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| "aussie" Allan Beats The Odds At Nurburgring; 20 May 2010 | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: May 20 2010, 08:40 PM (332 Views) | |
| Stephen | May 20 2010, 08:40 PM Post #1 |
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Altezza Club of Australia
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"AUSSIE" ALLAN BEATS THE ODDS AT NURBURGRING A lone Ferrari, driven by a former Australian champion, has overcome the might of factory teams from Audi, BMW and Porsche to take second place at the Nurburgring 24 Hour race. The Hankook Farnbacher Ferrari F430 GTC defied the pre-race form guide and a lowly starting position to finish on the winners' podium and first in class. One of the four drivers of the Ferrari was 2007 Australian GT champion Allan Simonsen, who says the giant-killing result was due to a combination of factors. "Our car was perfectly reliable the whole race long, our fuel economy was good and we were able to minimise pit stops as much as possible - which is the secret of a good result at Nurburgring," said Simonsen. The Hankook Ferrari first gave notice of its potential during practice on the daunting 25-kilometre road course, when it set fastest time in the rain using intermediate tyres. "Our intermediate tyres were unbelievable and I think that if it had rained during the race we could have won the event," said Simonsen. On the first lap of final qualifying the Ferrari was hit by another competitor, and after an overnight rebuild by the Hankook team took 46th position on the starting grid. Despite that, by the end of the third hour Simonsen had driven through the field to 5th position, aided by a fuel-saving strategy that minimised pit stops. "We ran the engine very lean, which gave us an extra lap between pit-stops and helped compensate for a slight lack of top speed compared to the works cars." Simonsen and co-drivers Dominic Farnbacher, Lehman Keen and Marco Seefried then went on the attack. "Once we were near the front-runners we changed the engine mapping to give the car more power. We drove competitive times and the tyres gave us the confidence to push hard on this difficult track," said Simonsen. A Danish-born former Australian resident, Simonsen describes the race result as one of the highlights of his career. "This race is a huge deal in Europe - it's like Germany's Bathurst - so for me it is a pleasure." Team chief Horst Farnbacher says the performance at the Nurburgring reflects the successful tyre development work Hankook has done over the last year and a half. "The Hankook tyres have been extremely constant and have been for sure a key factor here at Nurburgring." The Hankook team now heads to the Le Mans 24 Hour race in June, which Allan Simonsen says will be extremely competitive. "We'll face factory teams from Corvette, BMW and Ferrari so, just like Nurburgring, we will just run at our own pace and see where we end up."
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| greeneyes | May 21 2010, 11:30 AM Post #2 |
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Targa Master
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Wow!! Love to see THEM at Bathurst! |
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The Girl's KE70- http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/42407-the-girls-ke70/ How NOT to build a rally car- http://www.rollaclub.com/board/topic/64027...ld-a-rally-car/ | |
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