Nissan Determined To Put Zolder Behind It And Get GT1 Season Back On Track In Portimao

MAPLE CROSS, UNITED KINGDOM – May 4, 2011: It was a weekend to forget for Nissan during the second round of the GT1 World Championship in Belgium, but three weeks on, and with plenty of time to reflect on exactly what went wrong at Zolder, both teams running the Nissan GT-R in this year’s series are confident of making amends as the race series moves to the Portimão circuit in Portugal’s Algarve region this weekend.

Zolder saw three of the four Nissan GT-Rs on the grid failing to complete each of the weekend’s two main races, with the no.23 JR Motorsports driven by Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr the only Nissan to finish in both instances. However, with a belief that Portimão should be more suited to the GT-R’s strengths than Zolder, and history on its side – last year saw the pairing of Krumm and Peter Dumbreck drive the no.23 Sumo Power GT to victory in the Qualifying Race – optimism is strong amongst the Nissan ranks.

Portimão, which officially goes by the name ‘Autódromo Internacional do Algarve’, is one of the newest circuits on the 2011 GT1 calendar, having only been completed in late 2008, and should represent an altogether different challenge to the 50+ years old Zolder. At 4.692 km (2.915 miles), the track is almost half a mile longer than its Belgium based counterpart, and houses several more turns (18 to Zolder’s 10). It is a circuit renowned for its high cornering speeds – a far cry from the much slower paced Zolder.

Speaking ahead of the weekend, Michael Krumm said: “It was fantastic on both a personal and team level to win the Qualifying Race at Portimão last year, and a repeat of that should be the very least that the Nissans are aiming for this time round. The competition is strong and we will have to get everything perfect to win as usual, but we will be optimistic about getting a good result.

“Portimão should suit the GT-R’s strengths better than in Belgium, as Zolder requires a lot of traction out of slow corners, giving cars with a mid-engine setup a weight balance advantage. In Portimão the corners are taken at much higher speeds, something the GT-R is absolutely brilliant at. Overall, it is a great track – with its big elevation changes it’s like a mini

Nurburgring, and it's not only a great pleasure to drive there, it’s also a big challenge for the drivers and the cars. There are not many modern tracks with such unique characteristics.”

Enrique Bernoldi, driver of the no.20 Sumo Power GT alongside fellow Brazilian Ricardo Zonta, added: “Zolder was disappointing, but, on a personal level, not any more so than Abu Dhabi, where our car lost the race in the pits when we were leading. Now we have to try and put everything together and fight for the win – if Ricardo and I manage to have a little bit of the luck that we’ve been lacking in the first two races of the season, then I think that’s a very realistic goal.

“Portimão is a track of a high standard, alongside the likes of Abu Dhabi and Silverstone, and a place where it’s a pleasure to race. The fast corners, long straights and relatively gentle breaking throughout should really favour the Nissan GT-R this time around.”