Nürburgring Review
Le Mans Series 2009
Charles Zwolsman looks back at the 1000 KM of the Nürburgring.
“We’re still improving trough the experience.”
After having a bittersweet experience in the Nürburgring Charles can look back at a good race. “Even though we didn’t reach the podium and I was bitterly disappointed by that we still be reasonably proud of this race. I knew we had the opportunity to finally grab a podium finish so we went all out for it. Being the one who had to do the last double stint and finish the race it was really exciting watching the race unfold. I must say the most exciting race so far this season.” Your car, the Kolles Audi R10 nr.14 seemed to be running pretty well? “After this weekend I can say that the track really didn’t suit our car as much as we would have hoped. Despite that we were still able to fight for a good result.” Does this mean the Kolles team is making giant leaps forward? “I wouldn’t say giant. But Experience has made both the team and the drivers stronger.”
We drove a pretty good race.
Whilst looking at the monitor during the race I could see that there was a steady improving line in position. “Apart from the extra pitstop we had to make we did drive a pretty good race.” Your lap times in the race were around the 1.46 mark, are you happy about that? “In Qualifying I did a 1.44.0, so it was quite a big gap to that. But looking at everybody else’s lap times a 2 second gap to qualifying and sometimes even more was normal. Consistently I did a good race laptime wise.”
Before making the extra pitstop third place was ours.
You were very close to the podium. “Narain ran into tire trouble in his second stint and had to do an extra pitstop. Right then I knew it was going to be hard to reach the podium. Before this we were running a strong third and I’m sure we could have kept it until the finish. As it was I started my double stint at 4th place with a pretty big gap to the 3rd Aston Martin. I managed to close it to 15 seconds by the time the race ended.” Do you think that your car was the only car that had an answer to the Aston Martin sweep? “We had no answer for the first 2 Aston’s. But I think we were faster that the 3rd Aston. I would say that the Aston Martin was certainly the strongest car here.” Looking at the race the podium finish really is within grasps, isn’t it? “Yes for sure! Next race in Silverstone we will be battling against Aston Martin, Pescarolo, Oreca, Ginetta and the Lola for the podium positions. That is a lot of cars for 3 places. So it’s exciting times.”
Giving up would have made it easy for him.
In the last part of the race you were really catching the 3rd placed Aston. “Yes, I was pushing hard because I wanted to be on the podium so badly. I came pretty close.” Was the last fast pitstop of the Aston Martin instrumental in giving them 3rd place? “It was about 5 seconds faster which is the time we as a diesel team lose refueling. It’s a pity but those are the rules.” Even though at one point you could see that it was not possible to close the gap before the end of the race your pace remained strong. Is that the Pro mentality, never to give up? “I wanted to keep him under pressure. If I give up he can relax and take an easy 3rd. Now I still had him under pressure and there was still a small chance I could push him into making a mistake.” How was the crowd at the Nürburgring? “It was busy! One of the better races of the season in that regard. You can see that motorsport is one of the biggest sports in Germany. ”What was Dr. Colin Kolles’s reaction? “He was of course disappointed that we didn’t reach the podium but he was happy with the way I had driven.” Championship standing? “9th at the moment.”
The rules have eliminated every advantage we might have had.
There are rumours that the restrictions voor diesel powered cars will be even tighter next year. What is the bg advantage of diesel engnine compared with normal petrol engines? “Our engines are more efficient. So we should be able to run the race making fewer pitstops. But because of the way the regulations already are with our refueling being slower and our tanks being smaller I would say all of that advantage is already gone. If the rule chances really happen for next year it will be impossible for us to compete. I feel that all these rules to stop the diesels is meant to slowdown the factory Peugeot and Audi. These cars have a big advatage over the rest of the field. I would rather see that they make these rules only effective for the factory cars because for us it doesn’t seem to be fair.”
Our race has to be flawless.
Next and last race of the season is at Silverstone. “Yes, it will be us fighting against another 9 or so cars for 3 podium spots. We are not the quickest of the bunch. But we have proven to be very close come raceday.Our race has to be flawless. Whereas the Aston Martin’s for example can make a mistake or two and still fight for the win.”
Source: Charles Zwolsman Racing Media Services
Website: www.charleszwolsman.com
Image credit: Milo Kol / Planetlemans
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