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American LeMans
IN THE COCKPIT: David Brabham, Navarra GT1
It was a great result and we know that if we’d had a cleaner pit stop we probably could have won the race...
David Brabham  |  Posted July 07, 2011  
David Brabham earned another podium finish in last weekend's FIA GT1 World Championship race in Navarra. (Photo: courtesy, David Brabham)
The FIA GT1 World Championship round at Navarra was a welcome return to form. It was just one of those weekends where we ticked all the boxes on everything we wanted to achieve.

We knew that we would have a grid penalty in the first race, so qualifying was going to be important to ensure we were well in the top 10. We not only managed to do that but we actually saved a set of tires in the process.

When I was in Q2 I only did one flying lap, which was enough for P2 at the time, and the team pulled me in as they felt that was enough. It was a bit of a tense time as we only got in by a tenth of a second, as other people either did more laps or put a second set of tyres on. The important thing was just getting in the top eight and obviously then Jamie [Campbell-Walter] did a great job in qualifying fifth.

That meant we were starting 10th for the Qualifying Race. We had a great run and a fantastic pit stop that took us from 10th to sixth. Then Jamie got a couple of passes and we ended up finishing fourth which was great progress.

After Silverstone, the last thing I needed was to go into turn one and have contact. I had to back off three times otherwise I would have been collected in an accident. We got through without a scratch but we did drop three places. Although that hurt us I managed to get back up to 10th and sit behind the sister car, 20, before the pit stop. I tried to find a way past but it meant taking too big a risk. I knew if we could just get the pit stop right we’d gain some time.

The Sumo Power GT guys have been doing a fantastic job in the pits so that’s exactly what happened. We came out in sixth and got fourth at the finish which is exactly where we needed to be.

It was a great start by Jamie for the Championship Race. He was pushing really hard, trying to find a way to get in to the lead, but he knew he had to back off and give way for the leader to make sure he got through turns one, two and three in good shape. He then ran at a very strong pace throughout his stint.

Unfortunately for us the pit window didn’t open at the right time. It came just after we passed pit entry so some teams were able to dive in where as we had to pit later. That caused a bit of confusion and we ended up pitting with car 22, which was right next to us, which is what we were trying to avoid.

It was just the way it was. I had to back up, as they were parked in the wrong spot, and it was just a bit messy and unfortunate. We got out of there as quick as possible and only lost one spot where potentially we could have lost a lot more than that. So then it was a case of chasing down the Lamborghini but it just had a bit too much pace.

I could see that we had a safe third. While the tires were still in reasonable shape I tried to give a bit of a push and I managed to close the gap until the tyres started to go off on the rear. We just controlled the race for third as well as we could from there.

It was a great result and we know that if we’d had a cleaner pit stop we probably could have won the race. It’s just one of those things as the pit stops are manic, but the guys have been doing great stops recently, which just shows the improvement.

The Navarra circuit really suited the Lamborghinis. They won there last year and they pretty much dominated the weekend this year. Those cars have always had fantastic traction and that’s really important at Navarra where you have six first gear corners. That was their biggest advantage.

We were very pleased to finish among the points like that because Navarra, being so tight, isn’t really a Nissan GT-R track. We did some testing on Monday and Tuesday at Aragon and we found a few things that we thought could be good. We tried those tweaks at Navarra and it gave us a little more slow-speed grip, so that test was very useful for us and put us in a great position for the weekend.

We’re now really looking forward to Paul Ricard. It’s a lovely area, a great track, and the Nissan will hopefully be strong there. Everything is really starting to come together now, everything from the car to the team chemistry, and I’m sure it’s only a matter of time before we score our first FIA GT1 World Championship win.

I’m very much looking forward to the end of the year and to having a very strong finish to the season.

~David

David Brabham is a two-time ALMS champion and overall winner at Le Mans. The 2011 season sees the Australian embark on the FIA GT1 World Championship with Sumo Power GT. For more information, please visit davidbrabham.com.
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