Kinch and Kirkaldy fourth at the 'Ring
By Lindsay Morle
Sep 4, 2005, 17:36
Le Mans Endurance Series – Round Four 4 September 2005
Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy finished the Nürburgring 1000kms in fourth position today after a difficult six hours with problems at each pit stop. To add insult to injury the Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari was clearly the fastest GT2 car on track but a problem with the starter button meant that large amounts of time were lost each time the car pitted.
Kirkaldy started the race from second on the grid and had a fantastic battle with the GPC Ferrari of Babini for over an hour. He pitted after an hour and ten minutes on track to hand the car over to Nathan Kinch but as Kinch prepared to leave the pitlane the starter button failed. Some quick work by the pit crew got the car started and back on track albeit a lap down and Kinch set about making up for lost time.
Kinch had a great run and got the Ferrari back on the lead lap and up into third position before his pit-stop. Unfortunately the problem was still there and when he pitted the starter failed again, this time necessitating ‘in-garage’ repairs which lost a lot of time.
After this it was a case of playing catch-up for the rest of the afternoon.
Commenting on a frustrating afternoon, Andrew Kirkaldy said: “The annoying thing is that the car was awesome; we had the fastest car out there today by a long way. It ran like a dream for six hours. To be stopped in your tracks by a small thing like a starter button is incredibly frustrating!”
Mirroring Kirkaldy’s comments, Nathan Kinch said, “The car was fantastic today. It was a lot of fun to drive and we could push it harder than ever. What else can I say? Frustrating – yes. Annoying – yes. Irritating – yes. All those words fit!”
The Scuderia Ecosse team will return home tonight and prepare for a very important event: the next round of the British GT Championship at Mondello Park which looks set to be the decider in the 2005 British GT Driver’s Championship.
GT2 RACE RESULT
1. Pompidou/Lieb (Porsche GT3 R) Sebah Automotive 6:02:12.324
2. Crevels/Bleekemolen (Spyker C8 Spyder GT2 R) Spyker Squadron +1 lap
3. Groppi/Moccia/Rockenfeller (Porsche GT3 RS) Autorlando Sport +2 laps
4. Kinch/Kirkaldy (Ferrari 360 GTC) Scuderia Ecosse +2 laps
5. Lambert/Lefort/Palltala (Porsche GT3 RSR) Ice Pol Racing Team +4 laps
6. Stanton/Johnson/Eagling (TVR Tuscan T400R) Racesport Peninsula TVR +6 laps
7. Nielson/Thyrring/Ehret (Porsche GT3 RSR) Sebah Automotive +7 laps
8. Marsh/O’Young (Porsche GT3 RSR) Noble Group-GruppeM Racing +15 laps
9. Cook/Keen/Bryant (Porsche GT3 RS) Tech 9 Motorsport +26 laps
Not classified:
Rosa/Drudi/Babini (Ferrari 360) GPC Sport
Petersen/Lueders (Porsche GT3 RS) JP Racing
Daniels/Simonsen (Porsche GT3 RS) James Watt Automotive
Hughes/Kane (TVR T400R) Team LNT
Collin/Felbermayr Snr/Felbermayr Jnr (Porsche GT3 RS) Seikel Motorsport
Hynes/Pearce/Tomlinson (TVR T400R) Team LNT
