Motorsport News
Tough Season Opener for PSR Volvo
By source: PSR
Apr 1, 2007, 11:09

PSR Volvo had to miss the first round of the German Endurance Championship (GEC) after both cars had been crashed in testing and qualifying respectively. André Lips shunted one car in Friday testing, Fredy Lienhard somersaulted the second outfit on the very first lap in qualifying. The team now faces a tough time getting two Volvos ready for the second round.

While the rest of the field was competing in the first round of the GEC, the PSR mechanics were already busy dismantling the leftovers of their two Volvo S60 back at the team’s base in Adenau. They found one of the cars a total write-off, while the other one cried for heavy repair work.

André Lips crashed the first car during Friday testing. After three installation laps on the Grand Prix circuit, he overcooked it right after the entrance of the infamous Nordschleife and hit the Armco hard at Hatzenbach. “The tyres weren’t scrubbed in enough. I was simply too fast too early,” the Swiss accepted the blame. “I can only apologise to the team.”

The Motoso-backed Volvo was too badly damaged to be repaired for Saturday’s four-hour race. “To add insult to injury, all our new developments are affected – the new front, the rear diffusor, even the carbon doors”, says Berk.

Ulli Andree, meanwhile, showed the potential in the second car, backed by Tribolube. He clocked a fastest testing lap in 9.21 minutes. “The track was still pretty green after the long winter break, and I allowed for a lot of safety margin on that lap,” states Andree. “That I managed such a good time already shows what could have been possible in the race – there can be no doubt, that we would have been the team to beat.”

Andree/Fredy Lienhard weren’t to be in a position to prove, though. Lienhard suffered a bad crash in a fast left-hander approaching the Kesselchen on his very first lap in qualifying on Saturday morning. “I slowed down after I spotted oil flags and lost a lot of momentum on a part of the track where on a normal lap I should have gathered speed for a long uphill section,” the Swiss describes. “Shortly before I picked up the pace again, I looked in the rear mirror and saw a car, which was a good 100 metres away. Next thing I know is my rear very suddenly became very nervous. I ended up on the grass, where I turned into a passenger in my own driving seat.”

The Volvo hit the guardrails in a harmless angle but got entangled with the Armco, thus being thrown up in the air and into a series of five violent roles. After the crash, Lienhard had to be taken to the Medical Centre for a check-up but was released soon. “He was lucky that he only suffered a small whiplash and a headache. The car, however, is a complete write-off,” says Berk. “It’s just a terrible, terrible sight.”

Despite the setback, PSR will be working flat out to get two cars on the grid for the second race in 12 day’s time. “We’ve still got two rolling chassis in stock but may be struggeling to get the rollcages crafted, delivered and built into the cars on time,” warns Berk. “Worst of it all, we all had only got very little sleep in the days leading up to the first event and hoped to get a bit of a break after the season opener. But now, all the nightshifts have to start all over again...”

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