HORRENDOUS 24 HOURS OF SPA FOR XAVIER MAASSEN
Miroslav Sanytrák / foto Jiří Křenek | 28.7.09 | FIA WEC
SPA-FRANCORCHAMPS. One again it wasn’t to be for Xavier Maassen. His second participation in the 24 Hours of Spa, the fourth round of the FIA GT Championship, came to another early end. “I can’t describe how disappointed I am, we were exceptionally well under way until Roberto Streit, my Brazilian team-mate, had a serious crash. He made a mistake on the Raidillon and it was over and out for our team. Not only have we lost the race here, but my chances in the championship have also been strongly put into doubt. I need to sleep on this for a while...”, Maassen told us as night fell.
The weekend started off well for the team comprised of the Brazilians Streit and Bernoldi and the Dutchman Maassen. During the practice sessions the ideal set-up had been found, and the team set off for the qualifying sessions with high ambitions.
“But the qualifying didn’t turn out as expected”, Maassen explained. “The qualifying sessions started at 19.30hrs and lasted until 23.40hrs, but after only three dry laps the heavens opened up and that was it. We couldn’t improve on the lap times... We were just on a fast lap, with a view to seizing pole, but wet asphalt isn’t an ideal partner for a fast time … It is quite unlikely that a session lasting four hours should be decided in the first few minutes... We finally finished fourth and were the first Corvette C6.R, but we could have done far better”. During the warm-up Maassen was once more the fastest and so everything looked perfect for the actual race.
Xavier Maassen: “And in fact it was. Enrique Bernoldi had a brilliant start and was in the lead after several laps. He remained fighting up front during his entire stint and handed over the drive after two hours to Roberto Streit. And we know what happened after that...”
Xavier Maassen will be back in the FIA GT with Alpand Aventures at the end of August, for the fifth race of the season in Budapest.
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