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 Thursday, 15 May 2008 |
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Rounds 11 & 12 - 26/27 June 2004 - Donington Park (Great Britain) |
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Written by Jeff Seabrook
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Monday, 28 June 2004 |
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QUALIFYING
Weather: Damp track, 13ºC.
Donington, 26 June 2004: The result from qualifying for Donington was not what the national BMW teams wanted as the Alfa Romeo drivers have claimed the top three places with James Thompson, making a 'guest' appearance in the series, on pole. However, it is not all gloom and doom in the BMW garages as the result was down to the conditions and not any lack of performance from the BMW 320i. Donington is one of the most treacherous circuits in wet conditions, and a track that was still damp after heavy rain meant there was just one racing line and no room to manoeuvre past slower cars. The driver who was able to get the best clear lap was BMW Team Deutschland's Jörg Müller who will start fifth on the grid, with his team-mate, Dirk Müller second quickest BMW in eighth.
Jörg is one of the 'lighter' BMW drivers this weekend as he is only carrying 10 kilos of ballast while Dirk and Andy Priaulx (BMW Team Great Britain) are carrying 40 each. His comment after the session was: "The conditions were very difficult and it was very slippery even on new tyres. There was just one ideal line. I am happy to be fastest BMW and the difference between myself and Dirk is definitely due to the 30 kilos. I am happy so far but it was very, very hard to get a clear lap."
Both Dirk and Andy were disappointed with the outcome, but the realisation that it was down to conditions has helped them look forward to two good races. "I was happy with the car in the really slippery conditions at the beginning of the session, but when I put the new tyres on I found cars coming out of the pits in front of me on three consecutive laps. It was no ones fault and now I am looking forward to the race," said Dirk. Meanwhile Andy will start from 13th on the grid and is hoping to turn what is considered as an unlucky number into a lucky one. "This is part of racing. I know the car is good, but doing well in qualifying was about timing and going out and getting a clear lap. This is what I didn't manage and I certainly felt the car had the potential to be up there with Dirk," said Andy.
It was the same story of difficult track conditions and traffic from Kurt Mollekens (BMW Team Belgium Luxembourg) and Alex Zanardi and Antonio Garcia (BMW Team Italy-Spain). Kurt remembers this track from his Formula 3 days and commented: "In the dry it is one of the best tracks, but in the wet it is one of the worst!"
However, all the drivers can look back on what happened to Jörg last year and realise a good result during what should be a dry race day is possible. Last year he started from the back of the grid in race one, after a big accident in the first free practice session, and went on to win race two.
Sadly the story from the Independents Trophy class was no better. The highest placed BMW driver is Stefano D'Aste (Proteam Motorsport) who is 16th on the grid.
BMW Team Deutschland - Schnitzer Motorsport
No 42 - Jörg Müller (GER) 5th - 1m 39.562s - 10 kilos ballast
No 43 - Dirk Müller (GER) 8th - 1m 39.954s - 40 kilos ballast
BMW Team Great Britain - RBM
No 11 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) 13th - 1m 40.386s - 40 kilos ballast
BMW Team Belgium Luxembourg - RBM
No 12 - Kurt Mollekens (BEL) 12th - 1m 40.191s
BMW Team Italy-Spain - Ravaglia Motorsport
No 4 - Alex Zanardi (ITA) 15th - 1m 40.804s
No 5 - Antonio Garcia (ESP) 10th - 1m 40.114s - 10 kilos ballast
BMW Privateer Teams
Carly Motors - No 20 - Tom Coronel (NLD) 20th - 1m .41.032s
Carly Motors - No 22 - Klaas Zwart (NLD) 21st - 1m 41.039s
Proteam Motorsport - No 25 - Stefano D'Aste (ITA) 16th - 1m 40.836s
Crawford Racing - No 27 - Carl Rosenblad (SWE) 22nd - 1m 41.355s
Results: 1. James Thompson (GBR/Alfa Romeo) 1m 38.698, 2. Fabrizio Giovanardi (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 1m 38.904s, 3. Gabriele Tarquini (ITA/Alfa Romeo) 1m 38.994s, 4. Augusto Farfus Jr (BRA/Alfa Romeo) 1m 39.561s, 5. Jörg Müller (GER/BMW320i) 1m 39.562s, 6.Rickard Rydell (SWE/SEAT)) 1m 39.624s.Only registered users can write comments.
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