DE
EN
RAVENOL Team SAN once again managed to bring home an overall second place points-finish in the Super 1600 Class during the 3rd and 4th races of the FIA European Touring Car Cup at the Slovakiaring, held over the weekend of the 19th – 21st June. In doing so SAN driver Ulrike Krafft showed her dominance in her Ford Fiesta 16V over the demanding 5.922km track. First of all she drove to a pole-position start in qualifying, following that up with her first victory of the season in the first race of the weekend. In the second race she was forced to relinquish her lead because of a mistake under braking and a subsequent spin, eventually crossing the line in third place. As a result she marginally missed out on the top spot on the podium.
Good weather prevailed over the whole race-weekend, with ideal temperatures of around 20oC. Due to problems with the petrol pump, Ulrike was only able to post the second fastest lap during free practice on Saturday morning, clocking in at 2:31.954. Once the team’s problem was remedied, she promptly set a time of 2:31.098 in the qualifying session, thereby securing her first pole position of the season.
In the first race on Saturday morning, Ulrike was pushed back to third place from pole in the scramble following the rolling start. However she quickly regained the lead on the second lap after a three-way battle with her closest competitors, Niklas Mackschin and Gilles Bruckner, and drove to the end of the race with a comfortable lead. “I’m really happy with my first victory of the season, and I’m optimistic for the second race”, said the overjoyed 31-year-old engineering graduate. Unfortunately she was not able to repeat her feats from the first race. After a tidy standing-start to the second race she immediately laid claim to her lead. Owing to an accident in the S2000 Class on the second lap and the ensuing salvage operation, a safety-car came out onto the track for four laps. At the restart all of the cars were bunched up again, causing a repeat of the three-way battle for the lead between Ulrike, Mackschin and Bruckner. During the tussle Ulrike missed her breaking point on one of the corners and her Fiesta spun off the track. Although she was able to continue the race, she could only manage to finish in third place behind Mackschin and Bruckner, who came home in first and second position respectively. “It’s a shame - that was my only mistake, I gave the victory away” she excused herself later to the team.
The next couple of ETCC races are as early as this coming weekend (26th – 28th June), at the Paul Ricard Circuit in southern France.
Results of race 1:
1. Ulrike Krafft
2. Niklas Mackschin
3. Gilles Bruckner
…
Results of race 2:
1. Niklas Mackschin
2. Gilles Bruckner
3. Ulrike Krafft
…
Current standings:
1. Niklas Mackschin 43 Points
2. Ulrike Krafft 37 Points
3. Gilles Bruckner 28 Points
…
Next FIA ETCC race dates 2015:
27th – 28th June Paul Ricard Circuit, Le Castellet / France
05th – 06th Sept Brno Circuit, Brünn / Czech Republic
19th – 20th Sep Circuit Zolder, Heusden-Zolder / Belgium
10th – 11th Oct Autodromo di Pergusa, Pergusa / Italy