News Archive » FIA GT: Adria Report

September 9, 2007

Saturday’s FIA GT race into the night at Adria in Italy produced a fourth place finish for Tim Mullen and Darren Turner and ninth for Tim Sugden and Rob Bell. Unfortunately the Mullen/Turner car was later excluded for a pit-stop irregularity after the team tried something rather new at the end of the race!

Tim Mullen:
“That wasn’t the best weekend for us but, although we just missed out on a good result, it was great to drive with Darren (Turner) and I think we’ll have some good races during the remainder of the season. I got away okay at the start but tangled with the BMS Porsche after we were both slowed by a Corvette. We both spun off and I hurt my wrist as the steering wheel was wrenched out of my hand but once I got going again the adrenalin kicked in and I was able to make my way back through the field. I was right back up there when I handed over to Darren after just over an hour.”

Darren Turner:
“Tim did a good job after his spin at the start and after he handed over to me it all went pretty smoothly. I didn’t have any dramas and the pace was good. I was able to close right up on the front-running cars before I came in for the last pit-stop, on the last lap of the race!

Rob Bell:
“We never really managed to nail the set-up this weekend and struggled with the balance throughout the race. I jumped in after Tim had completed the first stint and soon after I noticed the car sounded different, like there was a problem with the exhaust or the engine. We had some problems with the brakes in practice which put us on the back foot too. It’s a hard old game; you have good weekends and you have bad weekends. It just didn’t happen for us this time.”

Tim Sugden:
“This was a frustrating one really. We were quick at the beginning of the race meeting but then we just didn’t manage to develop this. The car was okay at the start of the race but difficult to drive in the final stint. Like Rob says you win some you lose some, but it’s still disappointing!”

Stewart Roden, Team Principal:
“We may not have got the results we wanted today but we really enjoyed the race. We tried something new at the end with the last pit-stop and it almost paid off, but not quite. Darren came into the pits as the leading GT1 car crossed the line to take the chequered flag. He stopped at the beginning of the pit lane and Tim jumped in and took the car over the start/finish line in the pit lane. We got into trouble for this though but you have to try these things. Sometimes a bit of creative thinking pays off and sometimes…”

ENDS

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