Nürburgring - The penultimate round of the Belcar season took the grid to the famous Nürburgring GP circuit. We wanted to come back strong after our disappointment at the 24 Hours of Zolder. With practice, qualifying and the race on the same day, we knew it would be a busy but entertaining day.
Conditions at the Nürburgring were exactly as you would expect at this venue, cold and rainy. This was not a problem for Cédric and me, as we quickly found our pace. The car felt great, even though the conditions were difficult. We topped the timesheets early in practice and continued to improve as we got more and more used to the conditions and the car. The rain combined with the cold temperatures made it difficult, but we stayed out of trouble and were able to set consistent lap times to finish our only practice in first place.
Qualifying followed soon after and with no change in the weather conditions, we knew we would be the favorites. Cédric went out first and set some remarkable lap times, immediately leaving the competition behind. The gap was big, but with the conditions improving all the time, we were not quite sure of pole. I got in the car and managed to match Cédric's lap times, It became clear that I didn't need to take any more risks to improve our times. As the race was shortly after qualifying, we opted to use the remaining time as practice rather than risk damaging the car. Pole ended up coming our way comfortably.
The race started on new and unfamiliar terrain as it was completely dry. This proved tricky when entering the hairpin at T1, when Cédric blocked his wheels and spun around. Fortunately, there was no damage to the car and we only lost a few positions. After that, we had to overtake everyone to win the race. We did, the car felt good and so did our pace. We drove to P2 in no time. When we wanted to overtake the leading Porsche, we were hit and spun in the last corner. An unacceptable action by them and the race direction thought the same, which earned them a 10s stop and go penalty. Our spin meant we lost a lot of places and time again, but we got away with no damage to the car. We kept pushing and with our outstanding pace we were back in the podium positions within a few laps. We overtook the leading Porsche with ease and got into first place. We were able to create quite a gap to P2 when it started to drizzle. Initially the slick tire was the best option, but when it started raining a bit harder, we opted for wets. I think we made the perfect strategy choice as we extended our lead even further. With the slippery conditions, we made sure we didn't lose time on the other cars to get our car home safely. Despite the changeable weather and slippery conditions, we managed to take a comfortable and dominant victory on a track that suited us well.
Very happy for the team and myself to bounce back after the disappointment at the 24 hours of Zolder, now it’s crucial to keep this momentum going into the last round of the Belcar series at Zolder. We hope to see you all there. Let’s go on to the next one!
