FIA GT3 European Championship
Zandvoort, The Netherlands
October 14th – 16th, 2011

After competing in his last race in the FIA GT 1 World Championship at the Sachsenring (DEU) in May, Max Nilsson (SWE) was finally able to experience the thrill of racing again last weekend.

After a preparatory test last week he competed in a Lamborghini Gallardo LP600 at the circuit in Zandvoort, Netherlands. He shared the car with local, Henry Zumbrink, who knows the 4.3km (2.67 miles) long track well and was able to give Nilsson useful advice.

More than 19,000 spectators came to the traditional track to see the last race of the European GT3 Championship live and to enjoy the sunny weather and cold temperatures.

The Swede completed his first few kilometres at the track during Friday’s free practice session with the Gallardo working well.

Nilsson set a good time in the first qualifying session on Saturday despite heavy traffic. He placed the Lamborghini in P12 (in a field of 29 cars) for the first race. His partner, Zumbrink, reached P13. However, he was forced to retire early due to a technical fault at the left rear wheel attachment.

Max Nilsson managed a good start in the first race on Saturday afternoon. He was able to defend his position between an Audi R8 LMS and a Mercedes Benz SLS well. However, in lap four he met the same fate like his partner, Henry Zumbrink, in the qualifying session. With the wheel hub failing to work again Nilsson struggled to reach the entry of the pit. Unfortunately he was forced to retire the Gallardo.

The Dutch started in the second race on Sunday. He lost places in the first few laps when another car touched him and he lost his rhythm. He had moved up into P12 again by the end of the first half of the race. Nilsson took over. There were some problems during the pit stop causing the team to lose valuable time. Nilsson re-joined in P16 and set some fast sector and lap times gaining P15 at the end of the race.

The weekend was satisfactory for Max Nilsson and he used his opportunity to complete kilometres in a racing car and gather important experiences for the next season.

Max Nilsson:
“The circumstances of my first GT3 race were quite difficult. I think the team was not perfectly prepared for my first race in the GT3 series and in this car. The free practice sessions were o.k. Unfortunately, we had the same technical problem with the left rear wheel nub twice. It failed to work during the qualifying session and my race. It was very frustrating, especially with it happening at the same tyre twice. I am sure that it would have been a great race because the car worked well.
However, it was a good racing weekend and I drove well which is important to me. I would like to use the next few months to continue testing GT3 cars.”