GT1 World

JRM Racing hopes to continue its reign in Spain

Fresh from its memorable victory at Silverstone in round five of the FIA GT1 World Championship at the beginning of June, the JRM Racing team heads to the Navarra Circuit in northern Spain for this weekend’s round six of the global sportscar series. Therefore, with twice Championship Race winners this season Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr now topping the drivers’ points table, the target for the team is to continue where it left off in the UK four weeks ago.

As well as winning the Championship Race – and the coveted Tourist Trophy in the process – the German pairing also achieved an excellent second in the Qualifying Race at Silverstone. And, whilst both their impressive results from the Silverstone weekend are great for points, they are not so good for success ballast, which means that Nissan GT-R no. 23 will go to Navarra carrying 35 kilos of added weight.

In contrast, team-mates Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook in car 22 recorded two non-finishes at Silverstone – both not of their own making. They therefore head to Spain without a kilo of success ballast on board and with a determination to turn around their fortunes from that of round five.

Even taking into account that only one car scored points last time out, JRM Racing currently lie second in the teams’ standings, just nine-points behind Hexis Aston Martin. With this in mind, the strategy in Spain will be one of ensuring that both cars achieve strong points-scoring finishes, with the view of edging ahead in the rankings by the close of the weekend.

In order to boost its chances of achieving this, JRM Racing organised a two-day test at the Motorland Circuit near Aragón at the beginning of the week, where all four of its drivers were able to spend time behind the wheel of the GT-R. The team also took the opportunity to try a variety of set-ups in what was its first true test session of the year.

Opened in June 2010, the 3.933km Navarra Circuit is new to many drivers, including Luhr, who visits it for the first time this weekend. The track is located near the small town of Los Arcos, 60km southeast of Pamplona.

The format for the Navarra meeting sees Free Practice and Pre-Qualifying sessions take place on Friday, before the competitive action gets underway with Qualifying on Saturday at 11.15, followed by the first of the weekend’s two one-hour races at 16.45. Sunday starts with a 30-minute warm-up session at 09.00, before the main Championship Race goes live at 13.45.

All times listed are CEST (Central European Summer Time). Please subtract one-hour for GMT (UK).
Both races can be watched live on the team’s webpage: www.jrm-racing.com

Team Quotes
Peter Dumbreck (Car 22)
“We have been quick at most of the tracks we’ve visited this year. We’ve just been unlucky to have had a variety of problems. We need to keep driving well and then hopefully, we will start getting the championship points we need. Navarra has some tight second-gear corners, so this may not ideally suit the GT-R, although we have been doing some set-up work to improve in this area. We saw from last year there were a lot of incidents at this track. So, as ever, it will be our aim to stay away from the first-lap conflict!”

Richard Westbrook (Car22)
“Although we have experienced some bad luck in recent races, we had a very good start to the season in Abu Dhabi. We still have half the season to go and are expecting to be straight back on the pace at Navarra. I know the circuit from last year when I was driving with Ford and I’m not sure how well it will suit the Nissan – although a GT-R did score a podium finish last year. However, the car is being constantly developed, so I’m quietly confident about our chances.”

Michael Krumm (Car 23)
“Silverstone was a great result for the whole team and to win the Tourist Trophy is fantastic. It comes right at the mid-point for the season, so we now have to work hard to maintain the performance for the rest of the year. Navarra is a very technical track with lots of slow corners, so getting a good lap is all about driving it 100% well – as usual. It may not be the most ideal circuit for our car, so we must aim to get as many points as possible from the weekend.”

Lucas Luhr (Car 23)
“The Championship Race at Silverstone was one of the most enjoyable of my career: close, hard racing, but fair – and a great team effort. Michael and I had a perfect car and the boys did a fantastic pit stop. It was just a perfect day…and we won the Tourist Trophy! Like Silverstone, I have never visited Navarra. However, that didn’t seem to make a difference before. I think the weekend will be about scoring as many points as possible, as I am not sure how we will compare with the success ballast we have to carry.”

Nigel Stepney (Team Manager and Chief Engineer)
“It’s no good sitting on our laurels after Silverstone. We have to make sure we remain competitive and that’s why we decided to organise two days at Motorland before this weekend’s race at Navarra. We have not had an opportunity to test at all this year, so it’s been good to try some different set-ups and see what works and what doesn’t. We expect car 22 will run well this weekend but, as car 23 will be carrying success ballast, we will have to work hard to ensure it also achieves a good points scoring position.”

James Rumsey (Team Principal)
“Being second in the Teams’ Championship standings and, with two of our drivers at the top of the table, we are in a good position halfway through the season. We now have to maintain our momentum through the next few races and concentrate on getting both cars to the finish. I’m hoping for two good clean races at Navarra – and praying that no-one gets road-rage again!”