At the third round of the International GT Open Championship in Spa, the Car Collection Motorsport team only managed to score points with one of the three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs it entered. “Hash” and Alex Fontana in the number 12 car scored their first points finish of the season with seventh place in the PRO-AM class. Both of the other cars were victims of collisions through no fault of their own and therefore scored no points despite a good performance.
The third round of the GT Open Championship took place on the famous “Ardennes rollercoaster” in Spa-Francorchamps, where the fifth race of the season was held. Car Collection Motorsport once again competed in this international championship with three Porsche 911 GT3 Rs. As usual, the weather conditions presented the teams and drivers with major challenges on this race track.
The top spearhead with starting number 15 and the two Pro drivers Gustav Bergström and Nico Menzel were able to impress with strong lap times in qualifying and finished third on the grid in the combined qualifying session. Unfortunately, their race was over before it had really begun. Starting driver Bergström was hit by an over-motivated opponent on the first lap and thrown out of the race. This zero lap means a severe setback in the fight for the championship, in which the duo now lies in seventh place overall.
The race for car number 7 with drivers Bashar Mardini and Tijmen van der Helm also ended without points despite a strong performance. After a good fifth place on the grid in the PRO-AM class, Tijmen van der Helm was even able to take the class lead until the driver changeover. His partner Mardini was then hit by an opponent during his stint and forced into a spin. The offender was penalised, but the #7 was so far behind that it was no longer possible to finish in the points.
By contrast, the race went better for the #12 Porsche. Starting the race from 14th on the grid, the two drivers “Hash” and Alex Fontana managed a clean race. In the end, the duo crossed the finish line in seventh place in the PRO-AM class, scoring points for the first time this season. For “Hash”, it was his first time in the points in this championship.
Despite this minor setback, Team Car Collection is now fully focussed on the next round at the Hungaroring, where they intend to attack again as usual.
Peter Schmidt, Team Principal: “That was a weekend to forget! But we have nothing to criticise ourselves for, because the team and drivers put in another great performance. The fact that we were involved in several accidents through no fault of our own is therefore more than annoying. It’s nice that “Hash” and Alex Fontana were rewarded for their efforts and scored points for the first time!”
