Ragginger (Schnabl Engineering) from Austria secured eighth place after a messed-up qualifying. Uwe Alzen’s teammate David Jahn (Germany) concluded round seven in ninth ahead of Stefan Wendt (Germany, Attempto Racing) rounding off the top ten.
On 10 August, TV station Sport1 broadcasts a race review, interviews and reports from 22.15 to 22.45 hours in the Carrera Cup Magazin.
Nick Tandy (winner): “I had my share of bad luck this year. But today I was lucky. It’s crazy that I’m back at the top of the points’ table. The race was interesting. I was faster than Sean, but as soon as I got close to him I lost downforce. But at least I could put him under pressure.”
Jaap van Lagen (second): “My start was super and I could advance from sixth to fourth place. I pushed quite hard in the beginning, and that’s how I set the fastest race lap. Afterwards I realised I couldn’t close the gap to the front and I made sure I had enough space behind me. I just concentrated on bringing home a safe second.”
Norbert Siedler (third): “Third place is a great result for my team, but I’m not entirely happy about it. The race set-up of my 911 was anything but perfect. Early on it was okay, but then I experienced more and more understeer and later oversteering. Still, we’re on the right track with the team.”
Preview to the eighth of nine races in Oschersleben
For the eighth and penultimate race of this season on 18th September in the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben, only two drivers have a real chance at the title: Points’ leader Nick Tandy and Sean Edwards as his pursuer. Tandy is looking forward to the 3.667 kilometre circuit near Magdeburg in Germany, after the 26-year-old dominated there last year. Posting pole position, the fastest race lap and a lights-to-flag victory, he easily fended off his rivals – and held on to his title chances in his maiden Carrera Cup season. But Edwards, currently in second overall, also performed well last year on the twisty circuit, narrowly missing out on a podium place by just 0.4 seconds.
Race result Nuerburgring
1. Nick Tandy (GB), Konrad Motorsport, 35:24.026 minutes (141.468 km/h)
2. Jaap van Lagen (NL), Land Motorsport, + 7.732 seconds
3. Norbert Siedler (A), Aust Motorsport, + 12.525
4. Uwe Alzen (PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive), + 13.790
5. Nicolas Armindo (F), Hermes Attempto Racing, + 14.153
6. Nicki Thiim (DK), Hermes Attempto Racing, + 15.599
7. Robert Lukas (PL), Förch Racing, + 20.404
8. Martin Ragginger (A), Schnabl Engineering, + 20.603
9. David Jahn (D), PZ Aschaffenburg Uwe Alzen Automotive, + 25.690
10. Stefan Wendt (D), Attempto Racing, + 26.566
Drivers’ classification after 7 of 9 races
1. Nick Tandy (GB), 102 points
2. Sean Edwards (GB), 98
3. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NL), 84
4. Jaap van Lagen (NL), 74
5. Nicki Thiim (DK), 69
6. Martin Ragginger (A), 67
7. René Rast (D), 57
Team classification after 7 of 9 races
1. Team Deutsche Post by tolimit, 157 points
2. Konrad Motorsport, 124
3. Hermes Attempto Racing, 86
Public Relations and Media
Motorsportpress
Oliver Hilger
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