Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From PlanetLeMans.com:
GLPK satisfied with 4th place despite of bad handling
Thursday, 30 June 2005
FIA GT This weekend, the FIA GT championship took place at the Czech Autodrome track in Brno, for the fifth round of the championship. Still enjoying the last race's win, GLPK Carsport very much looked forward to this race.
Free practice and qualifying took place in warm and cloudy - but dry - conditions. GLPK set a time that was good for a position in between 4th and 6th place. The Maserati's were a class for itself, but the Corvette earns a very good fourth fourth position at the end of qualifying.
Mike comments: "Looking for a good setup on the track that knows lots of turns and up- and downhill sections is not easy." Nevertheless, Mike is satisfied: "Even now we did not get the maximum out of the car I am very hapy with a fourth spot.
After having set 93 laps at Brno, the light goes green at 13:00 on Sunday. During the start of the race, the track is still dry, but the weather forecast shows that the will be rain. This time, team member Anthony Kumpen drives the first stint, which is mostly done by Mike. Kumpen knows a good start, but loses control over the yellow Corvette in the second corner and loses some positions. Luckily, there is no damage to the car and Anthony is able to complete the first lap in 7th position. Around lap 20 the first drops of rain show up and not very long after that it rains very hard.
Kumpen goes into the pit in lap 26 (from 4th position) to provide the Corvette with rain tires. The rain is heavy and the wipers and headlights have to assure good sight under severe conditions,
Mike gets in the car after 36 laps. Mike almost instantly notices that the handling of the car is not optimal.Possibly the intermediate tires don't reach the correct temperature and Mike really has his hands full. He is not satisfied with his laptimes but manages to maintain 4th position.
Longin gets in the car for the last stint and finishes fourth.
Mike after the race: I can't remember such a hard stint as today's. I really had to work hard to keep the car on track and laptimes were bad. Usually I am able to attack, something that did not work out today. Although the intermediates did not work at all, I am still happy with our fourth position. It was a first race in the rain with the corvette and this gave us loads of information and is good for our experience with the car.
GLPK satisfied with 4th place despite of bad handling
Thursday, 30 June 2005
FIA GT This weekend, the FIA GT championship took place at the Czech Autodrome track in Brno, for the fifth round of the championship. Still enjoying the last race's win, GLPK Carsport very much looked forward to this race.
GLPK
Free practice and qualifying took place in warm and cloudy - but dry - conditions. GLPK set a time that was good for a position in between 4th and 6th place. The Maserati's were a class for itself, but the Corvette earns a very good fourth fourth position at the end of qualifying.
Mike comments: "Looking for a good setup on the track that knows lots of turns and up- and downhill sections is not easy." Nevertheless, Mike is satisfied: "Even now we did not get the maximum out of the car I am very hapy with a fourth spot.
After having set 93 laps at Brno, the light goes green at 13:00 on Sunday. During the start of the race, the track is still dry, but the weather forecast shows that the will be rain. This time, team member Anthony Kumpen drives the first stint, which is mostly done by Mike. Kumpen knows a good start, but loses control over the yellow Corvette in the second corner and loses some positions. Luckily, there is no damage to the car and Anthony is able to complete the first lap in 7th position. Around lap 20 the first drops of rain show up and not very long after that it rains very hard.
Kumpen goes into the pit in lap 26 (from 4th position) to provide the Corvette with rain tires. The rain is heavy and the wipers and headlights have to assure good sight under severe conditions,
Mike gets in the car after 36 laps. Mike almost instantly notices that the handling of the car is not optimal.Possibly the intermediate tires don't reach the correct temperature and Mike really has his hands full. He is not satisfied with his laptimes but manages to maintain 4th position.
Longin gets in the car for the last stint and finishes fourth.
Mike after the race: I can't remember such a hard stint as today's. I really had to work hard to keep the car on track and laptimes were bad. Usually I am able to attack, something that did not work out today. Although the intermediates did not work at all, I am still happy with our fourth position. It was a first race in the rain with the corvette and this gave us loads of information and is good for our experience with the car.
