Post by KIEN_ on May 16, 2009 13:19:34 GMT 7
Petronas Super Taikyu bags points: Round 2 Sugo Japan 2009
ROUND 2 ¨C SPORTSLAND SUGO | RACEDAY, 10 MAY 2009 | Weather: Overcast but Dry | Kuala Lumpur / Sugo (Japan), 11 May 2009 ¨C After a strong start to the season at Motegi, round 2 of the 2009 Super Taikyu Endurance Series at Sportsland Sugo proved to be a far more challenging one for the PETRONAS Syntium Team. Finishing in 4th to give the team¡¯s best result from the weekend was the No. 28 BMW Z4M Coupe, despite being plagued by mechanical issues throughout the 400km-format race. Meanwhile, the tides were against the team¡¯s No. 1 BMW Z4M Coupe after technical issues and mechanical failures robbed the team of a good result.
David Wong, Team Principal:
¡°Actually, the weekend got off to a pretty good start but we knew that we would be up against some tough competition. The Nissans came with a new development package and they were very fast this weekend. Unfortunately, this was a difficult race weekend for us overall, especially considering all the mechanical problems that plagued us throughout the race. Johan had a very unfortunate crash during the free practice session on Saturday and thankfully he is ok. However, the damage was quite extensive and the mechanics did a truly great job through the night to prepare the No. 28 car in time for the qualifying and race. Our winning streak has unfortunately come to an end here at Sugo but this has only given us the added motivation to work harder to prepare for the next round at Suzuka next month.¡±
BMW Z4M COUPE, CAR NO. 28, 4th Position Tatsuya Kataoka (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:26.744min):
¡°This was a tough weekend for us! We started off quite well and in the first practice on Friday my teammates Hiroki (Yoshida) and Johan (Adzmi) did a lot of laps to improve their lap times. On this basis, we thought we could get a good result for the race. Then Johan had that unfortunate accident, but glad that he is OK. The car however was damaged quite badly. The mechanics did a fantastic job through the night to prepare the car in time for the qualifying! I was the first driver for the qualifying and the lap times were actually pretty good. Hiroki too did a great qualifying to get us onto P3 for the grid. ¡°We really had a big handicap with the tyres and to have managed to get third is actually pretty good. As for the race itself, I was the starting driver and the first few laps were alright. But on lap 15, the car started to feel quite strange and I suspected we had a problem. I could still race but I had to take it easy. As the car was already damaged, it started to get progressively worse. During the stop, the mechanics once again managed to get the problem fixed for Hiroki and Johan to continue. Both of them drove really well and they did a good job. For sure we did not aim to finish 4th but this was important for the championship in the longer run. Both cars had trouble and as the gap is not that big so we can come back to fight for the championship in the next race. ¡±
Johan Adzmi (MAS, Qualifying Lap time: 1:29.235min):
¡°I am very disappointed with the weekend. The crash on Friday really did not do my confidence any good. But having Kataoka as my coach, the support of my teammates and engineers were so supportive and they really helped me to prepare for the qualifying. For sure the race we had a different set of problems, which really hampered our progress. However, I am glad that I managed to put in some good laps in the race itself. Now, we have to turn our attention to the next round at Suzuka and hope for a much better result from there.¡±
Hiroki Yoshida (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:26.900min):
¡°After the strong start at Motegi, this weekend was a blow to us. But, on a positive note, we managed to get some points from this round which might be crucial for the championship. I just hope that with what we managed to learn from this weekend, we can work on a much better result at the next round.¡±
BMW Z4M COUPE, CAR NO. 1 (not classified) Fariqe Hairuman (MAS, Qualifying Lap time: 1:27.230min):
¡°Looking at the positives, on the whole it was quite an acceptable weekend as we started off quite well and the qualifying was also acceptable. But for the race, everything changed. It was a really difficult race for us. The field was really competitive for this round, especially with the updates that the Nissan brought. I struggled with the tyres and that really affected the race for me. Then we had the mechanical problems which we forced us to pit to try and fix it and that took away any opportunity for us to get a good result. Of course it is frustrating especially after the good start we had. On a positive note, the young drivers were able to make a big stop forward, which is a great boost for the team. I do not really want to focus too much on the problems and focus instead on the next race.¡±
Masataka Yanagida (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:26.819min):
¡°The race was quite hard because of the handicap we had with the compound tyres. It was the same for Motegi but the characteristics of Sugo being more of a cornering circuit meant we had a much bigger disadvantage and it was quite difficult to drive. Then we had the mechanical failures on the car which was a real disappointment for us. There are of course positives from this round. In particular the young drivers did a great job this weekend in every respect. In every session, they showed some real improvements with good lap times. I hope they can continue on this path! Moreover, the level of the competition was different here as the Nissan¡¯s new developments certainly raised the game across the field, which on the whole is good for the championship.¡±
Nobuteru Taniguchi (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:27.425):
¡°For sure it was a disappointing race for us with all the problems we faced during the race itself. We had a handicap struggling with the tyres to suit the trait of the Sugo circuit, and then the mechanical problems really set us a back quite a bit. The engineers and mechanics really did a great job but I can only hope our fortunes will change for the better as we look forward to the Suzuka round next month.¡± The third round of the 2009 Super Taikyu Endurance Series will take place at the Suzuka International circuit from 6 to 7 June.
source: www.zerotohundred.com
ROUND 2 ¨C SPORTSLAND SUGO | RACEDAY, 10 MAY 2009 | Weather: Overcast but Dry | Kuala Lumpur / Sugo (Japan), 11 May 2009 ¨C After a strong start to the season at Motegi, round 2 of the 2009 Super Taikyu Endurance Series at Sportsland Sugo proved to be a far more challenging one for the PETRONAS Syntium Team. Finishing in 4th to give the team¡¯s best result from the weekend was the No. 28 BMW Z4M Coupe, despite being plagued by mechanical issues throughout the 400km-format race. Meanwhile, the tides were against the team¡¯s No. 1 BMW Z4M Coupe after technical issues and mechanical failures robbed the team of a good result.
