GT4 Race 3 Report
With race 3 of the GT4 Championship, the weekend at Oschersleben draws to a close. Alex Buncombe, racing in the nr 14 RJN Motorsport Nissan 350Z, managed to win 2 out of 3 of the races after narrowly missing pole in both qualifying sessions, an impressive start for a latecomer to the series.
Eric de Doncker finished second in the nr 1 Motorsport98 Mustang FR500C, making a good comeback after his suspension gave way in race 2, knocking him out of the race. Jurgen Van Hover got his best result of the weekend, finishing 3rd in the nr 3 SpeedLover Aston Martin N24.
In the Sports Light category, newcomer Gavan Kershaw in the nr 211 Lotus Sport Lotus 2-Eleven came first, narrowly beating Christopher Haase the nr 101 Reiter Engineering KTM Xbow, with his team mate Catharina Felser third in the nr 100 Reiter Engineering KTM Xbow.
Alex Buncombe also won best Silver driver for the weekend, with Rick Pearson in the nr 23 Derek Palmer Nissan 350Z taking best Bronze.
The 25-minute race got off to a relatively slow start, after Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof, in the nr 8 Jetalliance Aston Martin N24, went out on the start straight, causing the safety car to come out. Alex Buncombe, who had inherited pole again with Michael Mallock not taking part, managed to keep his position for the whole race.
Behind him was a strong battle for second place, between the Eric De Doncker’s nr 1 Motorsport98 Mustang FR500C and Jürgen Van Hover’s nr3 Aston Martin N24.
Grammatico’s nr 18 BMW Z3, which had started to make up places early on, got a drive through penalty for overtaking before the restart’s green flag had been shown, which lost it a lot of places at a crucial moment.
After the events of the start, the race was quite straightforward, with the main battle happening in the Sports Light category, between the nr 101 Reiter Engineering KTM Xbow and the nr 211 Lotus Sport Lotus 2-Eleven, with the two overtaking each other often, until Christopher Haase was blocked by traffic, and Gavan Kershaw in the nr 211 took advantage to take the definitive lead. Catharina Felser got a good start, but lost places behind the safety car.
After this weekend, Eric de Doncker is still at the top of the points board for the championship, with 54 points, but is now only 3 points ahead of Klaus Engelhorn. Jürgen Van Hover and Nickolaus Mayr-Melnhof follow on, with newcomer Buncombe scoring enough points this weekend to be 5th in the GT4 Championship.
In the Sports Light category, Catharina Felser leads the championship with an impressive 70 points, 6 ahead of her team mate Christian Haase, and Retera third with 56 points.
Race Quotes
1st Alex Buncombe, nr 14 RJN Motorsport Nissan350Z:
"I couldn’t have wished for a better weekend than this, winning 2 out of three was great. Racing in the GT4 European Cup last year, we came away with a few wins under our belt and thought that this year was going to be a lot more competitive, and that we were really going to struggle to get onto the podium. But the car’s been great, and it’s thanks to Nissan and the team that I’m here competing anyway. So it’s thanks to them, and I’m glad to be bringing a few wins back home."
2nd Eric de Doncker, nr 1Motosport98 Mustang FR500C:
"The race went really well. I’m very happy, because we had a big problem this morning with the car breaking its front right suspension, which was a shame because I was doing a good job keeping a strong second place then. That race was the first time I had to abandon in this championship, which hurt a bit. But my team did an excellent job rebuilding the whole of the front suspension, getting it ready just 5 minutes before this race. The car wasn’t as strong as this morning, but I had a good start managed to keep second place, so I’m quite happy with the result."
3rd Jürgen Van Hover, nr 3 SpeedLover Aston Martin N24
"I’m a bit disappointed, because this weekend we’ve had a lot of damage this weekend, quite a few mechanical issues. Unfortunately I had to let Eric de Doncker get away from me, because we had some problems with the electronic gear box, which doesn’t always listen when you change down gears, which makes it very difficult to race this car. On the whole, I made up two points on Eric de Doncker who’s leading the championship, so that’s a plus."
Sports Light
1st Gavan Kershaw, nr 211 Lotus Sport Lotus 2-Eleven:
"I won one! No incidents. It was a really good race. Haase, I think just got caught by the Mustang and I was lucky enough to get through. Because of the speed difference in those cars, I was happy to just do the pace I normally do, but he couldn’t match his. So I think the Mustang won it for us, and lost it for them. It’s been a great debut meeting, and good to take away a win."
2nd Christopher Haase, nr 101 Reiter Engineering KTM Xbow:
"My start was very good. After the safety car went back in, I managed to start racing properly, and managed to steer very well, keeping the pace. I managed at one point to overtake the Lotus, but then I was stuck behind it for the rest of the race. But it was a good race overall."
3rd Catharina Felser, nr 100 Reiter Engineering KTM Xbow
"The race was okay. I had a very good start, but then the nr 8 Jetalliance had its accident and I lost my places and got stuck behind the safety car. When the safety car had left, the car in front of me was so slow that we had lost the rest of the cars. I tried to catch them back up. I thought I was fast enough to catch them up, but I fought with another car, which ruined my tyres quite a bit every time I left the track, going over the grass and the gravel.
I tried to warm them back up, and fought hard with the GT4 cars. We all did a great job this weekend, my team, my mechanics, my teammates. We’ve got points for the championship and I’m very happy about it and am looking forward to Spa."
- Jacquie GROOM - photos SRO DPPI
photos are on automobilsport.com under PHOTOS - FIAGT more to follow---
More reports from this category all copyright automobilsport.com.
