Bird’s Motorsport -
4 x Fifth Place Finishes For Levett
2nd PLACE IN TEAMS’ PODIUM IN FINAL RACE. Chris Levett was one of the most consistent performers in the ninth round of the 2009 FIA European Championship event at Le Mans this weekend (September 19/20) – collecting a total of 28 points during the French event thanks to four 5th place results.
In Qualifying on Saturday Levett was on top form – posting a best practice lap of 2m.08.003s. – good enough to secure fourth spot on the starting grid, and just 0.15s away from breaking into the top three.
Championship race One proved virtually incident-free and after an encouraging start Levett settled into fifth spot – the position the Bird’s Motorsport MAN maintained all the way to the chequered flag.
The second race on Saturday brought a very similar result – but this time the competition was a lot tighter and Chris found himself spending much of the race staring at the rear of Egon Allgauer’s MAN, the fast-starting Austrian having grabbed the early advantage – but thereafter proving to be a mobile chicane!
After 11 rather frustrating laps the Bird’s Motorsport MAN flashed across the finishing line in 5th place again, just 0.588s down on the yellow machine of his rival – with the next truck home, Markus Bosiger’s Freightliner, just 0.376s behind – making it essential for Chris to watch his mirrors and cover his lines.
In Sunday’s Qualifying session Levett was again 4th fastest – this time posting a best time of 2m.07.872s.... an improvement of 0.131s over his best lap the previous day.
Championship race 3 brought another strong result – and another valuable tally of 8 points. Chris found himself 5th on the opening lap and then shadowed the Freightliner of Bosiger for the entire race, closing down to just one and a half seconds behind the Swiss driver at the flag.
The final race on Sunday saw Levett performing well once more – but again finding it impossible to overtake his rival in the yellow MAN, Allgauer. With the Austrian carefully blocking all passing manoeuvres Chris decided to play safe and secure another 5th – shadowing Allgauer to the chequered flag, 0.376s covering the pair.
But over the complete weekend Levett had collected a total of 28 points – while the Austrian could only amass 24. So that leaves Chris in a strong 5th place in the overall championship standings, 13 points clear of Allgauer – with only the final race of the season to come – at Jarama (Spain) on October 3/4.
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