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The comeback commences at Carrera Cup Rd6
Australia's Alex Davison finished just two-tenths of a second off the podium today, taking a storming fourth place in round six of the Porsche Carrera Cup series at Lausitzring Eurospeedway, Germany. Davison, fighting back from an extraordinary run of bad luck through the mid-season, has thus begun his climb back from a disappointing 10th in the Carrera Cup pointscore, to a more promising seventh after today's round at the new oval/infield circuit near Berlin. "I can't honestly say that I like finishing fourth, but it's nice to get a solid result again, as I haven't had one since the bad luck started at Oschersleben (round three)", said Alex. The 21-year-old Melbourne driver is contesting the nine-round German domestic Porsche Carrera Cup series with the support of Porsche Cars Australia, Mobil Oil Australia and Mistral International. "It was good to be able to move up and race well, and to know that I didn't make any mistakes today", Alex said after the 18-lap race on the 4.5 kilometre circuit, which comprises a tight, infield track and a part of the high-speed, banked oval. "Still, I know that I could have done a little better in qualifying." Davison had gridded his Team Hewlett-Packard/Porsche Centre Koblenz 911 GT3 Cup coupe in eighth place in the 23-strong field, admitting to being mystified that his team-mate, Christian Menzel, was almost a second faster. "We tested here on Tuesday and I was faster than Christian, but I can't seem to find enough grip today", said Alex after Saturday's final qualifying, which saw Menzel grid in second spot behind poleman, Timo Bernhard (UPS Porsche-Junior Team). Today's race wasn't without incident for Davison, who has lately found himself in the midst of other drivers' tangles. "I got a great start today, passing Marc Lieb (UPS Porsche-Junior Team) and Enrico Bertaggia (Home Jumper Star-Farnbacher Racing) into the first series of Esses", Alex said. "Suddenly, I was hit pretty hard from behind, which made me run very wide, but thankfully I was able to keep holding sixth place." At half-distance, Alex had worked his way to within striking distance of fifth-placed Alexander Grau (PZM-Team Valier) when, ahead of them, the second and third-placed cars of Menzel and Sascha Maassen (Tolimit Motorsport) came together. Menzel spun across the track in front of Davison, who managed to avoid hitting his team-mate, but lost ground to Grau in the process. Maassen, meanwhile, rejoined the track immediately behind Davison, and applied pressure for the remainder of the race as Davison once again caught, but couldn't pass, fifth-placed Grau. "After my recent run of luck, I must have been kissed by an angel today", said Alex. "It's good to get some solid points and move up in the championship again."
After six rounds, the Carrera Cup points table reflects the intense competition among the 23 identical, factory-built Porsche 911 GT3 Cup coupes. Davison's team-mate, Porsche factory American Le Mans Series driver, Christian Menzel has recorded consistent finishes to lead the series with 84 points, just one point ahead of a tie for second place between Timo Bernhard and Jorg Bergmeister (Farnbacher Racing). Alexander Grau is fourth, ahead of DTM veteran Roland Asch (Warsteiner Carsport Racing) and Sascha Maassen. Davison, with his opening-round win at Hockenheim to his credit, is seventh on 51 points, though only six points separate him from fifth-placed Asch. Alex is determined to continue his late-season charge at round seven in two weeks' time. Though he's not a great fan of the Nurburgring circuit, he should be buoyed by his strong fifth-placed finish there during a guest outing in the Porsche-Pirelli Supercup (the European equivalent of the domestic Carrera Cup) in late-June. Results Carrera Cup Rd. 6, Lausitzring, August 12, 2001
1. Timo Bernhard (UPS Porsche-Junior Team), 18 laps 33:18.725s (146.993 km/h)
2. Jörg Bergmeister (Farnbacher Racing) +2.322 seconds
3. Alexander Grau (PZM-Team Valier), 8.240
4. Alex Davison (Team Hewlett-Packard/PZK), 8.428
5. Sascha Maassen (Tolimit Motorsport), 8.808
6. Wolf Henzler (PZE Grohs Motorsport), 10.282
7. Enrico Bertaggia (Home Jumper Star-Farnbacher), 12.819
8. Christian Menzel (Team Hewlett-Packard/PZK), 13.320
9. Roland Asch (Warsteiner Carsport Racing), 14.701
10. Daniel Bauer (PZM-Team Valier), 21.262 Porsche Carrera Cup 2001 race calendar / Alex Davison result
April 22 Hockenheim (short circuit) / 1st
May 6 Nürburgring / 9th
May 20 Oschersleben / DNS
June 17 Sachsenring / 10th
July 8 Norisring / 13th
August 12 Lausitzring / 4th
August 26 Nürburgring
September 9 A1-Ring (Austria)
October 7 Hockenheim (long circuit)
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