News Archive » Podium Finish for Mullen and Janis

July 8, 2007

Scuderia Ecosse experienced a return to form in Germany today by taking a podium finish in round five of the FIA GT Championship. After a few tough races it was good for the team to get back on track and score some healthy championship points.

The Ferrari no.62 of Tim Mullen and birthday boy Jarek Janis almost made it up to second place in the closing laps, as Tim had a great scrap with the BMS Porsche of Emmanuel Collard, before the chequered flag saved the Frenchman from his grasp. Chris Niarchos and Andrew Kirkaldy also leave Oschersleben tonight with points after finishing in sixth position.

The team chose a daring strategy for the race. During the practice sessions they realised that the new re-profiled first corner at Oschersleben could easily produce an opening lap pile-up so they decided to make their first pit-stops as soon as the race began.

Tim Mullen:
“We’ve had a pretty disastrous year so far, so I think we’ve made a big step forward this weekend. We worked hard with Pirelli; we stayed on at Monza for two days and seemed to find a tyre that was certainly much better for our car and that lasted much better in the races. I’d like to thank them for working so hard, and the team as well. It was really great fun at the end with Emmanuel, we battled hard. The team’s decision to come in right at the start was because the first corner is very tight, making the first lap very slow; we made the decision to pit on the green flag lap, for our mandatory first pit-stop. I think it worked very well. Jarek did a great job and it has been great driving with him again. Unfortunately when he came in to pit and handed it over to me, we dropped a wheel nut and we lost 18 seconds because of it. But I’m still so happy that we’ve made it this far this weekend.”

Jarek Janis:
“I’m happy to be here, on my birthday. I don’t really know what else I could add to what Tim has just said. I’d like to thank my team. I think their strategy worked quite well and we won a few seconds that way. Other than losing a few seconds in the pit-stop, the race went very well.”

Chris Niarchos:
“The first corner came to a complete stop, as we expected it to, so I think we made the right choice to pit early. I had a great time out there today. My stint was almost an hour long and, once I settled into it, I could lap within a second of Jarek. I have to work on being quick during the first part of my stint though as that is where I lose time. All in all I’m very pleased with the weekend and it was good to see the guys on the podium today.”

Andrew Kirkaldy:
“Today was okay for us. We did the best that we could and it was good to see Chris driving so consistently. His speed is improving by the race.”

Stewart Roden, Team Principal:
“It’s good to be back on the podium but, you know me, I’m never happy unless we win! Our strategy was good today. The first lap was always going to be slow so we knew we’d make up time by pitting straight after the start. It got us into the fight but we didn’t get to the top which is where we want to be.”

The Spa 24 Hours beckons for Scuderia Ecosse in three weeks’ time and Chris Niarchos, Andrew Kirkaldy, Tim Sugden, Tim Mullen, Tomas Enge and Jarek Janis will all be fighting for glory at one of the toughest races in the world.

SCUDERIA ECOSSE RACE RESULT
#62 – Mullen/Janis – Started: 5th – Finished: 3rd
#63 – Niarchos/Kirkaldy – Started: 1st – Finished: 6th

ENDS

« Back to news