Phil Quaife Adds To Points Tally In Germany

23 July 2007

Phil Quaife was out on track this weekend in the seventh round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup championship at the European Grand Prix at Nurburgring, Germany this weekend and after a challenging weekend, he added to his points tally collecting two drivers championship points. In his rookie season of the Porsche championship, Quaife has embarked on a steep learning curve with his youth and relative inexperience being pitted against a 30-strong field of drivers, many with long and successful racing careers. The Tonbridge racer is working hard to gain track knowledge and improve his understanding of the car and at each event is gaining confidence. In the first practice session Quaife was 21st quickest of the field, and after the qualifying session he had made some progress to finish 20th fastest his grid position for today's race. With only two seconds separating Quaife from the polesitter, the closely fought qualifying in the Porsche Supercup is always tough for the young racer. He said, "It was a good qualifying for us. The team did a good job with the car, we made a few changes from yesterday which improved it, stopped the understeer and gave us some more rear end grip. We're halfway through the season and not improving on qualifying and we really need to address this, but I think I just need to push more and get further up the grid. I'm happy with the team and the car, I just need to stay focused and not give up. Starting from so far back makes it very hard work to get into the points, but we'll always try." Dry and cloudy weather at the Nürburgring greeted the thirty pilots at the start of the seventh round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup. An aborted start at the first attempt gave the field an extra familiarisation lap, but they were soon away from the line and racing hard. The run down to the first corner and through the first lap was busy, with the order shuffling around as drivers got into their stride. Quaife was in thick of the pack and pushing hard to make headway. He was up to 19th at the end of the first lap and then was attacking hard to make further progress. The relative pace of his rivals made it difficult to overtake but this didn't stop the young Brit from trying and by the chequered flag he was in 17th place on the track, and in 14th in the drivers' championship. Quaife explained, "We had a good start and make a pass, staying with the gaggle of cars around me. I was pushing hard for the first five laps and caught up the group ahead, but everyone was running at a very similar pace, so it made it very difficult to overtake. It was a good race, but starting so far back puts you on the back foot and although you're turning good laptimes, it's just a big challenge to climb up the field. We know that qualifying is the key, but with so little practice time at these events, the more experienced drivers have the edge over us. Still, two points helps us in the championship standings." The eighth round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup takes place in two weeks time at the Hungaroring, Budapest, in Hungary. Quaife will be back in action and aiming to make further progress in the championship.