Abu Dhabi: Team Abu Dhabi-Proton Racing had an excellent start to the six hours of Nurburgring on Sunday, taking the lead in the group for several hours. However, an unfortunate spin caused by an LMP1 car damaged the front of the 911 RSR LMGTE Am, causing the team to lose time in the pits, dropping them down to sixth place by the end of the race.
The Team Abu Dhabi Proton had an almost perfect start to the day’s racing in front of 62,000 people at the German Formula One circuit. Earl Bamber moved from P5 to P2 in the opening laps and held that position until lap six, when he spun and was hit by one of the Aston Martin’s, dropping him down to 7th. Bamber entered the pit under yellow flag, but the 24h of Le Mans winner came out fighting and posted the fastest laps of the race in order to catch up with the leaders, eventually taking the lead in the LMGTE Am class.
Khalid Al Qubaisi took over from Bamber and held the lead, remaining fastest in the group throughout his stint in the car. He then handed over the Porsche 911 RSR to Christina Ried in P2. Ried got hit by an LMP1 car in turn 10 half way through the race. Unfortunately, the number 88 Porsche 911 RSR took some frontal damage in the spin and had to return to the pits for repair. The team lost a valuable 10 minutes in the pits, dropping them back to sixth place, which they were not able to make up.
Al Qubaisi said: “We had a great start to the race, the car was running perfectly, Bamber’s start was amazing and we really thought that the podium would be waiting for us this time, as we proved how fast we are. But it looks like luck is not on our side this season – I can’t describe what happened to us as anything but bad luck.”
