Slim Racing News 2011
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Slim Racing - Shell Racing Solutions Radical Masters
Valencia1/2 October 2011
A good weekend to close the season with Christian Kronegard claiming third place in both races and Benjamin Bailly and Saud Al Faisal driving to a fourth place in race one
Estoril 23/25 September 2011
A satisfying weekend for Slim Racing - with Christian Kronegard finishing on the podium in all three races with a win, and two third place positions.
Full race report to follow
saud Al Faisal despite some setbacks achieved a top ten position in Race Two and a creditable fourth place in Race 3.
Full race report to follow
Imola 2/3 July 2011
Our outing at Imola promised much but delivered little.
We have to console ourselves that, as a team, Slim Racing remain second in the championship on 168 points – now 66 points behind the Radical Works Team and with 360 Racing on 150 points, closing us down.
Our drivers positions in the championship have deteriorated and are now as follows:
Christian Kronegard and William Vermont are joint seventh
Benjamin Bailly and Saud T AlFaisal are joint eleventh
Tom Olsen stands at ninth in the SR3 category
Race 1
In Qualifying Christian was reasonably satisfied with securing third place on the grid in wet and changeable conditions and commented that he, "looked forward to a podium finish and why not the top step?"
Saud was also optimistic that his ninth place on the grid would "translate into better things" as he was confident that, given the times he had achieved in free practice, his race pace and that of Benjamin would haul the car up through the field.
Christian's hopes were not to be and having completed only five laps he was out of the race with an electrical fault.
Saud's predictions were, however, to come true as he climbed as high as fifth place before handing over to Ben.
Ben in turn took the initiative with a great drive to cross the line in second place. But luck was just not with us and following a protest we could scarcely believe it when his second place was withdrawn for allegedly driving too aggressively.
Suffice it to say Ben, the entire team and many other competitors saw this as an unfair decision. We genuinely think, as they say, that - "We was robbed".
Race 2
Qualifying brought us hope of good results with Ben in third place on the grid and William in fourth.
Again our hopes were not to be realised and William was forced to retire after completing only nine laps when fighting for the lead and having set the fastest race lap of the weekend; at 1:43.620 he was the only driver to beat the 1:44.0 mark.
Ben unfortunately suffered an equally dispiriting setback as car troubles necessitated a lengthy pitstop early in the race that subsequently relegated him and Saud to circulating at considerable pace but many laps down on the leaders.
SR3
Tom and Slim in the SR3 had by comparison relatively trouble free runs to net a further twenty one points in the championship.
Brands Hatch 4/5 June 2011
As we reflect on the weekend at Brands Hatch, we see yet again that there is nothing certain in motorsport!
Potential high scoring and podium positions were lost through a variety of incidents that saw Christian Kronegard and Benjamin Bailly crash out in Race 1 and Tom Olsen severely compromised when hit from behind in race 2.
Despite this we still remain in second position in the Team Championship with Christian Kronegard and William Vermont in joint second position and Benjamin Bailly and Saud Al Faisal in joint ninth position, in the SR8 class. In the SR3 ClassTom Olsen now lies in 7th place.
There were four races at Brands as the size of the field necessitated that the SR8 and SR3 classes were run separately.
SR8 Race 1
William's qualifying lap of 1:23.505 ensured the car he shares with Christian started from 2nd on the grid alongside pole-sitters Alex and Martin Brundle; Ben and Saud in the other SR8, after a more difficult qualifying session started from 10th on the grid.
At the start William got the jump on Alex Brundle to seize the lead and he appeared to be fully capable of holding this advantage. Unfortunately he lost the lead to Alex, when he was held up by an errant backmarker. He then proceeded to close on Alex who suffered a spin at Surtees which resulted in his retirement but it also unfortuntely lost places for William as we was forced to taking avoiding action across the grass. Nevertheless when he recovered to hold the car in 2nd place when he came into the pits to hand over to Christian..
Christian left the pits in 4th place and set out in hot pursuit of the leader, Per Staaf Jr. But in making his way up the leader board attempted an overly ambitious overtaking move through Surtees, which resulted in a clash and the car out of the race on lap 19.
William at least had the consolation of setting the 2nd fastest lap of the race at 1:22:631 behind Alex Brundle at 1:22:572
Unfortunately the other SR8 had already retired from the race having completed 15 laps. Ben had taken over the car from Saud, who had maintained a postion in the top ten, but suffered a collision as he sought to fight his way through the field.
SR8 Race 2
Both cars were ready for the second race after some great work by the team.
Ben started from 8th on the grid and Christian from tenth after what the drivers felt to be a relatively disapointing Qualifying session. In wet conditions both cars improved their positions by the end of the race.After a solid stint by Christian a hard charging William brought the car home in 5th place as he was in the process of reeling in 4th place man Greg Hart. In doing so William again set the second fasted lap of the race at 1:33:930 behind Alex Brundle at 1:33:751
In the other car Ben and Saud achieved a 7th place after a reasonably incident free run.
SR3 Race 1
Tom started from 13th on the grid in sunny dry conditions and made extraordinary progress through the field to get up as high as fifth before his mandatory visit to the pits. But his advance was prematurely ended when he was shunted from behind; he lost time and the car was damaged so he ended up in only 22nd place - a poor reward for a fine drive.
SR3 Race 2
This time in wet conditions Tom started from 16th place on the grid. He delivered yet another gritty drive to secure an 8th place finish in difficult conditions.
