PATRICK ON THE PACE AGAIN IN MONZA!
MONZA, SEPTEMBER 13 2009 – After having experienced a difficult summer period in the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup, Patrick Huisman was back on the pace in last weekend’s eleventh round of the Formula One support program series at Italian sole. The SPS Performance driver managed to set the second quickest time during Friday’s free practice and qualify himself on the fourth row at the legendary Monza circuit. After a hard-fought 14-lap race, Huisman eventually finished in sixth position, handing him another valuable ten points in the driver standings, in which he currently possesses the fourth position.FREE PRACTICE AND QUALIFYING
Already on from the start of the weekend, in Friday’s free practice session, Huisman immediately felt confident in his Tudor branded, black colored Porsche 911 GT3 around the long straights of the 5,793 meter long Monza track. Even though is length and therefore his additional weight should be considered as a disadvantage at the ultrafast circuit, Huisman surprised many in the paddock by setting the second fastest time.
Also in the first qualifying session on Saturday afternoon, Huisman confirmed his renewed found pace by easily maintaining a position in the top five. In Q2 however, the four-times champion was allocated with a new set of tyres which didn’t deliver as expected. But by setting the 8th fastest time in general, Huisman was positive about his chances for Sunday.
PATRICK HUISMAN: “It feels good to be back on top, or at least be able to fight for the top positions. It’s my aim to collect as much points tomorrow as I want to regain my third position in the driver standings before the end of the season. Even though I reckon this to be tough, I’m very happy with the handling of my car. It should enable me to put in an aggressive drive and gain some positions.”
RACE
Having started from the fourth row on the grid, Huisman enjoyed a good start which immediately put him in sixth position. In the first part of the race, Huisman tailed the group of drivers ahead of him, containing Norbert Siedler and Damian Faulkner among others, all fighting for a podium position. As halfway the race a group of drivers including Huisman’s team mate Lance David Arnold also joined the chase for third position, Huisman had to combine his charges with defending tactics. In the final stages of the 14-lap race, Huisman was able to create a gap to Arnold, but ran out of time to start a second attempt to attack the drivers ahead of him. By finishing the race in sixth position, the Dutch ace added another ten valuable points to his championship tally, in which he currently holds the fourth position.
PATRICK HUISMAN: “All in all, it was a good weekend for us. We’re back on track in terms of competitiveness even though I lost some points to Stefan Rosina today. With two races to go in Abu Dhabi at the end of next month, I’m still eager and positive about my chances to regain the third position in the standings. In order to stay ‘race fit’, I will start in the 24 hour race of Oschersleben together with a group of business relations and sponsors of my, including Henk Maassen from Gilde Investors and Robin Vogel from Kingcap/Buttonboss.”
RACE RESULT ROUND 11 PORSCHE MOBIL 1 SUPERCUP – MONZA, 13.09.2009
01. René Rast (GER), Veltins MRS Racing, 14 laps, 26:46.829
02. Jeroen Bleekemolen (NED), Konrad Motorsport, + 06.266s
03. Norbert Siedler (AUS), Veltins MRS Racing, + 12.980s
06. Patrick Huisman (NED), SPS Performance, + 17.886s