Needless to say, Monza turned out to be another fruitful race weekend for Precision Motorsports including championship securing in WT, although a couple of fuzzy moves on the track prevented the team from maximizing the result in WS.
World Series, recovered after the Hungaroring farce, brought less surprisingly a shy qualifying, but Mattias Stahre nevertheless managed to put the car on the second row. An exciting race saw Stahre fight neck and neck with the two Twister-Racing drivers. Unfortunately the fun ended on lap 38, as the Swede was subject to contact initiated by opponent car in turn 1. Even so, the Swede managed to limp home in 10th, thus maintaining a marginal championship lead over team-mate Werdmuller, who finished 9th after pit lane start. The star of the day was, however, Born2Win driver Jeffrey Rietveld, who scored a podium being on loan to Precision Motorsports.
World Trophy, or should it rather read Melim's Trophy, showed the Precision cars in the main role in qualifying, as the team conquered the top 3 positions for the first time this season with Allar Foht on pole. The Estonian maintained the lead in the start, but a mistake pushed him several positions back, handing the lead to Melim. The Portuguese drove another flawless race, which eventually gave him the eight win of season, despite fighting attempts from Foht in the final lap. The result secured Melim the championship with four races left to the end of the season. Precision Motorsports congratulates. With Foht in second and Ajibola Lawal in third, the troops secured another "mission completed".
World Championship, providing the biggest (or by looking at the results, the easiest) challenge, gave Twister-Racing a 1-2 in qualifying, as rusty Bono Huis was unable to perform magic this time, settling for 4th next to Ronny Hähnel. Greco took an early lead and the race looked to go the Italian way until the first pit stops, where he was forced to slow down due to malfunctioning electrical circuits. This gave Precision the upper hand and the team settled in a 1-2-3 formation with Jaakko Mikkonen, Hähnel and Huis.
After the flock had secured its lead position, the final laps saw some attacks from various members. Huis used his opportunity after mistake from Hähnel and pulled away from the slipstream - the result being a third victory in row and a ninth consecutive top 2 finish (he has still some way to reach Bruno Marques, who finished top 2 14 times in a row in 2007). Jaakko Mikkonen finished in excellent second followed by Hähnel in third, and Rasmus Tali after penalty in seventh, with on-loan driver John-Eric Saxén in sixth - in other words, not much left to improve. Advanced calculus shows that Huis can secure his championship in Singapore, provided that Marques is unable to score at least 20 points more than Huis.
Ondrej Kuncman, Precision Motorsports team manager commented:
"When we struggle with pace we win races with a bit of luck and mainly brains which was proved once again. Going into the weekend we knew it was going to be very challenging, at least in WC. We managed though and championships are really almost home. Pedro has won his title already so and the other 5 titles are just a matter of time. We will however stay focused and try to win all the remaining races as that must always be the goal."
Bono Huis (1st) commented:
"Very unexpected win. I just returned from vacation on Sunday afternoon so I really didn't have a lot of practise. Also I wasn't too happy with the setup and we didn't have enough time to adjust it. So P4 in qualifying was quite a nice result. In the race I was quite clumsy some times, making a lot of small errors but fortunately there was always a teammate in front so I could stay in the slipstream. I was saving boost for the final few laps and when I got in front I used the saved boost to make a gap. Obviously the fighting between Ronny and Jaakko helped me to make a gap so they couldn't get my slipstream anymore. Like I said a very unexpected win, but I don't think I was the fastest today, surely there were others who were faster and probably deserved the win more, but I guess I was lucky."
Jaakko Mikkonen (2nd) commented:
"Start was ok, no big drama or damage. Following laps of first stint it seemed I was dropping away from the leading pack, but luckily I didn't drop too far. I won some time after first stop and could catch Ronny and importantly stay just about enough front of Greco, who had trouble on pit stop.
Second place is a good result as main competitors were behind me."
Ronny Hähnel (3rd) commented:
"Again a PB in qualifying, was happy with it. The race started well and was quite boring because Bono and me stayed behind Greco for slipstream. After pit stops I was in front and could manage to pull away a bit but not for long. Then came the last laps... P3 for Monza was a good result I guess, especially because I did not train so much."
Rasmus Tali (7th) commented:
"Q: Nothing to be happy about have to improve my Q performance so I can unleash my full potential in races.
R: It's really crazy to start from midpack so I lost the touch with the leading group as no one wanted to settle into some proper train and also someone hit me from behind which caused me to touch someone in front so I got double damage. After that me and Hirrle somehow got away from the group and could do some nice tandem until I pitted.
