Third Place For Phil Quaife In Bucharest

20 May 2007

Tonbridge racer Phil Quaife scored a well deserved third place podium finish today in Bucharest, Romania, the second race weekend of the FIA European GT3 Championship. This success followed a ninth place position in the first race of the meeting yesterday.

Quaife, driving with fellow Brit, Tom Ferrier, in a Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup car, arrived in the capital city fresh from driving in the Porsche Supercup at Barcelona. The British duo set out to improve on their opening weekend of GT3 racing which had resulted in two disappointing results. From the start of the weekend the pairing both ran well, to line up fourth for the first of the two races and 15th for the second.

The street circuit location for the racing proved to be challenging for the large field of GT3 cars and with around 40 cars on track, it was difficult to find a clear lap to post a quick time in qualifying. However Quaife enjoyed his first experience of driving in these conditions.

In the first race of the weekend Quaife was behind the wheel of the Porsche racer for the initial part of the race, inheriting third on the grid after a Lamborghini was not able to take the start. Shortly after the race began in earnest the second placed racer hit a wall and Quaife was lucky to avoid being caught up in this, as the car slewed across the track, narrowly missing the Tech 9 car. This accident brought out the first of a number of safety car periods and with its severity it took a number of laps to clear up. During this, the first pit window opened and Quaife, along with many of the field, pitted for the mandatory driver change.

Ferrier was quickly back out on track and with the speed of the Tech 9 crew jumped a further place to effectively lead the race, although a number of cars had not pitted for their mandatory stops. The track conditions were continually changing in the race. Quaife had opted to start on dry tyres and when Ferrier took over the driving he put on fresh slicks as well. However rain soon fell and the Tech 9 entry made a further stop for wet tyres. Unfortunately the team had a small problem with the pit equipment which slowed the stop and put Quaife and Ferrier down the order, dropping them to ninth at the chequered flag.

A number of cars were unable to take the start of the second race, with numerous accidents during the course of the weekend sidelining entries. Quaife took the wheel for the start of the race lining up in 15th and with organisers opting to start it under the safety car, the field toured in position until the end of the opening lap. Racing then started in earnest, but after nine laps an accident brought out the first safety car period with Quaife in ninth place. With the pit window opening and the safety car out on track the team opted to pit for the mandatory stop. Ferrier took over driving duties and the Tech 9 crew took the right decision by changing the tyres to wets with rain starting to fall. Ferrier was soon back out on track. Ten minutes before the end of the race Ferrier had improved to fifth place and by the chequered flag had taken fourth place. A 30 second penalty for a pitlane infringement by the second placed Ascari entry dropped them down the order and the Quaife/Ferrier pairing were happy to inherit the final podium place.

Quaife was pleased with the outcome and said, "It's been a good weekend, although not without its challenges. I loved the street circuit atmosphere, but with such a big field you needed eyes in the back of your head, as there were so many incidents during the sessions. The performance differential is lessened with this type of circuit and wet weather conditions, so it really suited the Porsche and also put more focus on driver ability.

"Bucharest gave us a very quick, technical track which I wasn't really expecting and it was great fun to drive, although one small mistake and it could easily be game over. I'm really happy that Tom and I scored points and proved we can be contenders, although this may change at the next round in Monza when the Porsche might not have the power and downforce needed there.

"It's been a great experience for me to drive on a street track and with my Monaco debut in Porsche Supercup next weekend it's given me a valuable insight into the driving style and parameters you need in this sort of environment. Many of the Supercup drivers have raced there before, but I hope that I'll have a head start on the other rookies from having competed in Bucharest this weekend."

Quaife will have little time to enjoy his podium finish in the FIA GT3 European Championship with the Monaco race preparations starting on Thursday afternoon in the principality. Unlike other race weekends, the Porsche field will only make one appearance during theMonaco Formula One Grand Prix, with a 16 lap race of the streets on Sunday morning, 27 May.