Motorsport News
Strong Team Effort Secures Double Victory for PSR S60
By source: PSR
May 14, 2007, 20:48

Volvo team PSR beat the weather and difficult circumstances to score the team’s first double victory at the fourth round of the German Endurance Championship on the Nuerburgring. Ulli Andree/Fredy Lienhard, jr won ahead of their team mates André Lips/Remo Lips/Celeste Lips.

The Adenauer Trophy was marked by changeable weather and track conditions. Qualifying took place in the wet, while the race started on drying roads, only for the heavens to open again during the later stages.

Ulli Andree pushed his Volvo S60 to pole position in a last-minute qualifying effort, beating team mate André Lips for the best spot on the grid. But while Andree’s partner Fredy Lienhard, jr could start the race from the front and run away with the early lead, André’s brother Remo Lips had to start the race from pit road: His engine wouldn’t fire up. „Our new aero package at the front als contained different air inlets,“ explains team principal Danny Berk. „They sucked in too much water during practice, flooding the engine bay and cutting off the electrics.“

Lips charged towards the front. Lienhard led comfortably. „But I started to hear strange noises from the front end of the car whenever I drove quicker than 200 kph,“ he noted. „The front end was dragging on the ground at high speeds. The team called me in to fix it.“

After the extra stopp, Lienhard was second to last. He ploughed his way back up the order when the rain set in again, leaving him with a handful as his car was on slick tyres. Lips, too, was on dry weather rubber. „The conditions were getting worse and worse but we wanted to pit as late as possible in order not to alter our fuel strategy,“ said Lips. „At times, I had to drive onto the green, as there was too much water on the tarmac for my slicks.“

Both Swissmen held the cars under control and made up for lost ground. They established themselves out front, with Lienhard leading from Lips when it was time to pit. Andree took over the leading car and opened the gap, with André Lips securing second place. „During the second turn, it started to dry up again, only for the rain to re-appear later on,“ said Andree. „It was very difficult to judge how the conditions were, as they changed from lap to lap and from corner to corner.“

During this critical period of the race, Lips and Andree showed true team spirit. „We constantly exchanged information on how the track looked like, using the radio to talk from one car to the other directly,“ said Lips. „In conditions like these, this communication was absolutely vital for our success.“

Both cars had to refuel once more. Andree stayed behind the wheel and drove his Volvo to the victory. In the second car, father Celeste Lips took to the track and stayed second. „It was my first race for 35 years,“ said the Swissman, who used to drive Formula Two in earlier years. „Of course, things were quite different, and everything felt pretty strange to me. But this was the ideal practice for the 24-hour race, which I’ll be driving with my sons later in the summer.“


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