Aleksander Schjerpen remains focused on a positive outlook following a difficult weekend in Misano that saw the #208 NOVA Race Ginetta G55 pairing of Schjerpen and Luca Magnoni go from lighting up the pre-race time sheets to retiring from the race after only a handful of laps.
Coming into the weekend off what was a text book start to their championship at the opening round in Monza, Schjerpen and Magnoni were hoping they could extend their lead as the series moved to the Marco Simoncelli Circuit for round two.
Working through a specific programme during free practice, the overall order wasn’t a true reflection of the pace they were carrying coming into Qualifying. Indeed when Qualifying did get underway on Saturday afternoon, Magnoni and Schjerpen began their big push. However the mixed weather sessions would prove tricky to manage with the first and second sessions dry before the weather turned for the third and final part of qualifying, soaking the Italian circuit. With their best efforts combined, the duo would line up P3 in class for Sunday’s three hour race.
The ever volatile weather continued into Sunday, with a thunderstorm emerging over the circuit just as the race was about to get underway. With Luca taking to the wheel to begin the race, he got off to a good start during the opening laps. Sadly his progress would be halted early on with a wheel hub failure halting the NOVA Race G55 out on track.
Luca did try to get the car back to the pits so the team could repair the issue, but ultimately this was also not possible and lead to the pair’s first retirement of the season.
Aleksander Schjerpen – #208 NOVA Race Ginetta G55:
“The weekend started off quite nice, and we got on the pace right from the off. We did some setup changes during the practice sessions and felt confident going into Qualifying. We managed to put the car in P3 in Qualifying, a bit unlucky with the weather as it played a big role during the whole weekend. We felt confident going into the race that we would make a fight for the top steps, and right before the race began it started to rain heavily, which is usually our strong point. Unfortunately a technical issue on one of the wheel hubs forced us to retire the car only ten minutes into the race, and it was out of our hands really. That’s racing… A huge thanks to the team for all the hard work during the weekend, and of course our partners. We will come back stronger and give the team the results they deserve next time out.”
Next event:
Italian GT Endurance Championship Round 3, Vallelunga, Italy – Friday 13th – Sunday 15th September 2019.