Huisman, Zampedri weekend summary at Imola

Disappointing start of the season for DeWalt Racing PZRO-JAM
"This is not what we expected for our season start"

It seemed like a hot summer day at the sunny 4.933 km long track of Imola in Italy when the first round of the Porsche Supercup season 2004 got underway during the Grand Prix of San Marino. But the sunny start of the season wasn't reflected on the results of the DeWalt Racing drivers Patrick Huisman and Alessandro Zampedri. A qualifying result with a 7th position for Patrick and a 9th position for Alessandro was not as sunny as expected. "I know the team has worked very hard to get ready for the new season and the car felt very good in the pre-season test sessions." said Patrick after the Qualification. The race result was not much better with a 9th position for Patrick and Alex who didn't finish the race due to an action to avoid a clash.

Qualification

For Patrick the session was divided into 2 parts. In the first part of the session Patrick topped the ranks and went into the pits for a short period of "waiting for the rest".

Patrick: "I was quick enough to put my car in the top 3 of the field. But after the period in the pits in which we changed the settings of the shock absorbers and a set of new tyres, the front of the car got " too bumpy " and me and Alex were the only two drivers who couldn't improve their time in the second part of the session. The other drivers could and passed me in the classification" The time Patrick set, was more than 2 seconds quicker than last year, when he also managed to put his Porsche GTR3 on a 7th place on the grid. Then he ended on the podium as third which was a good perspective for the race.

For Alessandro the 9th place is not what he expected. "Last year I was 1.5 seconds slower than today. A fifth place then is a 9th place now. I had a lot of problems during the free practise sessions on friday and in the qualification session of today it didn't get any better." Starting from a 9th position Alex is confident of improving his position during the race. " Of course a good start is very important but it is possible to overtake at the track of Imola".

Race

Starting from 7th and 9th position the outlook for a major improvement during the start is the best way to improve positions. Patrick managed to get out of the first corner as 6th driver, overtaking 1 car. "My start was good but Farnbacher had a bad start and blocked me. While Bleekemolen came from the right outside and I didn't really know if he could see me I decided to avoid the risk of damaging the cooler and I didn't push.

Uphill after "Tosa" I couldn't get the car into 3rd gear very easy. Uphill after "Acque Minerale" I couldn't get it into 3rd gear at all and Alex could overtake me with Saelens and Montermini while I was struggling for the right gear in the chicane. After a while Larini was able to overtake me in a fair race action and later Graf, Larini and me were able to get closer to Zampedri, Montermini and Saelens. When Lechner hit Menzel he damaged his cooler. Graf and Larini both got off the track on the cooling fluid of Menzel's car. I could't do anything else but avoid a clash and was able to get on the track again after some cars passed me.

For Alessandro Zampedri the start of the season was as he said "Not how i imagined it" he says: "My start was ok. I went to P7. I passed Montermini and Huisman right at the start at the "Variante Alta" . After that the car was ok and I started to push behind Saelens and it looked like some moments I could catch him and some moments I lost him a little bit. Montermini was completely overdriving the car when he was overtaking me and when he passed me he spun right in front of me and I had no chance to miss him and had to gi into the gravel and that was it. It is not a very good start of the season, but since this was not my fault there is not much that I could do. If I would have finished the race I think I could have been 6th or 7th.

Of course the next race in Barcelona in two weeks time has to bring better results to be able to keep the gap with the leaders as close as possible.

<pre> Qualification session Classification

1.    W. Henzler        GER   Infinion - Team- Farnbacher PZM   1.55.139
2.    W. Lechner Jr.    AUT   Walter Lechner Racing School Team 1.55.714
3.    C. Menzel         GER   Tolimit Motorsport                1.55.758
4.    D. Saelens        ITA   Kadach Racing Team                1.55.927
5.    D. farnbacher     GER   Infinion - Team- Farnbacher PZM   1.55.942
6.    S. Bleekemolen    NED   Team Bleekemolen                  1.55.968
7     P. huisman        NED   DeWalt Racing - PZRO - J. Alzen   1.55.986
8     A. Montermini     ITA   Walter Lechner Racing School Team 1.55.997
9     A. Zampedri       ITA   DeWalt Racing - PZRO - J. Alzen   1.56.088
10    K. Graf           GER   Tolimot Motorsport                1.56.120
11    T. bergmeister    GER   Kadach racing Team                1.56.382
12    N. Larini         ITA   Porsche AG                        1.56.622
13    C. Sauvage        FRA   Conrero Squadra Corse             1.56.964
14    M. Bleekemolen    NED   Team Bleekemolen                  1.57.304
15    D. Werner         GER   Infinion - Team- Farnbacher PZM   1.57.560
16    A. Renauer        GER   Ibex AG PZ Olympiapark Herbeth    1.57.702
17    O. Freymuth       GER   Oliver FREYMUTH                   1.58.562
18    S. Frederiks      NED   Jetstream Motorsport              1.59.837
19    F. Nugnes         ITA   Porsche AG                        2.00.451
20    M Braunmuehl      GER   Team Herberth PZ Olympia Park     2.00.699
21    B. Laber          GER   Team Herberth PZ Olympia Park     2.00.974
22    M. Kesseler       NED   Jetstream Motorsport              2.01.758

Race Classification after 13 laps

1.    W. Henzler        GER   Infinion - Team- Farnbacher PZM
2.    C. Menzel         GER   Tolimit Motorsport
3.    D. farnbacher     GER   Infinion - Team- Farnbacher PZM
4.    D. Saelens        ITA   Kadach Racing Team
5.    S. Bleekemolen    NED   Team Bleekemolen
6.    T. bergmeister    GER   Kadach racing Team
7.    D. Werner         GER   Infinion - Team- Farnbacher PZM
8.    K. Graf           GER   Tolimot Motorsport
9.    P. huisman        NED   DeWalt Racing - PZRO - J. Alzen
10.   C. Sauvage        FRA   Conrero Squadra Corse
11    A. Renauer        GER   Ibex AG PZ Olympiapark Herbeth
12.   A. Montermini     ITA   Walter Lechner Racing School Team
13.   M. Bleekemolen    NED   Team Bleekemolen
14.   O. Freymuth       GER   Oliver FREYMUTH
15.   M. Kesseler       NED   Jetstream Motorsport
16.   B. Laber          GER   Team Herberth PZ Olympia Park
17.   M Braunmuehl      GER   Team Herberth PZ Olympia Park
18.   S. Frederiks      NED   Jetstream Motorsport

-dr-