Motorsport News
PSR-Volvo Wins Most Important Race of the Championship
By source: PSR Automotive / Volvo Cars Germany
Oct 19, 2007, 13:45

A thoughtful drive and clever tyre use enables Ulli Andree/Fredy Lienhard., jr/Andreas Middendorf to win the most important race of the German Endurance Championship – the prestigious six-hour race on the Nuerburgring Nordschleife.

It was hard work – but a deserved victory. Ulli Andree took pole in class in qualifying but was already closely followed by Uwe Nittel. The German rally ace drove a Mercedes which formerly competed in DTM. Nittel should become one of the hardest opponents for the Volvo outfit.

Almost 50.000 spectators saw Andree taking the lead right from the start but he couldn’t get rid of the former DTM car. „I was utterly surprised by the Mercedes’s engine power and top speed,“ wondered Andree while studying his mirrors. „He passed me on the long straight away of Doettinger Hoehe as if I were looking for a spot to park. I had to push right to the limit to prevent Nittel from running away with the lead ´till the first pit stop, and it was pretty hard work.“

After 11 laps, Andree pitted in second and handed the Volvo to Andy Middendorf, but showed confidence: "It was a tough turn, very hot inside the car and I had to push harder than I wanted to able to run on Uwe Nittel´s pace in the Merc., since we used an engine for the six hour duration with less maximum power to be on the safe side. But our new tyre supplier Yokohama did a great job and provided the same rubber like they use it in the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). The Yokohama tyres already did a tremendous job by being very good under braking and they give the driver a lot of confidence in fast fifth and sixth gear corners. It is up to us as a team, now, to make according setup-changes to be able to use the Yokohamas even better and we already have some adjustments in mind for the race in two weeks from now. Today our new rubber showed lots of potential and were the key to keeping the Mercedes´s speed at all."

During the pit stop the PSR mechanics worked faster than their opponents in the Mercedes pit; Middendorf left the pits in first place but couldn’t hold on to the lead for long. „I expected the Mercedes to be quicker,“ said Middendorf. „I didn’t even bother to try and fend him off too aggressively. We had our own game plan, with lap times that were set to be the best over the six-hour race duration. I strictly clung to our plan, regardless as to what the Mercedes was doing.“ Middendorf held on to second spot. But he had to play a tactical gamble. „We knew from Ulli´s stint that our new tyres went past their peak after ten laps,“ calculated team principal Danny Berk. „However, we needed 12 to 13 lap stints for our strategy to work.“ Middendorf noticed: „The new tyres were a lot better on the brake and cleaner on turn-in. However, after ten laps, the car started to fall over the tyres when braking hard and deep into the corners.“

The team reacted swiftly and called Middendorf in for a splash and dash after 11 laps – without changing the tyres. „The time spent in the pit gave the tyres enough breathing space to recover and be spot-on again for the rest of the scheduled tyre duration,“ recalls Middendorf the clever tyre useage. „To be able to brake 20 metres later than before made a big difference.“

Due to the early splash and dash, Middendorf lost ground on the Mercedes and had to let a furious 2,5- litre-Honda S2000 pass, too. While the Mercedes retired with technical problems a little later on, the Honda now established itself as the new leader in class, giving Fredy Lienhard, jr. quite a lot to chew on when he entered the Volvo for the final stint. „As we were on totally different strategies, I didn’t know whether the Honda had yet to make its final pit stop or not. So I pushed very hard for some eight laps to lay down the gauntlet,“ recalled the Swiss. „The times I pulled out over these eight laps made it very clear that I would have passed the Honda on the track anyway.“

But when the Japanese car pulled into the pits for a late service, Lienhard easily took the lead and held onto it until the chequered flag, securing a hard-fought win. „Victory in the Six Hour Race means a lot to us; the event is the highlight of the championship season, and the field was the most competitive I’ve ever seen“, team principal Berk was delighted. „Each of our drivers drove a perfect race, sticking to our strategy and attacking when needed, and our new technology partner Yokohama played a major role in securing this win.“

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