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Jarama 2002

Lease Plan

02/06/2002

30/05/2002

Preview - GT Teams

GT Championship

Thrilling win increases lead for Lister Storm racing

"That was good fun; it was very enjoyable to have a real race to the finish line," Jamie Campbell-Walter said after claiming his second win of the season at Brno. "Who would have thought that we would have 23 points out of a possible 30 at this stage of the season ? It's almost unbelievable. Now we are resigned to the fact that we can do well. It was a lucky win -- Hezemans should have won -- but you need a bit of luck now and then. We have got to keep finishing the races, to try to keep our lead until the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa. A lot will hinge on that race. We have got a lot to work for now, with new-found hope in our chances for 2002."

Lister Storm Racing tested at Jarama with Dunlop over the winter. "The test went really well, and it was a Dunlop one-two-three in GT last year, so we're quite confident. Nicolaus is doing an excellent job; his task is to keep the car on the track, running within his own limits. He managed that at Brno, when many other professional drivers were spinning off, and that won us the race. He is really enjoying it." The British team has announced that Belgian driver Eric van de Poele will join Campbell-Walter and Springer in the nr 14 Lister Storm for the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa. Van de Poele previously drove the Lister GT1 car at the Sebring and Laguna Seca rounds of the FIA GT Championship in 1997, with Julian Bailey. The third driver for the second car has not yet been announced.

Larbre Competition Chereau improves to second

Larbre Competition Chereau had their best weekend of the season so far at Brno, placing their two Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars in second and fourth place at the finish, to claim nine points and the second place in the GT classification. "We are still trailing Lister by ten points, which is something we need to change," reigning Champion Christophe Bouchut commented. "We are hoping to get a win now. The season often starts slowly, there is usually another car faster than us, but we can catch up. We were very fast at Jarama last year, and set the best lap in the race, so we will try to repeat that this year. There are two or three small things that we need to work on. We have got new Michelin tyres since Silverstone, and we are very pleased with them, but we still have too much rear tyre wear in the race. Michelin has been the clear leader in tyres for a number of years, but Dunlop and Pirelli have made significant progress, and now Michelin are working hard to give us the tools we need to win."

Gollin and Cappellari on the podium

Carsport Holland, based in the Netherlands, came close to winning the Brno round with both of their Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars. However, the nr 3 car of Kumpen and Hezemans lost a wheel while in the front. This left the all-Italian line-up of Gollin and Cappellari in the lead, but ran out of fuel, finally finishing third, for their first podium.

"I am not disappointed about what happened in Brno," Gollin explained. "It's true that we had a chance to eat the whole cake and in the end we had only a slice, but Luca Cappellari and I were delighted to see that we can compete for the top positions. At the beginning of the season we have not fixed any goals such as winning or finishing on the podium, because this is a completely new experience for me. I didn't know the car or tracks such as Brno and Jarama, and I was unfamiliar with endurance races."

The young Italian has adapted easily to the Chrysler Viper. "However, I still have a lot to learn on the strategy required by this kind of racing. I was used to the single-seater sprint format and now I have to learn how to think in terms of saving the car and tyres rather than working for pure performance. I am really enjoying the season, because I have the opportunity to drive in a competitive car run by a very professional team. I also have a good feeling with Cappellari and I think we are forming a quite efficient pair. I think that with a bit of luck and no mistakes, we will be in a position to achieve good results." As for Anthony Kumpen, he remains optimistic despite the pairing's recent run of bad luck. "We were unlucky in Brno, but we have proved that the potential is there. We hope to finish in Jarama, and to finish at the front. The one beneficial thing is that we will have no penalty weight, while our rivals are accumulating the kilos. Luck might not be on our side, but the car is good. We were disappointed in Brno during qualifying that we could not get a very fast lap from the tyres, but they proved to be much better in the race, which was satisfying. Jarama is a very nice track, with plenty of hills, which will be penalising for those cars with extra weight. It's looking good, and surely our bad luck cant continue. We need to score well to catch up in the classification. It has to happen soon."

Ddo to drive in Spain

An eighth Chrysler Viper GTS-R will take to the track in Spain, joining those from Larbre Competition Chereau, Carsport Holland, Paul Belmondo Racing and Team Art. Dominique Dupuy will enter his Chrysler Viper GTS-R, which dominated the French GT Championship in 2000 and 2001. The French driver, who finished in 5th place in the 1999 FIA GT Championship for Chrysler Viper Team Oreca, also did a one-off race for Racing Box at the Hungaroring last season. Dupuy will drive the car with Spanish driver Miguel Barbany, with whom he drives in the Spanish GT Championship. They finished in third and fourth place respectively in last weekend's two Jarama rounds.

PSI returns to Championship

Belgian team PSI Motorsport will be racing at Jarama, with their nr 25 Porsche GT Turbo car. The team, which already took part in the Silverstone round, had a big crash with the car during a recent round of the Belcar Championship at Spa Francorchamps. "The team is still working to prepare the car after the crash; they want to be sure it is 100% ready for Jarama," explained Markus Palttala, from Finland, who will drive the car with Belgian Kurt Mollekens. "Although we didn't finish the race in Silverstone, we were quite happy with our performance. It was my first race for eight months, so I was pleased that my speed was so close to Kurt's . We are really looking forward to Jarama, as we know the car will be more competitive there than it was at Silverstone, with its long straights and high-speed corners. We still need to work a lot on the car, but we know where we must and where we can improve it. The team is working hard every day, and we are making progress. Our aim for Jarama is a top six position, and given our Silverstone performance, I feel it is within reach."