D: Patrick Huisman Mugello summary

HARD CHARGING PATRICK HUISMAN FINISHES 8TH IN MUGELLO

Patrick Huisman finished the third round of the Porsche Carrera Cup Germany in Mugello (ITA) in eighth position today. After having started from 13th on the grid, the Hermes Attempto Racing driver enjoyed a great start and displayed a solid race in order to climb up five positions. By adding another eight points to his tally, the successful Dutchman has moved into fourth position in the championship standings.

FREE PRACTISES & QUALIFYING

With limited pre-season testing under his belt, Huisman and his Hermes Attempto Racing squad made good use of Friday's double free practise session by experimenting with the car's set-up. As the newly (2008) introduced Porsche 911 GT3 differs considerably from the previous one, most drivers are still exploring the characteristics and possibilities of their new machinery. At the twisty Mugello circuit Huisman and his team concentrated mainly in improving the stiffness and balance of the blue and white coloured car with starting number 88.

Qualifying unfortunately didn't bring Huisman the desired result on Saturday morning. While entering his quick lap, another competitor blocked the four times Porsche Supercup champion and denied him posting possibly the fifth quickest time. As other drivers did improve their lap times, Huisman had to settle for 13th on the grid instead.

RACE

Extremely motivated and eager to turn the tide in Sunday's 16 lap race, Huisman started off with a superb getaway, overtaking four cars before approaching turn 1. In the usual first lap chaos, Huisman tangled a bit with his team mate Thomas Jaeger for P8, but did not succeed to overtake him as well. As the race progressed, Huisman could easily follow the group of drivers ahead of him, all challenging for a podium position. A short off- track excursion halfway the race however set him back a few positions and temporarily halting his challenge. But as other drivers made a few errors in the final stages of the race, Huisman was able to fight his way back to 8th position at the finish.

PATRICK HUISMAN: "I'm happy to have finished in eighth position after this eventful race and to have moved into fourth position in the driver standings. If I would not have been blocked in qualifying, we even might have got a bit more out of this weekend. Together with the team I'm starting to feel more and more comfortable and competitive in this new car though. We've scheduled to test later this week at the Eurospeedway Lausitz, to get more familiarised to our car and improve our performance. Thinks look bright."

-credit: patrickhuisman.com