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Pole position and flag-to-flag victory for young Australian star
Twenty-one year old Alex Davison began his second European motor racing season by stampeding the opening round of the 2001 Porsche Carrera Cup at Hockenheim today, the lone Australian starting from pole position and taking a flag-to-flag victory in the fiercely competitive German series.
"I led from start to finish, but that makes it sound a bit easier than it was", said an elated Alex after the 31-lap race on Hockenheim's short circuit, against up to 22 identically prepared, 272 kW Porsche 911 GT3 Cup coupes. "I got a good start and bolted for the first few laps, but I lost my one-second advantage to Marc Lieb (UPS Porsche-Junior team) when I missed a gear coming into the stadium. After that, he was right onto me."
Lieb wasn't alone, himself already locked in battle with Davison's Team Hewlett-Packard/Porsche Centre Koblenz team-mate Christian Menzel, and Lieb's team-mate, Timo Bernhard. Davison sustained enormous pressure from the tailing trio for several laps.
Lieb, 20, and Davison may be good pals off track, but the pair traded paint more than once as Alex's tyres began to wear at half-distance. "My car was getting more oversteer, and I had to really tell myself to keep calm and to concentrate on getting out of the corners as cleanly as I could", Alex said. "With about 10 laps to go, Marc (Lieb) started to look as though he was losing some grip, too, so I was able to maintain a bit of breathing space."
Behind him, Lieb slipped into the clutches of Alex's team-mate Christian Menzel, the two locked in a hectic fight for second. "I don't know exactly what went on, because I was trying not to look in my mirrors," Alex said, "but Christian's car hasn't got a straight panel left on it!"
The result was a perfect one-two finish for Team Hewlett-Packard/Porsche Centre Koblenz, in its first year of Carrera Cup competition.
Davison, whose second Carrera Cup campaign is again being supported by Porsche Cars Australia and Mobil Oil Australia, put his stamp on Hockenheim in the very first qualifying session on Friday afternoon, placing his Porsche 911 GT3 Cup coupe at the top of the time sheets. Though Saturday's session was again dry, Davison's time was not bettered.
"We were testing here on Tuesday and Wednesday, and we knew that we already had a good base set-up to go with the new aerodynamics", said Alex after Saturday's final qualifying, referring to the larger, 'Le Mans GT3R' rear wings and suitably modified front undertrays homologated for the GT3 Cup coupes this year. (Alex's time of 1:05.3s for the 2.683 kilometre Hockenheim short circuit was almost one second faster than last year's pole).
"The car was perfect, and to be honest, I did that time easily", Alex continued. "I suppose I'm a bit surprised. I've always known I can do this, but I wasn't expecting it at this first race."
Alex's smile was wider by 2 o'clock this afternoon, with his Hewlett-Packard/Porsche Centre Koblenz team celebrating its dream debut. "The team has done a brilliant job," Alex said. "By the time I've thought of something, it's already been fixed. I'm grateful that now I've been able to show what I can really do.
"I owe a huge thank-you to Porsche Cars Australia and Mobil Oil Australia for giving me this great opportunity to race internationally, and to my personal sponsor, Mistral International for their support.
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