June 4, 2009

Inaugural Bumod GP is GO!

The early silence caused by rain and a wet Bumod track has been broken with Jilles Goskamp and his Max powered prototype Serpent 7XX taking to the drying track to officially get the inaugural Bumod Grand Prix in Bursa, Turkey underway.  Sliding around for the first few laps, the 2008 World Championship Top Qualifier quickly built up to speed as others joined him on this very fast flowing track.  Running under the watchful eye of the car’s designer Michael Salven, Groskamp looked impressive.  Fresh from victory at last weekend’s Euro Touring Series electric touring car race in Holland the Dutch ace said, ‘The track is still slippy but the initial feeling is the car’s balance is very good’.

Others to join Groskamp early on where 2002 Electric Touring Car World Champion Surikarn C. at the controls of his Xay NT1.  After his run the Thai driver said some of the corners are still slippy but he liked the layout of the track.  As more and more drivers take to the track it shouldn’t be long before we have a fully dry track.

In 1:8 top female racer Sabrina Lechner and factory Mugen driver Robert Pietsch used the slow track to run in new engines.  Lechner has switched to Max Power engines in her Serpent 966 while Pietsch has a fresh Novarossi in for the weekend. After watching his new 1:10 200mm creation go around the track in the hands of Groskamp, Michael Salven made a dash for the rostrum to get his first laps of the Bumod track with his Mega powered 966. Looking fast from the off, the German later commented ‘1:8 is going to be a full throttle festival’.

With more and more drivers taking to the track we should start to see grip levels increase allowing the visiting international drivers to tune in their cars to a track which until now have never driven on before. With flood lights all round the track and no noise restrictions there is a strong possibility that testing will continue well into the night here. We will bring you a final update later with news from some of the other big names making the trip to Turkey including America ace DJ Apolaro, who is also debuting Serpent’s 7XX prototype this weekend, and Shepherd headman Patrick Shafer.

View our full event image gallery here.

June 4, 2009

Rain delays start of Bumod GP

Open practice for this weekend’s Bumod GP in Bursa, Turkey is scheduled to get underway today, however wet weather in a part of the World that isn’t really used to it, has stopped all action so far today. Some drivers got laps in last night under flood lights, but today has seen very little cars venture on to the track, with light rain falling almost as soon as the track gets dry enough to run on. This has given drivers present the time to get their cars ready and bodies cut out. The weather is expected to improve later on today and the racers will likely take to the track this evening.

Our hosts for this event have offered a warm welcome to all drivers and the amazing facilities here could stand as an example for tracks around the world, with a large driver stand, well laid out pits, a permanent covered grandstand and a completely newly resurfaced track, not to mention the great restaurant on the opposite side of the track to the pits.

Present at this race are a number of top international racers, with some still having to arrive later today. Serpent are here with 2 of their new 7XX cars driven by Jilles Groskamp and DJ Apolaro, and having had a close look at the new chassis I can tell you it looks awesome, we will see later on in the weekend if it performs as well. While no one is allowed photograph the new car, we have been allowed a sneak shot of the cars radio tray to give everyone an example of the consideration and thought put into this car. Also expect more pictures next week.

Orcan, the brand of SMI Motorsport in Germany are showing off their new prototype Audi A5 shell, which in its 3rd iteration, offers good steering in both fast and slow corners and also looks great. The shell is to be released in about a months time and is expected to be EFRA homologated for the 2010 season.

View our full event image gallery here.