FULL OF HOPE!

A fine month of May for Christophe Bouchut, who
drove the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo
for the first time at Spa, before heading for the
legendary Laguna Seca circuit in California, where
he showed once again the high potential of Supercar
Life Racing during the 3rd round of the Grand
Am Rolex Sports Car Series.


Le Mans Series: Spa-Francorchamps (9th-10th May)
A good work session!


The first race behind the wheel of the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP560 GT2 was also the first big work session for the French driver, who was discovering this newcomer in the GT2 category.


"We quickly saw that the car lacked power," Christophe commented. "The FIA is always very careful in terms of homologation for cars that it has not been able to gauge in testing, to avoid having a car which is too competitive. As far as the Gallardo is concerned, the engine restrictor is too small, and we are forced to drive with a small wing in order to get a reasonable top speed. It should also be noted that the GT3 car on which this version is based has an ABS system, which had to be removed.
This has changed the brake distribution significantly. When we noticed that we didn't have sufficient top speed, we opted to see the race as a life-size test session."


Although the car completed the race, from the first to the last lap, without a single technical problem, there team made a few pit stops to change the settings.


"The weekend's work was very positive, as we gained five seconds over the weekend. We are still four seconds off the best GT2 cars, and we cannot close that gap without help from the FIA. With a bigger restrictor and
a bigger wing, the potential of the Gallardo would be totally different. I already had a similar problem with the Murcielago, and a solution was found."


Christophe left Belgium with the satisfaction of a job well done, and a good global impression."The atmosphere in the team is good, and we form a fast and complementary team with Prince Albert von Thurn und Taxis. There is no reason that it should not succeed."


Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series: Verizon Festival of Speed (16th-17th
May, Laguna Seca). The potential is there!


Christophe had not driven at Laguna Seca for ten years, and it was with great pleasure that he returned to this challenging and hilly circuit, for a 2-hour, 45-minute race that needed a specific race strategy.


"In Grand Am, the driver who takes the start has to qualify the car," Christophe explained. "Scott Tucker did rather well and set the 13th-fastest time, in the middle of a group of professional drivers. Unfortunately, during his stint, he landed in a sand trap after being
pushed off by another competitor, losing a full lap in the process! After that point, we would have needed lots of safety car periods in order to allow us to regain our race position. But in the end, there were only three
safety cars, the first of which was caused by our own car."


"A shame," the French driver continued. "I set the fourth-fastest time in the race, and I had the best average over the whole race. As it happens, when the safety car came out for the last time, I found myself behind the leading four cars, and I was able to overtake the fourth-placed Penske
Porsche of Timo Bernhard shortly after the restart. I could have overtaken the third-placed car if I hadn't received instructions from the pits to lift off, but the engine noise could barely cover the grinding of Mr Roger Penske's teeth; he came to congratulate me in person after the race! After
Scott's performance in qualifying-what an extraordinary weekend! We were all delighted and on Sunday we were able to tell our tales in front of a wood fire in an extremely friendly atmosphere. We finished 9th, and although we know we could have got a good result, we also know that we
have a car that could finish on the podium. Scott was unlucky, it was just a racing incident. There will be other opportunities."


Already building up a reputation for themselves in the Grand Am world,
Bouchut and Tucker will be aiming for the podium when they head for
another important arena for American motorsport, the Watkins Glen circuit
on June 6th.


Coming Soon:
5th-6th June: Sahlen's six Hours of The Glen-Watkins Glen-Grand Am
Rolex Sports Car Series (USA)
13th-14th June: The 24 Hours of Le Mans 2009 (France)
21st-22nd June: Emco gear classic-Mid Ohio-Grand Am Rolex Sports
Car Series (USA)
30th-31st May: Watkins Glen-Porsche Cup (USA)