David Wong, Team Principal:
¡°Actually, the weekend got off to a pretty good start but we knew that we would be up against some tough competition. The Nissans came with a new development package and they were very fast this weekend. Unfortunately, this was a difficult race weekend for us overall, especially considering all the mechanical problems that plagued us throughout the race. Johan had a very unfortunate crash during the free practice session on Saturday and thankfully he is ok. However, the damage was quite extensive and the mechanics did a truly great job through the night to prepare the No. 28 car in time for the qualifying and race. Our winning streak has unfortunately come to an end here at Sugo but this has only given us the added motivation to work harder to prepare for the next round at Suzuka next month.¡±
BMW Z4M COUPE, CAR NO. 28, 4th Position Tatsuya Kataoka (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:26.744min):
¡°This was a tough weekend for us! We started off quite well and in the first practice on Friday my teammates Hiroki (Yoshida) and Johan (Adzmi) did a lot of laps to improve their lap times. On this basis, we thought we could get a good result for the race. Then Johan had that unfortunate accident, but glad that he is OK. The car however was damaged quite badly. The mechanics did a fantastic job through the night to prepare the car in time for the qualifying! I was the first driver for the qualifying and the lap times were actually pretty good. Hiroki too did a great qualifying to get us onto P3 for the grid. ¡°We really had a big handicap with the tyres and to have managed to get third is actually pretty good. As for the race itself, I was the starting driver and the first few laps were alright. But on lap 15, the car started to feel quite strange and I suspected we had a problem. I could still race but I had to take it easy. As the car was already damaged, it started to get progressively worse. During the stop, the mechanics once again managed to get the problem fixed for Hiroki and Johan to continue. Both of them drove really well and they did a good job. For sure we did not aim to finish 4th but this was important for the championship in the longer run. Both cars had trouble and as the gap is not that big so we can come back to fight for the championship in the next race. ¡±
Johan Adzmi (MAS, Qualifying Lap time: 1:29.235min):
¡°I am very disappointed with the weekend. The crash on Friday really did not do my confidence any good. But having Kataoka as my coach, the support of my teammates and engineers were so supportive and they really helped me to prepare for the qualifying. For sure the race we had a different set of problems, which really hampered our progress. However, I am glad that I managed to put in some good laps in the race itself. Now, we have to turn our attention to the next round at Suzuka and hope for a much better result from there.¡±
Hiroki Yoshida (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:26.900min):
¡°After the strong start at Motegi, this weekend was a blow to us. But, on a positive note, we managed to get some points from this round which might be crucial for the championship. I just hope that with what we managed to learn from this weekend, we can work on a much better result at the next round.¡±
BMW Z4M COUPE, CAR NO. 1 (not classified) Fariqe Hairuman (MAS, Qualifying Lap time: 1:27.230min):
¡°Looking at the positives, on the whole it was quite an acceptable weekend as we started off quite well and the qualifying was also acceptable. But for the race, everything changed. It was a really difficult race for us. The field was really competitive for this round, especially with the updates that the Nissan brought. I struggled with the tyres and that really affected the race for me. Then we had the mechanical problems which we forced us to pit to try and fix it and that took away any opportunity for us to get a good result. Of course it is frustrating especially after the good start we had. On a positive note, the young drivers were able to make a big stop forward, which is a great boost for the team. I do not really want to focus too much on the problems and focus instead on the next race.¡±
Masataka Yanagida (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:26.819min):
¡°The race was quite hard because of the handicap we had with the compound tyres. It was the same for Motegi but the characteristics of Sugo being more of a cornering circuit meant we had a much bigger disadvantage and it was quite difficult to drive. Then we had the mechanical failures on the car which was a real disappointment for us. There are of course positives from this round. In particular the young drivers did a great job this weekend in every respect. In every session, they showed some real improvements with good lap times. I hope they can continue on this path! Moreover, the level of the competition was different here as the Nissan¡¯s new developments certainly raised the game across the field, which on the whole is good for the championship.¡±
Nobuteru Taniguchi (JPN, Qualifying Lap time: 1:27.425):
¡°For sure it was a disappointing race for us with all the problems we faced during the race itself. We had a handicap struggling with the tyres to suit the trait of the Sugo circuit, and then the mechanical problems really set us a back quite a bit. The engineers and mechanics really did a great job but I can only hope our fortunes will change for the better as we look forward to the Suzuka round next month.¡± The third round of the 2009 Super Taikyu Endurance Series will take place at the Suzuka International circuit from 6 to 7 June.
source: www.zerotohundred.com