FIA GT1 World Championship
Portimao (POR), May 6th-8th, 2011

The fourth race of the FIA GT1 World Championship took place at the Formula 1 test track in Portimao in southern Portugal.

The track is not new for Swede Max Nilsson who shares a Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini Murcielago LP 670 R-SV with Czech Jiri Janak this season. In 2010 he competed in the GT1 World Championship at the circuit and later completed a few tests there.

The free practice session on Friday started off well. His Lambo #6 managed better lap times than the sister car (Kox/Wendlinger). Some modifications for the pre-qualifying session did not bring the desired success and were therefore reset for the qualifying.

The qualifying consists of three parts and the cars qualify for the next stint with good lap times. After the start Nilsson noticed right away that the pressure of the tyres was not ideal. During the pit stop he asked the team to increase the pressure. In his next lap he noticed a significant improvement and due to his good lap times he was able to qualify for Q2 for the first time this season. Consequently, his partner got a chance to compete in a qualifying session. Unfortunately, the Czech did not reach Q3 and scored P14 in the end.

Czech Janak started in the qualifying race and managed to gain a few places in the first lap. He showed a great performance during his stint. However, during the driver change after the first half of the race he had problems with a Nissan blocking his way. As a result he lost valuable time in the pit lane.
Nilsson took over and fought hard against his team mate Karl Wendlinger (AUT). The car performed well and the Swede was able to keep up with his competitors. Then the pressure in the rear tyres increased considerably and the Lambo swerved when he was suddenly forced to brake in a turn. Nilsson was able to bring the car back under control but was forced to let Wendlinger pass. He also picked up dirt from the edge of the track which he did not get rid of completely for two laps. The gap to the car in front of him became bigger and bigger. He drove across the finish line in a good 12th place.

During the formation lap on Sunday there were problems with the gearbox. Nilsson started nevertheless but had to drive the car back into the pit in the second lap because of these problems. Consequently the race was over for car #6.

The next event will take place at the Sachsenring circuit in Germany next weekend.


Max Nilsson (SWE):
“The qualifying was good but only after I had asked for more pressure in the tyres. The car was really great afterwards and for the first time I noticed that I drove with new tyres. Therefore, I was able to reach the second qualifying session. My colleague Jiri (Janak) even set the fastest sector time in his qualifying. However, he did not finish the qualifying session and I do not know why. I was very pleased with my performance. The team did a great pit stop in the qualifying race. Unfortunately, a Nissan blocked the way in the pit lane and we lost places because of that. I had good lap times and was fighting against Karl (Wendlinger) when I made a mistake that ruined my lap times.
During the championship race the gearbox caused more problems. The third gear kept jumping out. In the second lap I drove back into the pit to protect the gearbox from further damages. Unfortunately, the race and the weekend were suddenly over.”