Archive
Radical European Masters: Nürburgring, 22-23 August 2009
25th August 2009
The Radical European Masters race series travelled to the Nürburgring, Germany, for two thrilling races this weekend. Taking place on 22/23 August, both rounds were full of action, with the second race particularly eventful. Conditions for qualifying were difficult, the track left wet and slippery following a dramatic thunderstorm. However, Stuart Moseley and Derek Johnston placed the car on pole for Race 1, posting a time of 2:11.860, 1.5 seconds ahead of MacDonald. For Race 2, Jeff Collier and Alex Kapadia proved they were as adept in the conditions, taking pole only three-tenths of a second in front of Greensall. Moseley made a clean getaway from the line in Race 1, but had to immediately block Cameron MacDonald passing around the inside. With the first lap over, Moseley continued to pull away towards the mandatory pit stop. Jeff Collier overtook Cameron into the first corner, MacDonald spinning a few laps later. By lap 6 Moseley had already pulled out a lead of 9.1 seconds, whilst only two seconds split MacDonald and Collier. The leader pitted on lap 12, Johnston taking over and maintaining his lead to the finish. Behind him, the factory SR8 of Phil Abbott and Roger Bromiley was pushed rapidly away from the pit box, the pair keen for a good run. Towards the end of the race, Johnston (who slipped back after taking over from Moseley) and Filip Berg-Nielsen began to catch the leading pair, with Kapadia posting the fastest lap of the race. At the flag, the top three were separated by less than 20 seconds, Berg-Nielsen a lonely fourth. Race two was a far more fraught affair. The first corner saw pre-race favourites Derek Johnston and Alex Kapadia eliminated, along with Bell End Racing’s Jamie Patterson. With the three cars immediately retiring, the coast was left clear for Nigel Greensall to inherit the lead, Berg-Nielsen second and John Stanley third. A mistake by Berg-Nielsen gave Stanley third place all the way to the pit stops. Further back, Roger Bromiley was forced to pit to replace his steering wheel, demoting him to the very back of the field. However, a determined drive saw Bromiley climb though the pack to ninth for the scheduled stop, handing over to Abbott who continued to push. A clean run by Hope Polevision’s Natacha Gachnang saw their SR5 in an impressive third place, but Abbott was closing rapidly, and a last-gasp, final-lap overtaking manoeuvre meant he secured the final podium spot, behind Cameron MacDonald and Jeremy Ferguson, having taken over from Stanley. “The Nürburgring is a fantastic track and the car felt brilliant,” said Greensall. “Cameron’s a real superstar and he’s making great strides in the way he races. I braked a lot earlier than others at the start of Race 2, and avoided the carnage. I knew we had the fastest car; we weren’t going to win on the first corner, so once we took the lead it was all about backing off and looking after the car.” Bromiley said: “We were forced to pit with a gearshift problem, so after that I just had to go for it and take places wherever we could. The lap times started coming down and the car felt brilliant; with Phil’s support, it’s been an awesome weekend.”
