PORSCHE SUPERCUP - MONZA

9 September 2007.../Phil Quaife's Monza weekend of Porsche Supercup racing was full of drama, on and off the track. A retirement from today's race after a tangle at the Lesmos 1 robbed Phil of his 100% finish record and this came on the back of being the victim of a robbery of a different kind, with his race helmet being stolen last night.

For the first practice session Phil only had one set of tyres having blistered his others at the last race weekend. Running around the top ten for most of the session gave him comfort that he had the pace, although when others put on new rubber, he dropped back down the timesheets, unable to match their pace on his old tyres. The young British driver was also struggling with brake issues, although he felt that this related to the tyre wear.

This prognosis turned out to be a problem for Phil in qualifying. “I quickly realised that our brake problem wasn't related to the tyres when I went out on my first run” he said.”I was still struggling to stop for the corners on new tyres and it compromised my lap times, so I didn't start as far forward as we had hoped.”

The team worked hard to make the necessary brake pads, disc and bias cable changes for the race. Although the car was ready for the race this morning, it was Phil that needed assistance after arriving at the circuit to find that this helmet had been stolen overnight. British racer, Mike Conway, came to the rescue loaning Phil a spare helmet and ensuring that he could make the grid for the tenth round of the Porsche Mobil1 Supercup series.

The start of the race was Phil's first opportunity to improve on his 21st place starting position and he raced up to 13th after the opening lap. Shortly afterwards the Brit started to suffer with a slow puncture which affected his handling and overall pace, dropping him back a few races as the race progressed. However, it was an opportunistic move from Stefan Rosina at Lesmos 1 that ended  Phil's race, with him taking Phil out in his efforts to make a move on him.

“I was committed to the corner and he wasn't alongside, but he tipped me off into the gravel and out of the race. It was a shame, as it was my first DNF of the season. I have to say thanks to Mike Conway for lending me a helmet, but perhaps it came with the sort of luck that he's been experiencing this season!”

The Porsche Supercup championship continues next weekend with a visit to the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, supporting the Formula One Belgium Grand Prix. Phil has raced at the track on two previous occasions in a Radical, winning on both outings. He says, “I hope that my form at Spa in the Radical can be transferred to the Porsche, which I haven't driven there. It'll be quite different in this car, but I really love this place, so fingers crossed for a good weekend.”

Phil Quaife is running in his rookie season of the Porsche Supercup championship and travels to Spa-Francorchamps for the final round of the 2007 season.