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Peter H 
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 03-January-2004
Location: Worcestershire/Ost Bayern
Status: Offline
Points: 927
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 Topic: Macau Guia Races
Posted: 18-November-2004 at 11:18 |
NEWS [ 873 ] - 18 Nov 2004
PROVISIONAL POLE FOR J. MÜLLER IN MACAU
On the first outing for the FIA Super 2000 touring cars in Macau, the FIA ETCC drivers claimed the top-five positions in the first qualifying session valid for the SJM Guia Race. The Schnitzer Motorsport regular duo, Jörg and Dirk Müller, set the two fastest times in their BMW 320i cars, with Jörg setting a provisional pole position at 2:33.942, and outpacing his team-mate by more than one second. Dirk’s 2:34.975 gave him a provisional second place, just ahead of SEAT Sport’s best man, Rickard Rydell, whose Toledo Cupra was clocked at 2:35.072.
“The car is still not perfect,” Jörg said. “But when you are fastest it is always quite difficult not to be happy. It was hard out there trying to find some free space on the track and I think I still have a little bit of work to do on the set-up.”
The newly crowned FIA European Touring Car champion Andy Priaulx, who has joined the Müllers and the Schnitzer team for this race, was the fastest driver in the first free practice, but set only a provisional four-fastest time in qualifying with a lap in 2:35.285; FIA ETCC Independents’ Trophy winner Tom Coronel (Carly Motors BMW 320i) was fifth-fastest with a time of 2:35.771. They were both caught in an incident in the closing minutes of the session. “I was slipstreaming Tom and Dirk down the main straight and as we came to brake my foot got caught half on the throttle,” Priaulx said. “So I braked too late and I had a choice to hit them both or tap Tom into a spin. It was a bit of a nightmare but I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Coronel’s team-mate Duncan Huisman, the winner of the past three editions of the Guia Race, was eighth-fastest (2:36.751) behind Franz Engstler and Claudia Hürtgen both from the DMSB Deutsche Produktionswagen Meisterschaft.
37 cars were entered in the race, 18 of them complying with the FIA Super 2000 regulations, while the rest of the field is formed by Super Production cars. Others FIA ETCC drivers were placed 9th (Jordi Gené in the second SEAT Sport car), 11th and 12th (Toni Ruokonen and Simon Harrison in the two GR Asia Honda Civic Type-R cars). Gené caused the session to be red-flagged when he crashed into the stationary car of Richard Meins and blocked the track.
More news and results are available on the Macau GP official website: http://gp.macau.grandprix.gov.mo/mgpc/public_html/gp51/en/in dex.php
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Das Wolperdinger
AHN-NYUNG-HEE GA-SEH-YO
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Peter H
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 03-January-2004
Location: Worcestershire/Ost Bayern
Status: Offline
Points: 927
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Posted: 19-November-2004 at 14:33 |
NEWS [ 874 ] - 19 Nov 2004
JÖRG MÜLLER STEALS POLE FROM PRIAULX
Former Macau Grand Prix winner Jörg Müller kept hold of his provisional pole position during Friday’s final qualifying session for this weekend’s SJM Macau Guia race, but he was forced to wait until the final seconds of track activity to steal the top slot back from BMW team-mate and new FIA ETCC champion Andy Priaulx.
The battle for pole position was decided with a final dash to set the best times in the closing minutes of qualifying, after a red flag eight minutes from the end of the session caused by BMW’s Duncan Huisman crashing heavily at Mandarin Corner and coming to rest in a dangerous position.
Müller had been on pole position up until that point, having maintained the speed advantage that earned him the provisional top spot on Thursday, and as the car resumed for the final minutes of running it was clear that all the front-runners were going to make a major attempt to wrest the top spot. Müller, Priaulx and the SEAT of Rickard Rydell, who had been on pole position during the middle part of final qualifying, circulated close together out on the circuit as each driver succeeded in bettering their times.
Priaulx appeared to have won the battle, when he grabbed the top spot from Müller with a lap in 2:32.882, before Rydell also pipped the German to secure a front row slot with a time of 2:33.102. But before either driver had had a chance to work out where they would start the race, Müller had hauled himself back to the front of the field with a supreme effort that left him 0.764 seconds ahead of Priaulx. His time of 2:32.118 also meant a 1.8-second improvement compared to his provisional pole from yesterday’s first qualifying session.
