Bird’s Motorsport -
Nurburgring 2010
LEVETT ON TOP FORM FOR ADAC TRUCK GRAND PRIX
1st, 3rd AND 4th PLACE FINISHES IN FIA CHAMPIONSHIP RACE
- BRINGS TOTAL OF 39 POINTS
DOUBLE VICTORY IN MITTELRHEIN CUP – AHEAD OF KORBER, STUCK & Co.
Chris Levett was on top form for the 4th round of the 2010 European Championship – standing on the podium four times over the weekend (July 24/25) of the ADAC Truck GP at the Nurburgring, the enormous German event which attracted a crowd of 202,000.
The first timed practice session saw the Bird’s Motorsport MAN flying – with Levett claiming ‘pole’ position after the ‘Top ten’ Superpole with a best lap of 1m.55.422s.. His nearest challenger in qualifying was Nurburgring specialist Markus Oestreich – but the Renault driver was 0.432s. slower.
Championship race 1 brought a convincing start-to-finish victory for Levett – the British driver taking the chequered flag 3.629s. ahead of fellow MAN racer Antonio Albacete (the combined results of this pair also giving Team Bernau first place on the Teams’ prize-giving podium).
Levett’s hopes of another podium in Race 2 were dashed as he suffered transmission trouble early in Race 2 – and the truck also took a hefty whack from a rival, so he retired on lap 4. Victory fell to David Vrsecky (Freightliner).
Saturday’s programme ended with the first of two Mittelrhein Cup races (featuring some notable German ‘guest’ drivers – along with all the regular BTRA British Championship runners).
Levett had already posted an impressive practice lap – securing ‘pole’ position in wet conditions by the sizeable margin of 3.24 seconds over his closest rival!
In the race he quickly pulled clear of the field – and scored a runaway win, crossing the finishing line 18.964s. clear of runner-up Stuart Oliver with the Iveco of local ‘hero’ Gerd Korber taking the final podium spot ahead of Hans Stuck (MAN).
In the Sunday practice for the FIA Championship it was once again Levett who topped the timesheets – but in the ‘Superpole’ the Bird’s driver was bumped down to 3rd spot on the starting grid for race 3. But with just 0.54s. splitting Levett from ‘pole’ man Albacete it was clear just how competitive the session had been.
Championship race 3 was actually very predictable was no change of position among the leading trio – so Levett came home in third place, just 4.067s behind runner-up Oestreich after 13 close laps (despite a recurring clutch problem), with Albacete securing the win. The combined results of Albacete and Levett once again netted Team Bernau the winners trophy in the Teams’ competition.
Championship race 4 again featured the ‘Reverse Grid’ format for the top 8 drivers – so Levett was starting back on the 3rd row. Frenchman Anthony Janiec made good use of his pole position to head the pack in his Renault – but Oestreich eventually slipped ahead while the remainder of the pack were delayed for several more laps.
That allowed Oestreich to pull away and take the chequered flag by a comfortable margin of 7.957s. while the next three drivers were locked together in a nose-to-tail train, just 2.35 seconds separating runner-up Vrsecky, 3rd placed Albacete and Levett in 4th place.
The last race of the weekend at Nurburgring was the Sunday Mittelrhein Cup event – which again attracted enormous public and media interest with the participation of Korber, Stuck and local man Lenz.
But none of these provided any serious threat to Levett who once more produced a dominant performance, leading from the green light to the chequered flag. The Bird’s Motorsport MAN finally crossed the finishing line some 16.396 seconds clear of runner-up Korber (Iveco) with 3rd placed Oliver a further 10.515 seconds adrift following a first lap spin.
Following the Nurburgring event Levett still holds 6th overall in the FIA drivers’ standings – now with a total of 91 championship points, just 3 behind 5th placed Oestreich. Team Bernau (featuring Levett and Albacete together) currently top the Teams’ Championship, ahead of MKR (Renault) and Team Hahn.
The next race takes place in Russia on August 7/8 with the new Smolensk circuit hosting Round 5 of the FIA European Truck Racing Championship.
|
