With several top 10 results in Portimao, the Car Collection Motorsport team made a good start to the International GT Open Championship season. The drivers of all three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs were able to score points for the championship and gain valuable experience.
Six drivers, three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs, two races – Team Car Collection Motorsport started its debut season in the International GT Open at full throttle. Drivers “Hash” and Alex Fontana in the #12, Gustav Bergström and Nico Menzel in the #15 and Bashar Mardini and Tijmen van der Helm in the #7 were on the grid on the selective track in Portimao.
In Saturday’s race, Gustav Bergström got off to a good start in the first GT3 race of his life and put in an impressive performance right up to the pit stop. His experienced partner Nico Menzel took over the cockpit and brought the #15 car home in seventh position. Nico Menzel started Sunday’s race from second position after completing an outstanding qualifying session. In the end, the duo finished fifth in the overall standings.
Tijmen van der Helm in the number 7 car started Saturday’s race from 11th position and also completed his first ever GT3 race. He also did a flawless job. Unfortunately, the team lost some time during the driver changeover, which meant that Bash Mardini finished 12th in the Pro-Am class with a good performance. Race Sunday went much better. Both drivers, who have little experience in the Porsche GT3 R, delivered an absolutely faultless performance and crossed the finish line in a very good fifth place in class.
Swiss professional Alex Fontana started from fourth place in the #12 Porsche on Saturday and was able to make up another position before the driver changeover. Partner “Hash”, who took over the car, was spun round by an opponent later on and lost many places while in a podium position. More than 15th place was no longer possible. On Sunday, “Hash” climbed into the cockpit for his first ever qualifying in an international race. After an 18th place on the grid, he improved massively in the race. His partner Alex Fontana also made up several positions, meaning that the pair finished ninth in the Pro-Am class and collected important points.
The home race for the team from Walluf in Hesse is just two weeks away with the race weekend in Hockenheim. After a good start to the season, Car Collection wants to achieve top results again in front of a home crowd.
Peter Schmidt, Team Principal: “We are very satisfied with the first weekend in the GT Open. The series is highly professional and we feel very comfortable here. The results are also very satisfactory, even though we could have finished on the podium if it hadn’t been for the bad luck in the first race. Thanks to the whole team for the phenomenal job! Now we’re looking forward to our home race.”
