Formula BMW
D: Nick de Bruijn Oschersleben summary
STARTS PROVE TO BE A BOTTLENECK FOR 'QUICK NICK' DE BRUIJN OSCHERSLEBEN, JUNE 04 2006 -- This weekend, Nick de Bruijn was again back behind the wheel of his Formula BMW Deutschland racer in the support programme of the fifth round of the FIA WTCC ...
Published: Jun 5, 2006, 6:45 AM
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STARTS PROVE TO BE A BOTTLENECK FOR 'QUICK NICK' DE BRUIJN
OSCHERSLEBEN, JUNE 04 2006 -- This weekend, Nick de Bruijn was again back behind the wheel of his Formula BMW Deutschland racer in the support programme of the fifth round of the FIA WTCC championship at Motopark oschersleben. Though De Bruijn showed impressive performances in the free practises, qualifying sessions and both races, slow starts prevented him from fighting for podium finishes this time. By finishing just outside the top 10 in both races, De Bruijn could not add any championship pints to his tally, but managed to retain his seventh position in the championship standings.
The Formula BMW is worldwide the leading series for young talented drivers who get their first taste of formula racingcars. Drivers such as Ralf Schumacher, Christian Klien and most recently Nico Rosberg all graduated from Formula BMW before making their F1 break. In 2006 Formula BMW Championships will be organised in Germany, the United Kingdom, the United States and Asia. After an impressive rookie season last year, Nick de Bruijn will also be supported by BMW in 2006 as one of their 'Formula BMW Junior drivers'.
QUALIFYING
After a strong performance in the Free Practise session, Nick de Bruijn continued to show his renewed pace in qualifying with his new car he got a fortnight ago. The 19-year old Josef Kaufmann Racing driver impressed many by taking third gridposition for Saturday's opening race. As there was a reasonable threat of rainfall in the second qualifying session, De Bruijn opted to set a fast laptime in the beginning stages of this session. But as all his opponents had the same idea, De Bruijn was not able to create a traffic-free lap in the first two laps and set the twelfth fastest laptime. After that moment, rain started to fall and so he lost the opportunity to improve his position.
NICK DE BRUIJN: "Bad luck this time, nothing more nothing less. We are competiive again and that encourages me a l ot. In the first session I was able to fight for pole position since a long time, and that obviously gives me a good feeling. Standing third on the grid is promising for Saturday's race. Too bad the race came down so early in the second session. I just had no chance to create a single traffic-free lap, so I finished twelfth. Maybe a good sart and an agressive race can turn things around on Sunday."
RACE 01 + 02
Though De Bruijn did not suffer from a bad start, his direct opponents just had a slightly better one, which made him loose two positions. That De Bruijn would not put up with this, he demonstrated by setting a serie of 'fastest laps' during the 14 lap race and overtaking Jens Klingmann to take fourth position. By being somewhat too enthusiastic, De Bruijn unfortunately suffered from a spin in the final lap, which made him loose seven positions. With no changes to recover from this, the young Dutchman finished the race in eleventh position.
Just like in the first race, De Bruijn suffered from a slow start of the race on Sunday morning. By maybe being too conservative, he lost seven positions before reaching the first corner. On from his eigthteen position, De Bruijn charged hard to make up for his losses and overtook six(!) drivers during the course of this second race at the narrow and twisty Motopark Oschersleben. Next to this, De Bruijn impressed many by again setting a series of fastest laptimes. After some tough but fair fights, De Bruijn eventually finished the tenth round of the 2006 Formula BMW Deutschland championship in twelfth position.
NICK DE BRUIJN: "We're now halfway the season, and I think I can draw two conclusions. The arrival of the new car a fortnight ago was defenitely a large step forward, as I've been competitive ever since. After a difficult start of the season, I'm now again among the quickest guys at the track and able to fight for pole positions and maybe even wins. Less positive is the fact I lost too much time and positions at the starts of the l ast few races. As we have a pretty long break before the next races at the Norisring, we've got plenty of time to think about this and try to sort it out. I know that if I can improve on this, we could enjoy a great second half of the season."
-Josef Kaufmann Racing
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