Silverstone 16/17 April 2011
The opening race of the 2011 Radical European Masters Series at Silverstone on 16/17 April 2011 proved to be a difficult one for Slim Racing but was certainly not without its high points.
Practice on 15 April 2011
A frustrating day with a repeated series of Red Flag incidents that prevented our drivers getting any real mileage under their belts. In fact Saud managed less than half a dozen laps on this his first visit to Silverstone.
Qualifying on 16 April 2011
We fell foul of the organiser's decision to conduct a noise test on all vehicles immediately prior to Qualifying. Unfortunately all 3 cars were deemed to have failed and, as we were among the last to be tested, there was insufficient time to participate in qualifying for the first race and hence we were doomed to start our cars from the pitlane.
We managed to set times in the second qualifying session but for various reasons we felt our times and grid positions were not representative of our actual race potential.
Race 1 -
Despite starting from the pit lane in a race boasting 48 starters our drivers acquited themselves brilliantly:
Christian Kronegard and William Vermont in their SR8 fought their way through the field to achieve an amazing 4th place, an encouraging omen for Race 2.
Benjamin Bailly and Saud T Al Faisal also in an SR8 climbed as high as 7th place and ultimately finished in 10th spot, with an inspiring drive by Benjamin and Saud really showing his potential with a great performance in his first competitive laps at Silverstone.
Tom Olsen drove in typical determined fashion and only narrowly missed a top 10 slot in the SR3 class.
Race 2 -
Our drivers had a better chance to demonstrate just what a strong team Slim Racing has assembled:
Christian Kronegard and William Vermont drove a tremendous race from 9th on the grid to 2nd place. At the end Christian was consistently closing on eventual winner, Per Staaf Junior at 2 seconds a lap and finished only 2.1 seconds adrift - "If the race had been a few minutes more I am sure we would have taken Per for the win", commented Christian. William was equally in buoyant mood and said "I am determined to be with Slim Racing at Spa and to ensure we get to the top of the podium."
Benjamin Bailly and Saud T Al Faisal also impressed. Starting from 13th on the grid they powered through to 5th place at the finish. Saud said, " My first event with Slim Racing has really been encouraging and I was particularly impressed with the positive attitude across the whole team even when we hit problems. I was delighted to have driven with someone of Ben's experience and talent and of course I was more than pleased to bring the car across the line in 5th despite a spin late in the race." Benjamin was reasonably happy with the outcome, "we have scored points in both races and that's good but at Spa, in front of my home audience, I will give absolutely everything to show what we can do!"
Tom Olsen drove through the field, despite the rather erratic driving of some other competitors (and one in particular), to claim 9th position in the SR3 category. He commented "I've never been very lucky at Silverstone and I guess this event hasn't changed that. But I've taken a lot of positives out of the weekend and I'm really looking forward to Spa"
Spa- Francorchamps 5/6 May 2011
In the second event of the year Slim Racing took the opportunity to demonstrate just how strong they are this season. However, there was disappointment as well ` with the second race cancelled at short notive as a result of an incident at Pouhon during LMS qualifying, which resulted in the need for lengthy track repairs.
Practice on 4 May
The team had a relatively uneventful practice session but one which confirmed that their cars were likely to be front runners as the event progressed.
For two drivers in particular the day was both memorable ans invaluable; for Christian Kronegard and Saud T Al Faisal this was their first time at the circuit and the chance to clock up some race-pace kilometres.
Qualifying on 5 May
A solid performance from the entire team, in Qualifying One, yielded a second and eigth grid slot for the SR8s of Christian Kronegard/ William vermont and Benjamin Bailly/Saud T Al Faisal respectively.
In Qualifying for Race 2 the pairings secured a promising second and fourth slot on the grid.
Tom Olsen in the Slim Racing SR3 qualified fourth in class for Race 1 and he was a little disappointed, but certainly not disheartend to end up in eigth place on the grid for Race 2.
Race 1 on 6 May
Christian Kronegard and Saud T Al Faisal started the race with high hopes. These hopes did not entirely materialise. Saud endured a torrid opening lap that saw him spin and drop to 31st in the pack. Christian had a more comfortable opening session but was frustrated to be trapped in the procession following the Safety Car for most of his driving time.
Soon after the end of the Safety Car period William Vermont and Benjamin Bailly took over the cars and were soon the class of the field, the only two drivers lapping close to the 1 minute 17 second mark (around one and a half seconds faster than the main competition.
William soon moved into the lead, achieved fastest lap of the race and finished 30 seconds ahead of second place man by the end of the race - a great drive!
Ben meanwhile as the only driver matching William's pace, fought all the way through the field to securea very well-deserved 5th place.
Tom Olsen drove magnificently in the opening laps and as the Safety Car period ended was running 13th overall and first in class. As the race proceeded Tom continued to hold at bay the attentions of a closing pursuing trio of cars.
With less than 5 minutes to go Tom continued to lead the class Unfortunately by the time the flag dropped he had been pushed to relinquish this position but still crossed the line in a creditable fourth place in class.
Race 2 on 6 May
In Slim Borgudd's words, "OK I understand why the race was cancelled but not surprisingly we are hugely disappointed. Both our SR8s were equally matched in Race 1, after we sorted out the problems that had hindered Ben and Saud in Qualifying, There is absolutely no doubt that a one-two finish was on the cards for Race 2.
But now we just need to knuckle down and ensure we maintain our competitive edge for the next round at Brands Hatch.
Mind you we will be pushing Radical to arrange an extra race at one of the remaining events to substitute for this cancelled race."
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