Oschersleben: TMC qualifying report

Team Maranello Concessionaires' two Ferrari 360N/GT race cars set second and fourth quickest times in class during qualifying ahead of the eighth round of the FIA GT Championship in Oschersleben, Germany, today. Car number 88 (Jamie Davies/Darren Turner) ran the quickest of the pair and Turner posted a time of 1.28.111. Car number 89 (Burt/Mullen) achieved a time just one tenth of a second behind to secure fourth place in class on the grid with Mullen behind the wheel.

Whilst on track this morning, Turner was involved in an incident with another car whilst resulted in the loss of his rear bumper. Mullen was also thwarted on occasions by slow traffic and sustained a puncture to his right rear tyre minutes from the end of the session. Despite these incidents, both cars managed to secure excellent starting positions on the grid for tomorrow's race.

Although the team has studied comprehensive circuit data, this is TMC's first visit to Oschersleben and so a great deal of time during practice and in qualifying was spent refining both cars' set-up. TMC's drivers, engineers and mechanics will continue to refine the cars' dynamics this evening in preparation for tomorrow's race.

Darren Turner: "I've driven here before during my DTM days and so I know the circuit reasonably well. The incident on track this morning didn't help though but I'd already posted my quick time. The car feels good -- we were suffering with some understeer yesterday during free practice but the team has cured this. This meant that I had to drive with a fresh set-up today which wasn't ideal but still, second on the grid means that the race tomorrow should see us more than competitive -- we know the Ferrari can be really fast here against the Porsches."

Tim Mullen: "This is my first visit to Oschersleben and so I've spent a lot of time in the car this weekend. My car feels great but traffic during this morning's session was a real problem and I had three flying laps spoilt. I still managed a time this morning that was just a tenth behind Jamie and Darren and I'm fourth which demonstrates how close the field is. I also suffered a puncture at the end of the morning session too which meant that I had to qualify this afternoon on old tyres. Therefore, it was encouraging to find that I was quickest in class in this afternoon's session and only a couple of tenths away from grabbing second place which is encouraging."

Notes

* TMC currently lie second in the N/GT Teams' Classification with 48 points and Championship hopefuls Jamie Davies and Tim Mullen are second and fifth respectively behind the leading pair in the Drivers' Championship.

* Car 88 of Davies and Turner will carry Eurosport's in-car camera over the weekend, thus providing enthusiasts of the team with an opportunity to witness the drivers at work close-hand. Keen observers will also see a 'Performance Friction Brakes' decal in the car, reinforcing the team's partnership with the company (who supply TMC with brake pads and calipers).

* Oschersleben also marks the launch of TMC's relationship with Universal Pictures International (UPI). Both race cars and the team's two transporters will be carrying decals promoting the international launch of the video and DVD of the box-office hit movie, 2 Fast, 2 Furious. This initiative will climax during the final round of the Championship at Monza, Italy, on October 19 when four lucky competition winners will be driven around the circuit by TMC's own Jamie Davies in one of the team's Ferrari 360 N/GT race cars. As always, TMC's film crew will be on hand to record the moment for Ferrari Racing, the team's documentary programme which is being aired on the Sky Sports network (Episode Seven of the show featuring the team in action at Anderstorp is due for broadcast on Sky Sports Extra at 12.30pm UK time on Sunday 28 September).

-tmc-