MICHAEL Krumm and Lucas Luhr finished an excellent third in the FIA GT1 world championship race at Goldenport Park Circuit to cap off an incredible day’s racing for Nissan in Beijing.
The strong third place has enabled NIssan and JRM Racing to retain their grip on the GT1 drivers’ championship.
The other three GT-Rs in the field also all put in great showings to secure top eight finishes, with the no.20 Sumo Power GT crossing the line in sixth, the no.22 JRM seventh, and the no.21 Sumo Power GT eighth.
The race began behind the Nissan X-Trail safety car due to the heavy rain and soaked track, with the GT-Rs holding position in fourth, seventh, ninth and 11th, but as soon as the X-Trail came in, the no. 20 GT-R climbed three places to sixth.
The no. 22 JRM which started in seventh dropped out with a puncture soon after the start which again brought out the safety car.
Two more safety car periods followed with the GT-Rs in fourth, sixth, seventh and 10th, but a last minute spin by the no.4 Aston Martin elevated all four GT-Rs up a place, and sealing an excellent podium spot for the German duo of Krumm and Luhr.
Krumm said: ‘I am very happy with the result. I can honestly say that I pushed as hard as I could out there today, but at times I felt it was a bit risky and I was in danger of hitting the pit wall. The GT-R felt great out there, and I’m delighted to still be leading the Championship after what have been two very tricky races in China.
‘Now it’s on to the final race of the season in Argentina. I think it’s a track that’s likely to be suited most to the Astons, but at the same time the GT-R has improved a lot since we raced at San Luis last year. It won’t be easy, but we will work hard to match their pace there and hopefully we will be able to get the job done.’
Round ten- the final round of the 2011 GT1 World Championship- will take place in San Luis, Argentina, November 4-6, 2011.
Current standings after round 9 (Beijing Championship Race) – Nissan teams/drivers in bold
Teams Championship
|
Position |
Team name |
Team nationality |
Car |
Points |
|
1 |
Young Driver AMR |
Germany |
Aston Martin DBR9 |
224 |
|
2 |
JRM Racing |
Great Britain |
Nissan GT-R |
216 |
|
3 |
Hexis AMR |
France |
Aston Martin DBR9 |
195 |
|
4 |
All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport |
Germany |
Lamborghini Murcielago RS-V |
182 |
|
5 |
Sumo Power GT |
Great Britain |
Nissan GT-R |
131 |
|
6 |
Marc VDS Racing Team |
Belgium |
Ford GT Matech |
112 |
|
7 |
Swiss Racing Team |
Switzerland |
Lamborghini Murcielago RS-V |
32 |
|
8 |
Belgian Racing |
Belgium |
Ford GT Matech |
17 |
Drivers Championship
|
Position |
Driver names |
Nationalities |
Car no. |
Team |
Pts |
|
1 |
Michael Krumm/ Lucas Luhr |
Germany/ Germany |
23 |
JRM Racing |
131 |
|
2 |
Stefan Mucke/ Darren Turner |
Germany/ Britain |
8 |
Young Driver AMR |
120 |
|
3= |
Markus Winkelhock/ Marc Basseng |
Germany/ Germany |
38 |
All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport |
101 |
|
3= |
Andrea Piccini/ Christian Hohenadel |
Italy/ Germany |
4 |
Hexis AMR |
101 |
|
5 |
Tomas Enge/ Alex Muller |
Czech Republic/ Germany |
7 |
Young Driver AMR |
100 |
|
6 |
Maxime Martin |
Belgium |
41 |
Marc VDS Racing Team |
98 |
|
7 |
Clivio Piccione/ Stef Dusseldorp |
Monaco/ Netherlands |
3 |
Hexis AMR |
80 |
|
8 |
Dominic Schwager/Nicky Pastorelli |
Germany/Italy |
37 |
All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport |
76 |
|
9 |
Jamie Campbell-Walter/ David Brabham |
Britain/ Australia |
21 |
Sumo Power GT |
75 |
|
10 |
Peter Dumbreck/ Richard Westbrook |
Britain/ Britain |
22 |
JRM Racing |
74 |
|
11 |
Frederic Makowiecki |
France |
41 |
Marc VDS Racing Team |
69 |
|
12 |
Enrique Bernoldi |
Brazil |
20 |
Sumo Power GT |
49 |
|
13 |
Mike Hezemans |
Netherlands |
11 |
Exim Bank Team China (Corvette Z06) |
46 |
|
14 |
Nick Catsburg |
Netherlands |
20 |
Sumo Power GT/Exim Bank Team China (Corvette Z06) |
43 |