Faster Than Speed had an evening to forget in the World Championship's Belgian GP at Spa, picking up its first double-DNF of the season. John-Eric Saxen was a victim of an incident involving Cooke and Mikkonen, while Giuseppe Marconi also retired early.
Alberto De Juan secured the team's best news of the weekend on his return, finishing 10th in the World Series race.
In the World Championship, John-Eric Saxen only missed a Q2 spot by 0.191s, but in an incredibly close midfield in the Qualifying 1 session, his lap only left him 17th on the grid. Team-mate Giuseppe Marconi qualified 21st.
After making a good start, gaining a few places, John-Eric struggled to defend his position at the end of the Kemmel straight due to carrying slightly higher downforce than some of his rivals. However, John-Eric was determined to find his way through the field, passing Mikkonen before taking the fight to Disley. The pair had a minor wheel-banging moment right before going uphill into Eau Rouge at frightening speeds, luckily with no consequences for either driver.
After being repassed by Mikkonen at the end of that lap, his race would abruptly end at the start of lap 8. Thomas Cooke completely misjudged his braking point into La Source, hitting John-Eric's rear right wheel before crashing heavily into Mikkonen. The colission spun Cooke's car across the track, ending his own race and John-Eric's. Cooke received a race ban penalty by the Race Director for his actions, but unfortunately, nothing can be done about John-Eric picking up his first retirement of the season, ending his streak of 6 consecutive races in the points.
Giuseppe also had a difficult race. Due to technical problems, he had very little training laps under his belt and a less than optimum car setup. He was still making good progress in the race, until becoming a victim of the circuit's high kerbs on lap 16, when a kerb sent him directly into the barriers, ending his race there and then.
Giuseppe Marconi (DNF): "Technical problems meant I had no practice, no pace... and I didn't finish, so... no comments!"
John-Eric Saxen (DNF): "Another unfortunate race. I had a bit higher hopes for Qualifying, but I narrowly lost out of Q2 and ended up P17 in the sickly close field.
I knew I was in trouble starting the race from almost the back of the grid, with slightly less top speed than ideal. I passed a couple of drivers on the first lap, but soon lost the places back, as I realised it was pointless to defend against drivers who would fly past the straight anyway. Things got complicated further as Jaakko (Mikkonen) and Disley got past me. They were both quite slow in the twisty sections and had their own internal battle which almost saw me spinning as well in Blachimont.
As a consequence, Thomas Cooke caught us both which was the end of my race, as he clearly forgot to brake in time, taking both me and Jaakko out in turn 1."
In the World Series, Alberto De Juan made his return to racing after a few months. Despite the lack of kilometres, Alberto drove a solid race, finishing on the lead lap in 10th place, to take his first points of the season. Team-mate Danny Lubbers unfortunately did not reach the checkered flag, retiring on lap 8.
Faster Than Sped will now be moving to the fast straights of Monza for the Italian GP, round 10 of the 2012 FSR season. At the cathedral of speed, FTS took several victories in WS Ace, Advanced and Amateur in previous seasons. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter (@FTS_Racing) and Google+ for the latest news and live coverage from Italy!
Faster Than Speed
Press Release
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