Porsche Carrera Cup

Clear points’ lead for Nicolas Armindo at half time

Stuttgart. Was this the preliminary decision in the title fight? Nicolas Armindo celebrated his third straight win of the season on the Nürburgring. Driving for Hermes Attempto Racing with four races left on the calendar, the Frenchman’s advantage is a healthy 20 points. In a repeat of the third round on the EuroSpeedway Lausitz, the man from Alsace had the competitive edge in the Carrera Cup Deutschland setting pole position, fastest race lap and claiming victory.

Moreover, Armindo dominated round five of the season while behind him his pursuers were thrown into bedlam. Sean Edwards snatched second for his Deutsche Post by tolimit squad. The British pilot currently sits only seventh overall in the standings as he is not contesting all nine rounds. After another spirited performance, a delighted Uwe Alzen claimed the third podium spot. The 42-year-old driving for Herberth Motorsport PZ Olympiapark continued on seamlessly from the Norisring with another top result which has catapulted the German to now rank second overall. Due to his troubled start to the season, Alzen, however, sits 20 points behind Armindo.

Armindo’s toughtest rivals from the first half of the season, Nick Tandy from Great Britain (Konrad Motorsport) and Martin Ragginger from Austria, travelled from the ‘Ring empty handed. Like on the Norisring, Tandy, who has two wins up his sleeve this season, damaged a tyre in the start chaos and after pitting for repairs only managed to bring home 16th position. With this result he lost his second place in the points. The number three by now, former Porsche Junior Martin Ragginger, had to park his 911 GT3 Cup run by Schnabl Engineering trackside already in the formation lap and slides down the points’ table to position five.

Fourth in qualifying, fourth at the flag: Forty-year-old Sascha Maassen, Edwards’s teammate in the Deutsche Post by tolimit team, brought home his best result of the season, but not without having to first fight off Christian Engelhart (Germany, MRS Team PZ Aschaffenburg) over many laps. Philipp Wlazik (Germany, Hermes Attempto Racing) also achieved his best result with sixth place. Seventh went to Robert Renauer (Germany, Herberth Motorsport PZ Olympiapark) ahead of the Porsche Motorsport Talent Harald Schlegelmilch (Konrad Motorsport) from Latvia – for whom eighth was also his top result by now. His scholarship colleague Ferdinand Stuck (Germany, Farnbacher Racing – PZN) fell back to 19th after an unscheduled pit stop.

Nicolas Armindo (winner): “Great start, great race. I was very quick in the first couple of laps, but then backed off slightly to conserve my tyres. It’s a shame that Nick only earned three points, but it’s good for me. Still, the championship is not yet decided!”

Sean Edwards (second): “My start was okay and I could even pull away a little. But at about the halfway point my car began to understeer and Uwe Alzen was uncomfortably close. It was a fantastic fight for second place at the end and I’m very pleased that I came out on top.”

Uwe Alzen (third): “What a weekend. Everything ran perfectly and for me the race was certainly not boring. I noticed that Sean was struggling towards the end so I caught up to him. I didn’t want to take any risks because he’s not actually a serious contender for the championship.”

The fifth round of the Carrera Cup season could only take off at 17.30 hours instead of the planned 10.25 hours, due to thick fog and rain which prevented any racing on the Nürburgring. The duration of the Porsche sprint race was limited to 30 minutes.

Round six of the Porsche Carrera Cup Deutschland takes place on 22 August at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands.

Source: © 2010 Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG

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Tags: Carrera Cup, Nicolas Armindo, Porsche, Porsche Carrera Cup, Racing

Category: Sports