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Radical Speed Weekend @ The Nürburgring: Qualifying Report
26th June 2010
Competitors in the Shell Racing Solutions Radical Masters and Competition Car Insurance Radical UK Cup have just completed their 60-minute qualifying session for this afternoon’s races, with Tranzpower’s Jamie Patterson taking pole for the first race, and Radical France’s paring of Patrice Guillaume and Frederic Rouvier on the top spot for Race 2.
In a tense session where fastest times constantly changed, less than a second split the top five SR8s in Session 1. Shaun Balfe was the first man out on track, but Patterson rapidly took charge and posted a fastest time after ten minutes. With Radical stalwarts John Stanley and James Swift improving to second, as temperatures and competition hotted up, Patterson continued to raise the bar.
Radical UAE’s Bassam Kronfli and Jordan Grogor were also close behind, then the 360 duo of Terrence Woodward and Ross Kaiser. 360’s other SR8 driver, Derek Johnston, had a comprehensive ‘off’ in the final practice of Friday, but is able to continue the weekend’s racing, sharing another SR8 with Slip-Stream’s Bob George.
In the Supersports class for the SR3s and SR5s, Radical Italy’s Andrea Fausti and Marco Cencetti proved that their qualifying performance at Spa was far from a one-off, with another spirited drive to take fastest in class. Radical regular Alex Kapadia was the second fastest, sharing this weekend with Peter Osborn. Finally, Mark Smithson and Stuart Moseley drove well to take third in class for Race 1.
The second session commenced at 9:35 and again, it was Jamie Patterson that set the initial pace. However, a continental contingent of Joachim Thyssen/Klaus Rader, Jurgen Guellert and Radical Masters rookie Jaap Bartels were rapidly improving, trading places right to the end of the session.
At the death, with a minute to go before the chequered flag, Guillaume Rouvier snatched pole with a time of 1:57.541, less than two-tenths of a second ahead of Patterson, Chris Hyman will start third in his older-specification SR8, with Thyssen/Rader fourth. In The Supersport Class, KB Development’s Ross Allen and Chris Dymond were fastest with their time of 2:03.476, narrowly beating Fausti and Cencetti this time.
Race 1 takes place after lunch; more news to follow.
