Tag: FIA GT1 World Championship

  • FIA GT1 World Championship Round 10: Qualifying Race and Championship Race Reports

    5th December 2010
    San Luis, Argentina

    Sumo Power GT did all they could to score a top-three position in the FIA GT1 World Championship Teams’ standings in this weekend’s two races at the unique Potrero de los Funes circuit near San Luis in Argentina. Although both Nissan GT-Rs performed well in the near 30-degrees of sunshine, it was not the end to the season the team were hoping for, as both its cars retired in the final Championship Race.

    Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck in car 23 were battling for a top-five place in both this morning’s Qualifying Race and the afternoon’s Championship Race, until accident damage after contact with another car caused their car’s power steering to stop working. Warren Hughes and Jamie Campbell-Walter had overcome a frustrating start to the weekend and were looking good for a top-ten place in the main Championship Race, until a gearbox problem intervened in the latter stages.

    This morning’s Qualifying Race saw both Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-Rs make good starts; Krumm in car 23 from 7th on the grid and Hughes in car 22 from 18th. Both drivers headed to the outside of the track to keep out of trouble, as one false move was likely to end in one of the walls that line almost all of the 3.9-mile (6.3 km) circuit that encircles a volcanic lake.

    As it transpired, their caution was justified, as the Aston Martins that occupied the front row came together at the first corner and the remainder of the grid all had to take evasive action. This played into the hands of the two Sumo Power GT drivers and they crossed the line after the first lap in 5th and 13th places respectively.

    With other incidents occurring in front of him, Hughes moved up a further two places on the second lap and another one on lap three, before the Safety Car was deployed after a Lamborghini had struck one of the walls in a narrow part of the circuit. After three laps behind the Safety Car, there were then just three laps before the mandatory pit stops.

    First to pit was Krumm, and, after a blisteringly quick wheel-change by the crew, Dumbreck emerged on the track in third. However, for car 22 the stop took a little longer, as the sand and dust on the surface of the pit lane caused Hughes to overshoot his mark and more than 10-seconds were lost during the change-over of driver and wheels.

    Campbell-Walter did all he could to recover the situation, but the grip levels on the track coupled with the closeness of the walls meant his usual spree of overtaking was not forthcoming. He therefore crossed the line in 13th place.

    Meanwhile, Dumbreck was holding his own at the front, until an overtaking move meant he had to come off the racing line and picked up sand on the sticky tyres. With reduced grip, he found he could not get the power down a few corners later and suddenly found himself being passed by three other cars. Although doing what he could to claw back the positions, it was over a lap before the tyres worked effectively again and he ended the race in sixth place.

    With a car ahead of him receiving a penalty, Dumbreck in car 23 started from fifth on the grid in the Championship Race, with Campbell-Walter in car 22 13th. This time, a clean start by all saw no incidents in the first few corners and Dumbreck was able to hitch up with the leading group of five cars battling for the lead.

    Keeping out of trouble, Campbell-Walter had dropped a place but was happy with the way his Nissan was handling and therefore aimed to move up the order as the race went on. Positions throughout the field remained constant for the next seven laps. But then, on lap eight, Dumbreck spun on the tight hairpin at the bottom of the circuit, a combination of sand blown onto the track and hot temperatures doing their worst as far as grip was concerned.

    Thankfully keeping his car away from the walls and other cars, he got going again – albeit in 17th place. Now up to 12th, Campbell-Walter was the first of the two Sumo Power GT Nissans to stop for the compulsory mid-race visit to the pits, with Hughes re-joining the race in 10th.

    Dumbreck came in to swap with Krumm a lap later, who set about making up as many places as he could. Battling hard, he managed to climb to 13th, but damaged the front of his Nissan after coming into contact with another car –the subsequent impact causing the power steering to stop working.

    With the car becoming more and more difficult to manoeuvre, Krumm had little choice but to retire after lap 18. Little did Hughes know that just four laps later he too would be ending his race in the pits, when noises started coming from his car’s gearbox on lap 24, which then quickly turned into a mechanical problem.

    For Sumo Power GT, who have been challenging for a top three position in the Teams’ Championship since the middle of the year, not scoring points in the final round meant they ended the season fifth, with Krumm and Dumbreck ninth and Hughes and Campbell-Walter 13th in the drivers’ standings. However, the whole team is delighted with the outcome of its first ever season, the highlights of which were two race wins, nine podium finishes and the awarding of the Tourist Trophy.

    Both of the races were won by Fredric Makowiecki and Yann Clairay in the Hexis AMR Aston Martin. Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini were crowned the Drivers’ Champions, with Vitaphone Maserati claiming Teams’ Championship honours.