After that I tried to catch Bruno which I did 4 laps before the end of the race and decided to try and pass on final lap, I was alongside Bruno after Parabolica and might have had momentum to pass him, but Bruno decided to turn into me and that made my car slow down and my chance for overtaking him was gone. Great job from the team again congrats for getting all the podiums."
Cyril Werdmuller (9th) commented:
"I knew this weekend was going to be a hard one because i had a pitlane start penalty.
In the first stint I was just driving in nowhere's land but the possitive thing was I was catching the guys infront of me.
I did gain some places but unfortunatly there was Guiseppe Marconi defending very agressive and he didn't gave me any room resulting I was going to spin.
Later in the race I passed Mattias who was very unlucky against David Dominquez.
I also was infront of Dimitri De Matos which was quite surprissing.
I didnt expect to collect more points then my opponents for the drivers championship.
Looking at the circumstances my 9th place wasn't that bad but we could have done better.
I want to congratulate my new teammate Jeffrey Rietveld for his 3th place."
Pedro Melim (1st) commented:
"It was a very good weekend, started in qualifying with not the best time but enough for a 4th place which isn't that bad. Then into the race I managed to pass Eduard for 3rd place into Ascari. After some laps the leader and my championship opponents spun on the second chicane, putting me into 2nd and in a position that would allow me to be champion. A couple of laps later I overtook my team mate Ajibola and could now be in a good position. The strategy was 0 stop so I had to keep focused for almost 35 laps not doing a single mistake. All went great until 10 laps to the end when Allar Foht started to close on me very fast. Going into the final lap he was close but I made the last lap with no mistakes whatsoever and crossed the line 1.1 s in front to win the Monza GP and to become the first ever World Trophy champion. I want to thank the team for giving me a car that was able to win this championship. This is not only my championship but as well Precision Motorsports' and everyone's that contributed to it, be it drivers or management. As well to our sponsor Mak-Corp. Thank you all and now on to win constructors!"
Allar Foht (2nd) commented:
"I am not the biggest fan of Monza but pole in qualification was very satisfying. Also the race start was very good, got small gap with Ajibola but then I managed to spin in turn 3. Fell back to 7th, had some battles with other guys, climbed up to 3rd and started saving engine behind Ajibola. Unluckily it was a mistake, I was too much time behind him and couldn't catch Pedro anymore. Still P2 is a very good result and also congratulations to Pedro for his overall championship victory. Also need to thank all the team members and management to make these results possible for us."
Precision Motorsports
Official Press Release
written by John-Eric Saxen
www.precision-motorsports.de
World Series, recovered after the Hungaroring farce, brought less surprisingly a shy qualifying, but Mattias Stahre nevertheless managed to put the car on the second row. An exciting race saw Stahre fight neck and neck with the two Twister-Racing drivers. Unfortunately the fun ended on lap 38, as the Swede was subject to contact initiated by opponent car in turn 1. Even so, the Swede managed to limp home in 10th, thus maintaining a marginal championship lead over team-mate Werdmuller, who finished 9th after pit lane start. The star of the day was, however, Born2Win driver Jeffrey Rietveld, who scored a podium being on loan to Precision Motorsports.
World Trophy, or should it rather read Melim's Trophy, showed the Precision cars in the main role in qualifying, as the team conquered the top 3 positions for the first time this season with Allar Foht on pole. The Estonian maintained the lead in the start, but a mistake pushed him several positions back, handing the lead to Melim. The Portuguese drove another flawless race, which eventually gave him the eight win of season, despite fighting attempts from Foht in the final lap. The result secured Melim the championship with four races left to the end of the season. Precision Motorsports congratulates. With Foht in second and Ajibola Lawal in third, the troops secured another "mission completed".
World Championship, providing the biggest (or by looking at the results, the easiest) challenge, gave Twister-Racing a 1-2 in qualifying, as rusty Bono Huis was unable to perform magic this time, settling for 4th next to Ronny Hähnel. Greco took an early lead and the race looked to go the Italian way until the first pit stops, where he was forced to slow down due to malfunctioning electrical circuits. This gave Precision the upper hand and the team settled in a 1-2-3 formation with Jaakko Mikkonen, Hähnel and Huis.
After the flock had secured its lead position, the final laps saw some attacks from various members. Huis used his opportunity after mistake from Hähnel and pulled away from the slipstream - the result being a third victory in row and a ninth consecutive top 2 finish (he has still some way to reach Bruno Marques, who finished top 2 14 times in a row in 2007). Jaakko Mikkonen finished in excellent second followed by Hähnel in third, and Rasmus Tali after penalty in seventh, with on-loan driver John-Eric Saxén in sixth - in other words, not much left to improve. Advanced calculus shows that Huis can secure his championship in Singapore, provided that Marques is unable to score at least 20 points more than Huis.