“With new tyres it was a bit of a lottery with traffic, but I have had a great start to the weekend,” said Müller. “It is going to be a close fight on Sunday.”
SEAT’s Jordi Gene set the fourth fastest time (2:34.232), having repaired his car following a hefty crash in first qualifying, while Dirk Müller was fifth quickest (2:34.346) despite a spin coming out of the Melco hairpin that briefly blocked the track. Tom Coronel completed the FIA ETCC drivers’ domination, that resulted in the top-six positions on the starting grid.
The two 8-lap back-to-back races will take place on Sunday, from 11:45 Macau time.
More news, results and pictures are available on the Macau GP official website: www.macau.grandprix.gov.
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Das Wolperdinger
AHN-NYUNG-HEE GA-SEH-YO
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Peter H
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 03-January-2004
Location: Worcestershire/Ost Bayern
Status: Offline
Points: 927
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Posted: 21-November-2004 at 06:58 |
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NEWS [ 876 ] - 21 Nov 2004
JÖRG MÜLLER TAKES VICTORY IN MACAU
German Jörg Müller made history in Macau when his victory in the SJM Guia race helped him become the first man to win both the touring car and Formula 3 Grand Prix on the famous circuit, and also to score the first win for an FIA Super 2000 car. He edged out BMW team-mate Andy Priaulx by just two tenths of a second with SEAT’s Rickard Rydell third. The FIA ETCC racers dominated the day, claiming the top-six positions in the combined results.
RACE 1 - Jörg Müller turned his pole position into a victory in the first leg. He led away from the lights, with Priaulx and Rydell behind him, but the safety car came out after the track was blocked at Lisboa Bend on the first lap. Marc Hennerici had gone off into the tyre barriers after being hit by another car. Race resumed on lap 4, and Müller got away, building up a lead. He eased off over the final lap to come home 0.4 seconds clear of Priaulx. Rydell appeared to have little in reserve to challenge the two BMWs, despite looking down the inside of Priaulx at Lisboa following the restart. Although he could stay with the leading cars in the early stages, he dropped back over the last two laps. Reigning Macau Guia race winner Duncan Huisman’s hopes of winning a fourth consecutive title were dashed when he came into the pits at the end of the first lap with accident damage after a collision. Dirk Müller crashed into the barriers at San Francisco Bend on lap 7 while trying to hold off eventual fourth placed Jordi Gene.
RACE 2 – From the pole Müller got away well when the lights went out, while Priaulx in second came under pressure from Rydell. Just as Müller appeared to be opening out an advantage, the safety car had to be called out because Toni Ruokonen had crashed his Honda Civic at Moorish, his car stranded in the middle of the circuit. The safety car stayed out until the end of lap 4 and Müller again got away; by the end of the lap he was 1.3 seconds clear, with Priaulx forced to go into defensive mode as Rydell made a serious bid to wrest the runner-up spot. On lap 6, Rydell managed to get into Priaulx’s slipstream on the run down to Lisboa and dived to the inside. He managed to nudge the car ahead of him, but Priaulx instantly responded and pulled more than one second clear of Rydell as he set about closing on Müller. By the end of lap 7 he was just 0.7 seconds off the leader and on the final lap he made a major bid for the lead, brushing the wall at Fishermen’s Bend and knocking his left mirror off, but could not find a way through. Tom Coronel eventually finished fourth, with Jordi Gene taking fifth place and Simon Harrison grabbing sixth.
More news, results and pictures are available at: www.macau.grandprix.gov.mo.
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Das Wolperdinger
AHN-NYUNG-HEE GA-SEH-YO
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B 7 VP
Really Senior Member II
Joined: 04-November-2003
Location: United Kingdom
Status: Offline
Points: 1115
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Posted: 21-November-2004 at 09:54 |
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SAFETYFAST
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Macau Guia Races
Thanks Peter, Congrats to JM for a cracker--BUT-- Andy shows Why he won more races in the ETC, and deserves the best car support in WTCC 2005.