    For more information on Sumo Power GT, visit www.sumopowergt.com

  • FIA GT1 World Championship Round Nine: Qualifying Race Report

    Interlagos: 27th November 2010

    The qualifying race at Interlagos in Brazil secured the Sumo Power GT team’s ninth podium finish of the season out of the 17 races so far. After starting from fifth on the grid, Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck brought their no. 23 Nissan GT-R home in a very impressive second in today’s Qualifying Race for round nine of the FIA GT1 World Championship.

    Team mates Warren Hughes and Jamie Campbell Walter in car 22 experienced a difficult race. Firstly, contact with a Ford GT on lap two and the resulting spin, dropped Hughes from 12th to 19th place. And then Campbell-Walter suffered from a lack of grip as his tyres succumbed to the aggressive nature of the circuit, but battled on to cross the line in 14th place.

    Earlier in the week, before the track action began, Dumbreck and Campbell-Walter, together with Fellow Nissan drivers Karl Wendlinger and Henry Moser from the Swiss Racing Team, attended an event at the world-famous Corinthian’s football team’s training ground in Sao Paulo. They met up with a group of children from the Time do Povo charity that provides sports facilities for disadvantaged kids in the area. After displaying their ball-skills on the pitch, the drivers presented a cheque for $10,000 donated by Nissan, to patron of the organisation and Brazilian football legend Roberto Carlos.

    Friday was to be the first time the team’s two Nissan GT-Rs took to the iconic Brazilian track, with the morning’s Free Practice session seeing all four Sumo Power GT drivers take turns behind the wheel, it being the first ever laps of the track for Krumm and Dumbreck. Having to run tyres that were used for the previous race in Spain, Hughes and Campbell-Walter’s impressive third place in Navarra meant they had 20 kilos of success ballast and a set of very worn tyres. In contrast, the set on car 23 were in much better order and third fastest time was a satisfying start to the driver’s Interlagos debut.

    With regulations requiring teams to use tyres from their weekend’s allocation for Pre-Qualifying in the afternoon, even after making changes to car 22’s set-up the team opted for just a handful of laps with each car. A sixth-fastest time for car 23 followed by 17th for car 22 was regarded as a satisfactory outcome, bearing in mind that the first 17 cars were separated by less than a second. It was also interesting to note that the top-four cars were all piloted by Brazilian drivers.

    Bright sunshine welcomed the teams to the track for this morning’s Qualifying session, where Dumbreck and Campbell-Walter drove Q1. Ninth and 13th respectively was just what was needed for both Sumo Power GT cars to go through to the second session with the fastest 16.

    A storming lap by Krumm saw car 23 second and through to Q1, whereas Hughes could not find enough grip and ended the session 12th – the issue later being traced to a faulty front damper. Dumbreck then went on to set a time good enough to see him and Krumm start the first race of the weekend in P6. However, due to an infringement in Spain, Ford GT no. 5 was relegated three places, which meant that car 23 moved up to P5.

    With turn one a notorious corner, starting drivers Krumm and Hughes both elected to stay out of trouble, which meant that Krumm conceded two places at turn five. His caution was then rewarded when two laps later two cars ahead of him tangled and he moved back up to fifth.

    Behind him, Hughes was holding station, but on lap two a Ford GT turned in on him at turn five and, with contact to car 22’s front left corner, the two cars span to a halt. Thankfully, no mechanical damage was done and Hughes got going again, albeit now in 19th place.

    With others around them fighting between themselves, there were more spins and incidents, which allowed Krumm to rise to fourth on lap five and Hughes up to 18th on lap six before overtaking to gain 17th a lap later and then 16th on lap 14. The compulsory pit stops half-way through the race were made by car 23 on lap 16 and car 22 on lap 17.

    Once back on the track, Dumbreck, now behind the wheel of 23, set about catching the car ahead of him and, over the course of the next ten laps he reeled him in and, with a masterly move at turn one, drove around the outside of the Lamborghini to claim third place on the entrance to turn two. With only a few laps left to go, Dumbreck had settled for third, until officials announced that a pit-stop infringement meant that the Maserati in second place had been allocated a drive through penalty.

    With over 30 seconds dropped during the enforced visit to the pits, Dumbreck grasped second place on lap 30 and, following a faultless final eight laps, the team was delighted to collect its ninth podium finish of the season. It was also pleased that the second place finish will see car 23 start from the first row of the grid for tomorrow’s Championship Race.