Ondrej Kuncman, Precision Motorsports team manager commented:
"When we struggle with pace we win races with a bit of luck and mainly brains which was proved once again. Going into the weekend we knew it was going to be very challenging, at least in WC. We managed though and championships are really almost home. Pedro has won his title already so and the other 5 titles are just a matter of time. We will however stay focused and try to win all the remaining races as that must always be the goal."
Bono Huis (1st) commented:
"Very unexpected win. I just returned from vacation on Sunday afternoon so I really didn't have a lot of practise. Also I wasn't too happy with the setup and we didn't have enough time to adjust it. So P4 in qualifying was quite a nice result. In the race I was quite clumsy some times, making a lot of small errors but fortunately there was always a teammate in front so I could stay in the slipstream. I was saving boost for the final few laps and when I got in front I used the saved boost to make a gap. Obviously the fighting between Ronny and Jaakko helped me to make a gap so they couldn't get my slipstream anymore. Like I said a very unexpected win, but I don't think I was the fastest today, surely there were others who were faster and probably deserved the win more, but I guess I was lucky."
Jaakko Mikkonen (2nd) commented:
"Start was ok, no big drama or damage. Following laps of first stint it seemed I was dropping away from the leading pack, but luckily I didn't drop too far. I won some time after first stop and could catch Ronny and importantly stay just about enough front of Greco, who had trouble on pit stop.
Second place is a good result as main competitors were behind me."
Ronny Hähnel (3rd) commented:
"Again a PB in qualifying, was happy with it. The race started well and was quite boring because Bono and me stayed behind Greco for slipstream. After pit stops I was in front and could manage to pull away a bit but not for long. Then came the last laps... P3 for Monza was a good result I guess, especially because I did not train so much."
Rasmus Tali (7th) commented:
"Q: Nothing to be happy about have to improve my Q performance so I can unleash my full potential in races.
R: It's really crazy to start from midpack so I lost the touch with the leading group as no one wanted to settle into some proper train and also someone hit me from behind which caused me to touch someone in front so I got double damage. After that me and Hirrle somehow got away from the group and could do some nice tandem until I pitted.
After that I tried to catch Bruno which I did 4 laps before the end of the race and decided to try and pass on final lap, I was alongside Bruno after Parabolica and might have had momentum to pass him, but Bruno decided to turn into me and that made my car slow down and my chance for overtaking him was gone. Great job from the team again congrats for getting all the podiums."
Cyril Werdmuller (9th) commented:
"I knew this weekend was going to be a hard one because i had a pitlane start penalty.
In the first stint I was just driving in nowhere's land but the possitive thing was I was catching the guys infront of me.
I did gain some places but unfortunatly there was Guiseppe Marconi defending very agressive and he didn't gave me any room resulting I was going to spin.
Later in the race I passed Mattias who was very unlucky against David Dominquez.
I also was infront of Dimitri De Matos which was quite surprissing.
I didnt expect to collect more points then my opponents for the drivers championship.
Looking at the circumstances my 9th place wasn't that bad but we could have done better.
I want to congratulate my new teammate Jeffrey Rietveld for his 3th place."
Pedro Melim (1st) commented:
"It was a very good weekend, started in qualifying with not the best time but enough for a 4th place which isn't that bad. Then into the race I managed to pass Eduard for 3rd place into Ascari. After some laps the leader and my championship opponents spun on the second chicane, putting me into 2nd and in a position that would allow me to be champion. A couple of laps later I overtook my team mate Ajibola and could now be in a good position. The strategy was 0 stop so I had to keep focused for almost 35 laps not doing a single mistake. All went great until 10 laps to the end when Allar Foht started to close on me very fast. Going into the final lap he was close but I made the last lap with no mistakes whatsoever and crossed the line 1.1 s in front to win the Monza GP and to become the first ever World Trophy champion. I want to thank the team for giving me a car that was able to win this championship. This is not only my championship but as well Precision Motorsports' and everyone's that contributed to it, be it drivers or management. As well to our sponsor Mak-Corp. Thank you all and now on to win constructors!"
Allar Foht (2nd) commented:
"I am not the biggest fan of Monza but pole in qualification was very satisfying. Also the race start was very good, got small gap with Ajibola but then I managed to spin in turn 3. Fell back to 7th, had some battles with other guys, climbed up to 3rd and started saving engine behind Ajibola. Unluckily it was a mistake, I was too much time behind him and couldn't catch Pedro anymore. Still P2 is a very good result and also congratulations to Pedro for his overall championship victory. Also need to thank all the team members and management to make these results possible for us."
Precision Motorsports
Official Press Release
written by John-Eric Saxen
www.precision-motorsports.de
