Podium For Krumm and Dumbreck In Nissan GT-R In BRNO Qualifying Race

Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck took the first podium finish of 2010 for the No.23 Nissan GT-R with a dominant drive to third place in Saturday’s qualifying race at Brno. The two Swiss Racing Team cars finished in 12th and 15th places improving on their grid positions from qualifying. The bad luck fell on the Silverstone-winning No.22 Nissan GT-R, which went off on the last lap with a braking problem after Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes had hustled the car all the way up from 21st to ninth place.

In the morning’s qualifying session the two Sumo Power Nissan GT-Rs had very different fortunes. The No.22 car of Hughes and Campbell-Walter finished the session in 21st place with Hughes commenting on an overall lack of grip during the first stage of qualifying. On the other side of the garage it was all smiles as Michael Krumm put the No.23 Nissan GT-R on the second row of the grid with a time quick enough for fourth place. Swiss Racing Team had a better qualifying session than last time out at Silverstone with the No.3 Nissan GT-R of Karl Wendlinger and Henri Moser taking 15th place with the No.4 car of Seiji Ara and Max Nilsson taking the 17th place grid spot.

As the lights went green for the rolling start, Dumbreck got a fantastic run into turn one and moved right up from fourth to second. He quickly settled into the race, albeit with Darren Turner’s Aston Martin on his tail for the whole stint, and held second throughout his run. The Aston Martin pitted two laps before the Nissan GT-R and managed to take second place in the process.

“I had a good start and managed to run through my whole stint without making any mistakes,” said Dumbreck. “The only difference between us and the Aston Martin is that we ran two laps longer and had a little trouble with the air jacks. Once all the stops were done we had lost a position. Overall it was a good race and I am very pleased to score championship points.”

“I didn’t realize that we had lost a position at the pit stop because I was very busy in the car,” said Krumm. “I tried very hard to catch the Aston Martin but it was too far ahead. The car ran really well today and I am happy with the result as our target was to score our first championship points.”

In the No.22 Sumo Power Nissan GT-R, Jamie Campbell-Walter made a very good start, gaining six positions on the first lap. After qualifying in 21st place in the morning, he and Warren Hughes had a lot of work to do to make up for lost time. Just before the pit-stops began, Campbell-Walter was all the way up to 13th place after making some great passes, particularly on a Maserati at the end of the pit straight. Hughes jumped in at the pit-stop and got straight into the groove, putting in fast time after fast time. Unfortunately on the very last lap of the race he went off at turn three due to a brake problem, demonstrating how cruel motorsport can be sometimes.

The Swiss Racing Team is still working hard to solve the set-up problems they have had. The first signs of progress came at Silverstone and they made further improvements at Brno today. The practice sessions didn’t help their cause as rain showers changed the conditions throughout running. The results of today’s qualifying session saw more progress from the team with the No.3 Nissan GT-R of Karl Wendlinger and Henri Moser taking 15th with Seiji Ara and Max Nilsson in No.4 taking 17th.

Nilsson got away well at the start of the race, gaining a position. Moser dropped a few places but quickly began the fight back, the highlight of which was a close battle he eventually won over two Ford GTs. After the pit stops, Seiji Ara had taken Nilsson’s place and was running in 17th place and ahead of him Karl Wendlinger was running well in No.3 in 14th place. By the time the checkered flag fell Wendlinger had made his way up to 12th and Ara was 15th.

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Contact Information:

Colin Price
Corporate Communications
Nissan North America, Inc.
615 725 6928
www.nissannews.com