STRONG SHOWING IN MONACO REWARDED WITH NINE POINTS!
MONACO, MAY 17 2010 – After finishing in seventh position in Sunday’s Monaco GP, Patrick Huisman looks back at the fourth round of the 2010 Mobil 1 Porsche Supercup with mixed feelings. Like last weekend in Barcelona the Konrad Motorsport driver was again on the pace all weekend, but didn’t see his flawless drive get rewarded this time around. Traffic in his decisive qualifying run and a troubled run down to the first corner in Sunday’s race denied him from scoring a second consecutive podium finish in the principality of Monaco. Despite not taking as much points home as he would have liked, the four-times champion praises the raw speed of his Porsche 911 GT3 and the sublime work of his team which encourages him for the next round in Valencia next month.Huisman enjoyed a good start of the weekend, as he was immediately among the frontrunners in Thursday free practice session. A small issue with his rear left wheel however meant the 43-year old Dutchman had to sit out the final stage of the 45 minutes session and dropped to seventh position as the track gradually improved. Encouraged by the speed of his car, the Tudor sponsored driver entered Friday’s qualifying session with high hopes. Traffic in his second and decisive run however meant he couldn’t maximize his efforts and had to settle for tenth position.
Huisman couldn’t capitalize on a good getaway at the start of the race on Sunday morning either, as some drivers ahead of him clashed with each other in the run-down to the first corner. Following the instructions from the drivers briefing, Huisman opted not to cut the Saint Devote corner in order to stay clear of the chaos ahead of him and queued up in line while several other drivers did cut the right-hander without being penalized afterwards. Having fallen back to 13th position, the Flying Dutchman started a strong charge which saw him overtake several drivers in order to finish the race in seventh position.
PATRICK HUISMAN: “It’s a pity we didn’t score as much points as we would have liked too, as the car was actually quick enough to fight for victory this weekend. The good thing is however, that the team has really mastered the revised car we have for this year, so we should be strong contenders in the next few rounds as well. In the six weeks break we have for the next meeting in Valencia, we will work hard to improve ourselves even further, so I’m really looking forward to maximize our opportunities in Spain next month!”
RACE RESULT ROUND 04 PORSCHE MOBIL 1 SUPERCUP – MONACO, 16.05.2010
01. Rene Rast (GER), Al Faisal Lechner Racing, 16 laps, 26:19.707
02. Nick Tandy (GBR), Konrad Motorsport, + 05,018s
03. Jaap van Lagen (NED), Bleekemolen Harders Plaza, + 10.759s
07. Patrick Huisman (NED), Konrad Motorsport, + 22.175s