BITTERSWEET WEEKEND AT THE RING
Last weekend, the Nürburgring circuit witnessed the penultimate round of the Fanatec GT World Endurance season, where Madpanda Motorsport experienced a rollercoaster of emotions. A podium finish overshadowed by an unfortunate retirement less than 10 minutes from the chequered flag.
The Spanish team showcased immense promise throughout the German event. Despite demonstrating their speed in various practices, including challenging conditions on rain-soaked track, qualifying did not deliver the expected results. Starting from the fifth position in his class, Magnus Gustavsen took a great start and managed to secure a commendable third position. His teammates, Alexey Nesov and Ezequiel Companc, also delivered strong performances amidst the GT3 traffic. Companc positioned himself within less than a second of the second place in class with only eight minutes remaining. However, as he was fiercely fighting, a minor contact resulted in a puncture that forced the N°90 Mercedes-AMG GT3 to retire very close to the end of the race.
Despite this bitter ending, the drivers and the entire team displayed unwavering determination and delivered a fine performance throughout the entire event. The team now plans to rest, analyze their performance of the first part of the season, and return with renewed strength and determination for the remaining four meetings. The Fanatec GT World Endurance final will take place at the Circuit of Barcelona-Catalunya on Sep 29-Oct 1. A home race for Madpanda Motorsport who aims to finish the season on a high note, giving their fans a memorable last 3-hour race.
Alexey Nesov, driver: « Bittersweet race this time. We had a great pace which allowed us to fight for the win. However, a very unfortunate contact in the last 10 minutes of the race led to a puncture and a retirement which taken away our deserved podium. On the positive side, it was our best race in terms of pure pace, so it’s looking good moving to the final race of the season ».
Magnus Gustavsen, driver: « Nürburgring race started very good and ended with a heartbreak. My stint was good and I am happy with the performance we showed bringing the car from P40 overall to P25 and P3 in class less then 7 secondes from the leaders in class. My teammates also did a super job and we were on a mission that ended 8 minutes too early when my teammate got a puncture after a contact fighting for P2. Anyway, we showed what we are capable of and that we are improving over the season! Onto Barcelona! »
Ezequiel Companc, team principal and driver: « It has been a rollercoaster of a weekend. We showed great pace throughout the whole weekend and were pulling a great comeback on the race after a tricky qualifying, but a contact at the end while racing for second place left us empty handed. We take the positives and learn from the experience, and keep working hard to close our Endurance season with a big high at our home race! »
