Author Topic: Christina Nielsen: “It’s a beautiful area with an iconic race track”  (Read 2892 times)

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Next stop, Bahrain: The Bahrain International Circuit is the venue for the 999th Formula 1 race this weekend. In both of the previous two races, the winner was Sebastian Vettel, with Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas completing the podium group. A Mercedes driver stood on the top spot of the podium three times between 2014 and 2016 – twice Lewis (2014, 2015) and once Nico Rosberg (2016). Since 2014, both of the team’s drivers have finished in the Top Three each year. Between 2013 and 2017, a Mercedes driver also claimed pole position each time: Nico (2013, 2014), Lewis (2015, 2016) and Valtteri (2017). Each of these three drivers has also clocked a fastest race lap at the Bahrain International Circuit over the past three years. As stipulated in the latest set of regulations, there will again be an extra championship point up for grabs next Sunday. The first ever bonus point was scored by Valtteri in Australia. Mercedes-powered cars have a tally of four wins, 16 podiums and five pole positions in Bahrain so far.

Class wins and Top Ten success at the Nürburgring: As in 2018, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 won the SP10 class in the season opener of the VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring (VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring). This was the fifth victory in the SP10 class for the Affalterbach-built GT4 car. A further class success was registered this weekend in the SP8T category, also in a Mercedes-AMG GT4. Teams and drivers had to be patient as they waited for the race to get underway on Saturday. Heavy fog on the Nürburgring Nordschleife delayed the start of the 65th ADAC Westfalenfahrt by about four hours. As a result, the race stewards shortened the four-hour race to a duration of 2 hours and 45 minutes. BLACK Falcon Team IDENTICA were unfazed by the disruption, as Tim Scheerbarth, Tobias Müller (both GER) and Tristan Viidas (EST) in the number 162 Mercedes-AMG GT4 cruised to victory in the SP10 class at the end of the 19 laps. Gabriele Piana (ITA), Mustafa Mehmet Kaya (TUR) and Ace Robey (USA) produced the second gratifying result of the day: the number 155 Mercedes-AMG GT4 entered by BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR won the SP8T class. In the overall standings, MANN-FILTER team HTP Motorsport came seventh as the best-placed Customer Racing team with the number 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Maximilian Götz (GER), Raffaele Marciello (ITA) and Christian Hohenadel (GER). The second of the nine races in the 2019 VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring will be contested on 13th April in the context of the 44th DMV 4-Hour Race.

Successful season opener in Japan: The Super Taikyu series also had its opening event of the new season last weekend. Here too, there was a success to report for the Mercedes-AMG GT4, as Team Endless Sports won the five-hour race in the ST-Z class. Hideki Yamauchi, Yudai Uchida and Tsubasa Takahashi (all JPN) in the number 3 car prevailed after 120 laps of the Suzuka Circuit. They were joined on the podium by Birth Racing Project in third place, who prepared the second of the two Mercedes-AMG GT4s in the field. In the overall standings, the Team SATO-SS trio of Atsushi Sato, Ryosei Yamashita and Yuja Motojima (all JPN) finished in fifth place. Next on the series itinerary is Sportsland SUGO on the weekend of 27th - 28th April.

Preview of the California 8 Hours of Laguna Seca: The mission to defend the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) title goes into Round 2 next weekend at the Laguna Seca Raceway where STRAKKA Racing and Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing will be fielding no fewer than four Mercedes-AMG GT3 cars between them. In 2018, the California 8 Hours of Laguna Seca was the final event of the international endurance racing series, and it was where Mercedes-AMG clinched two driver titles. This year, it is the second fixture on the calendar. After the successful season opener at the Bathurst 12 Hour in Australia, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport travels to California with an eight-point lead in the IGTC Manufacturers’ Championship.

Defending champions prepare for season opener of the 24H Series: This coming weekend, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport embarks on a new season of the 24H Series. Last year, PROsport Performance won both the European Championship and the Championship of the Continents, i.e. the 24H Series Intercontinental Championship. The defending champions go into the campaign with a new team name – CP Racing – but with a broadly familiar line-up of Charles Putman, Charles Espenlaub and Joe Foster (all USA) at the wheel of a Mercedes-AMG GT3. No fewer than five Mercedes-AMG GT3s and one Mercedes-AMG GT4 will be on the grid for the 12‑hour race at Mugello on the weekend of 28th - 30th March. The endurance race at the Autodromo Internazionale del Mugello is the first of five in the 2019 European Championship.

Three questions for Christina Nielsen

The 27-year-old Dane is one of the stars of North American motorsport. In 2016 and 2017, she won the GTD class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. This year, she is competing for the first time in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. After her debut in the 12h Bathurst, Christina will compete next weekend for STRAKKA Racing together with Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Adam Christodoulou (GBR) at the California 8 Hours of Laguna Seca, the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC).

Christina, you drove the Mercedes-AMG GT3 for the first time in the 12h Bathurst a few weeks ago. What was your first impression of the car like?

Christina Nielsen: I was really impressed with the car in high-speed corners which is a dominating characteristic of Bathurst. It was very smooth and gave the driver confidence. Overall, it was a very well-balanced car that is also good on the tyres. So for a track like Laguna where we normally see a big drop in tyres, I think it will be a good car.

Now you are off to the California 8 Hours. You know the track of Laguna Seca from the IMSA very well and are very famous in the USA. How will you make use of this ‘home advantage’? What are your expectations?

Christina Nielsen: Since I am based in California, I guess this will sort of be my ‘home track’. It is a beautiful area with an iconic race track, so what is there not to like? I have good memories there from podiums in 2016 and 2017. Going to a track I am quite familiar with will allow me to put more focus on getting to know the team and building that relationship.

We will see you driving a Mercedes-AMG GT3 in all five races of the Intercontinental GT Challenge. Which race do you look forward to the most?

Christina Nielsen: It is a pretty spectacular race series with some destinations I have never been to before. South Africa is one that I am really excited about, but in general, I am looking forward to all of them.