Brno: JMB Racing race notes

Guess What? JMB Racing Finishes Second in Brno!

Miramar, June 3, 2004: With medical problems forcing Toto Wolff to withdraw from the race at the last minute (and the whole team wishes him a speedy recovery) and changes to Robert Lechner and Jaime Melo's sporting programs, a change to the driver line-up for Brno became necessary.  Jaime Melo, second in the 1000 km of Monza and entered in the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the team's Modena, joined Karl Wendlinger in the #17 Ferrari 575 GTC, while Robert Lechner moved to the #18 car alongside Bert Longin and Ian Khan.

All the drivers enjoyed the spectacular Czech circuit, with uphill and downhill sections and a variety of corners. To get the best out of their driving on this challenging circuit, it was necessary to find the most efficient set-up, and this was the main objective during the free practice sessions.

A collision in his qualifying lap with a Prodrive Maranello did not allow Karl to confirm the team's hopes of starting from the front two lines of the starting grid. He was finally eighth, just in front of the #18 car, which was ninth.

On Sunday, Karl avoided all the potential problems during the busy start. Held up by Philipp Peter, who had started behind him, Karl took advantage of the situation to climb up to 5th, he found a way past Philipp on lap 11 and began to catch up with the leaders. Jaime Melo, in his first race with the F575 GTC, put in an excellent stint, combining speed and patience to overtake two Prodrive Ferrari cars and claim the 3rd place. Getting back behind the wheel for the final stint, Karl took care to keep the gap separating him from the fourth-placed car, while watching his fuel consumption, which allowed him to take 2nd place when one of the Ferrari 550 Maranello cars run by the Championship leaders stopped with a fuel problem three laps from the finish.

The hard work of Bert Longin, more and more at ease behind the wheel of the #18 Ferrari, the constant performances shown by Ian Khan and the efficiency of Robert Lechner during the final stint saw them rewarded with the point for 8th place.

Starting from the back of the grid after an engine change in their #19 575, Antoine Gosse and Peter Kutemann nevertheless had the satisfaction of bringing their car across the finish line in 14th place.

The good results obtained in Brno and the visible progress which has been made are excellent encouragements for the JMB Racing Team to continue its hard work, in order to reach its objective: to aim for the podium at each and every race.

The next round of the FIA GT Championship will be on June 27th in Donington (GB)

Before then, Jaime Melo, Stéphane Daoudi and Jean-René Defournoux will attempt to bring further glory to the JMB Racing colors, driving the F360 Modena entered in the 72nd edition of the 24 Hours of Le Mans (June 12th-13th).

-jmb-