19 August 2001

Porsche Pirelli Supercup - Hungaroring

Jesper Carlsen and Jacky van der Ende were again in action in the Martin Flitton prepared Porsches.

Jacky had a great result taking 7th place in a race of attrition. He qualified 18th and made it into 11th place after a great start. From there he picked off more places to move into 9th when two more drivers retired on the penultimate lap promoting him to 7th. Jesper Carslen was out of luck again. He qualified ahead of Jacky in 16th place but suffered clutch problems at the start and eventually retired from the race with a puncture.

European Formula 3000 Championship – Zolder

The fifth round of the European Formula 3000 Championship took place at Zolder, Belgium. Brask Management's Alex Müller finished third in the race on the 3.977 km long track. "That was all I could manage today", said Alex. He started seventh on the grid. His third position was also his second podium finish of the current season. The race in Zolder, where he won a round of the German Formula 3-championship last year, took place just one week after the UK round at Donington. The championship continues next weekend, when the sixth round is at Imola, Italy.

In qualifying at Zolder, Alex held a top-three position for most of the session, but as many other drivers were able to improve their lap times towards the end of the session, Alex dropped back to seventh. Naturally he was unhappy: "We have a problem with the set-up of the car. There is a massive lack of traction, we just don't get the power on the track. We will have to make some changes before the race, but we don't know yet in which area", said a pensive Müller. Nevertheless, he was upbeat before the race: "Yesterday and today, we have made some changes and I am confident that it will work out. Many things can happen in 36 laps", he said.

The race was shortened by one lap, because one of the drivers had a problem on the grid, causing the start to be delayed. After the field got underway, Alex made up two positions in as many laps and when points leader Felipe Massa spun out all on his own, Alex was into fourth. While Romain Dumas and Vitor Meira battled it out for second place in front of him and Salvatore Tavano extended his lead, Alex continued to put in some quick lap times. He did not, however, find a way past the two opponents. Thus, the order remained unchanged until the 29th lap, with Tavano leading from Dumas, Meira and Müller. Then, Dumas drove his car into the pits with a problem and Akex was up to third. Thomas Biagi still put him under pressure, but the Ghinzani-driver was able to defend his position. "That was all I could manage today, but I am quite satisfied with the result," Müller said. "I have also been able to make up some more championship points."

V Sports Racing - Brands Hatch

Miku Santavirta took another good win from Kevin Clarke and Barry Lee - also taking the fastest lap. In the first race Miku was second behind Barry Lee but again recorded the fastest lap.