It wasn't an easy weekend for Faster Than Speed at Valencia. With Zsolt Nagy and Danny van der Niet in the World Championship seats, the team suffered a double retirement with both drivers suffering technical issues.
Carlos Martín managed to rescue a few points out of a difficult race to reduce the championship gap and keep his World Trophy hopes alive.
In the World Championship, Faster Than Speed featured a rare lineup consisting of Zsolt Nagy and debutant Danny van der Niet. Due to late allocation, neither was allowed to set a time in Q1, the pair having to start the European GP from the last row of the grid. We thank our friends at Crown7NetRex for allowing them to drive the FTS-P13 this weekend.
Both Zsolt and Danny made great starts, ending the first lap 13th and 14th, after starting from 22nd and 21st respectively. After Zsolt overtook Kolarec, Danny was able to pass both his team-mate and the Croatian in one move before entering the bridge. The FTS team-mates fought closely and even made some very minor contact before Zsolt retook the position a few corners later.
Zsolt drove a strong race, showing very good pace specially on the harder tyre compound. His race included a tough battle with Lapchin, who defended his position by pushing the Hungarian out of the track. While mixed in the battle for points with Lapchin and Werdmuller, his race ended due to technical issues on lap 51. Danny, meanwhile, surprised everyone with his impressively consistent laptimes on his WC debut, withstanding pressure from both Kolarec and Disley for most of the race before an engine failure finished his race prematurely on lap 46.
In the World Series, Thomas Mundy returned to the cockpit at Valencia. He endured a difficult race which ended on lap 31 after picking up damage. With his car too damaged to continue, he had no choice but to retire from the race.
In the World Trophy, Carlos Martín was surprised to get into Q2 despite his very limited testing time. In the race, he had a strong showing, being clearly in the battle for a podium finish. However, his race went downhill after hitting a stricken front wing on the track. The debris caused heavy bodywork damage on his FTS-P13, which caused him to make contact with the barriers and require a long unscheduled pistop for repairs, dropping him to 12th.
Carlos eventually recovered to finish the race in 10th place, picking up some valuable points for the championship. He now trails leader Mark Aalberts, who retired at Valencia, by 39 points and is now tied 2nd with Ben Tusting. Danny Lubbers, meanwhile, returned to FSR for the first time this season, just missing out on the Pre-Qualifying cut as he had little time to get used to the 2013 car.
The tenth round of the 2013 season will be the Italian GP. At the mythical Monza circuit, Faster Than Speed has celebrated several victories in WS Ace, WS Advanced and WS 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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