    For Campbell-Walter, his afternoon was a frustrating one. The extra 20 kilos of weight, added to a loss of grip during his stint as his tyres appeared to wear rapidly, meant he was relieved to cross the line in 14th place. He and Hughes also look forward to tomorrow’s race, where they are confident that with a few changes they can claim a top-ten finish and score all important points towards the Teams’ Championship, Sumo Power GT currently holding third place and still with a mathematical chance of winning the title.

    Follow the team’s progress with its latest news stories and blogs – plus watch live races on: www.sumopowergt.com

  • Sumo Power GT – Race 7 Preview

    14th September 2010
    Rye, East Sussex,  England
    FIA GT1 World Championship – Round Seven, Autódromo Internacional do Algarve – Preview
    After just a three-week gap between races, the Sumo Power GT team are in action again this weekend when they head to the Algarve for round seven of the FIA GT1 World Championship. Once again, Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck will drive Nissan GT-R number 23, with Warren Hughes and Jamie Campbell-Walter behind the wheel of car 22.
    Following a weekend of mixed fortunes for both its cars in round six at Nürburgring the team has been seeking to overcome the issues that diluted its qualifying performance last time out. However, even with low-starting positions, car 22 managed to finish in the top-ten and consequently, a points-scoring position.
    With the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve a circuit which rises and falls with
    the terrain and includes a mixture of both fast and slow corners, it shares some of its characteristics to that of Nürburgring. Therefore, taking into account the information and data that was gained by the team in Germany, it is hoping that this and the warmer conditions may have a positive effect in Portugal, as one of the main factors for review has been the generation of heat and the management of tyres – teams only allowed to use four sets per throughout the whole weekend.

    Located near the city of Portimão in the Faro region of the Algarve, this relatively new circuit was opened in October 2008. A lap of the track is 4.692 kilometres (2,915 miles) long and is regarded by drivers as ‘challenging’, because of its undulations, blind crests and combination of bends.

    Sumo Power GT heads to Portugal lying 6th in the Teams’ standings, with Hughes and Campbell-Walter 12th and Krumm and Dumbreck 13th in the Drivers’ Championship.

    This weekend’s action starts at on Friday at 09.50 with Free Practice, followed by Pre-Qualifying at 14.35. Qualifying takes place on Saturday at 11.15, with the first hour-long race starting at 16.45 and the main Championship race, also one-hour long, scheduled for 15.30 on Sunday.
    The team had the following to say regarding the Algarve race:
    Michael Krumm – Driver Car 23
    “I’ve only driven the Algarve track whilst testing and not raced there before. It has lots of ups and downs which make it quite challenging, but this is what also makes it an enjoyable circuit to drive. It’s not as high-speed as Spa and probably closer to Nürburgring in its characteristics, so we can take what we learnt from Germany and this should make us stronger in Portugal, although to get a good result this weekend the whole team has to aim to do a perfect job.”
    Peter Dumbreck – Driver Car 23
    “I raced at the circuit a couple of months ago in the 1000kms of Algarve. It’s a rollercoaster of a circuit with a lot of blind crests, which makes it interesting. There are a lot of 2nd gear corners that may not suit our cars ideally, but we should be able to make up for that on the fast and challenging sections, which is where the Nissan GT-R excels. We know we have the car, team and drivers that are capable of fighting at the front at most circuits and, if we approach this weekend with our previous achievements in mind, then we can push for a good result.”
    Warren Hughes – Driver Car 22
    “I raced at the Algarve track in an LMS race in July, where I won the Le Mans class and finished sixth overall. The circuit’s undulations, high and low-speed corners and bumpy surface in places makes it very technical and rewarding to drive. Hopefully it will suit our cars better that Nürburgring, especially if the weather is warmer and we can overcome some of the tyres issues. We will also be focussing on a better qualifying result, as that will set us up for the whole weekend.”
    Jamie Campbell-Walter – Driver Car 22
    “I am the only driver from our team who hasn’t driven the circuit, but it sounds like it shouldn’t be a handicap, especially as Warren (Hughes) is a great team-mate and shares information.  It would be good for us to get a result this weekend, but we’ve got to make sure we get through Q1 and into Q2 or Q3, because it ruins your weekend if you don’t.”
    Nigel Stepney – Team Manager
    “Taking into account our performance at the Nürburgring – coupled to other recent events – we are approaching some of the ways we do things differently when it comes to set-ups. We have carried out a great deal of work back at base since the previous round and therefore, I’m looking forward to seeing how this equates to our performance in Portugal.”
    James Rumsey – Team Principal
    “I think the team could do well this weekend.  Everyone is working well together and we’ve done some good testing on our rig since Nürburgring.  As always, our focus will be to get both our cars into a points scoring position and to do that we need to improve our qualifying performance. We seem to have the race pace, so if we can nail some good grid positions we should be right up there.”