PHOTOS HERE : Galerien/galerien/24h-races--88.html .. more to follow
The nr 6 Phoenix Carsport Corvette C6R has had a very difficult race, losing time due to a tyre choice, followed by a misfire, and ending with a fire. However, the car got out again, and should still be classified.
"We had a misfire problem for much of the race, but for the last three hours the problem was getting worse. The problem started in the night. We tried to find the solution, and we tried to change the mapping, the ECU. For two hours it was not good, but the last modification was quite good. The car started to feel quite normal, not completely normal but much better. I was fast again.
But just before the last chicane, the engine switched off. The fuel pressure lamp on the dashboard came on, and I called the team on the radio. I said I had to pit now with an engine problem. I did the last chicane, and at that moment, there was fire in the car.
I pushed the fire extinguisher immediately – that was the first time I have ever pushed that, because usually drivers try not to push it if they are close to marshals, because they do less damage if the fire is not too extensive. But there was a lot of fire ! It was difficult to breathe, and there were the fumes from the extinguisher. I jumped out quickly. We were lucky because I was in the pits so the team could get the car back and check it.
The car can run, but we prefer to wait for the last moment to finish the race to take the Championship points, because you never know what could happen. If we finish 6th, we will take three points. This race was a nightmare for us, very bad. The first nightmare was the crash with Wendlinger. For Mike, it was impossible to avoid him.
The car had front damage which we had to change. We lost seven laps, about 15 minutes. In the night we improved and the car was not perfect but we were running well. But here you are not only fighting with the competitors, but with the weather.
And this kind of weather was unbelievable. Rain – no rain – it was a gamble. We were leading for the first four hours and then we lost 50 seconds because we lost the bet, putting on intermediates immediately before it dried up. It was a nightmare race, but it was lucky too because I am fine, the car is running, and we still got some points."
- SRO -
More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
