Navarra: Nissan qualifying report

NO.22 TOP NISSAN AT NAVARRA

The No.22 Nissan GT-R of Warren Hughes and Jamie Campbell-Walter was the fastest Nissan at Navarra today, taking seventh place on the grid for the first of tomorrow's two FIA GT1 World Championship races. It was a good run by the British duo but a disappointing result for their team-mates in the No.23 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R. Peter Dumbreck took the wheel for the first part of qualifying but struggled for grip and just missed the cut.

Karl Wendlinger had a good run in the No.3 Swiss Racing Team car in the first part of qualifying, taking 12th position and securing a place in the second session. Henri Moser then took over and took 16th place on the grid for the first race tomorrow. Seiji Ara took 18th in the first session and will line up just behind the No.23 Nissan tomorrow.

The Navarra Qualifying Race gets underway at 1000hrs tomorrow before the main Championship race at 1600hrs.

QUOTES:

Jamie Campbell-Walter: "The combination of corners at the start of the lap is challenging. Turn one is flat in sixth but turn three is a hairpin so it's hard to stop for that turn. Turn five is pretty good too but the rest is quite slow which is hard for us, as the Nissan GT-R likes to stretch its legs. Warren and I concentrated on qualifying at the Nogaro Test earlier this week and it has really helped us. It's a shame for the other car and I really feel for them; there are few overtaking opportunities here as there are no big braking zones. Hopefully we can get a good result from seventh. We did a lot of live pit stop practice at Nogaro too so the team is well-drilled and ready to go."

James Rumsey, Sumo Power GT Team Principal: "No.22 should have a good race tomorrow and No.23 is going to have to push hard. We only seem to get one, maybe two, laps on the tyres here so one false move and you're out."

Karl Wendlinger: "It's not easy here as it's hard to get the tyres to the optimum temperature. The car is very well balanced today and I had the grip in that first run too so it was good. This circuit throws up some challenges, especially the first part which is good and quick. You need to have a nice, steady line and not overdrive the car."

-source: nissan