26 Aug Electronic problem costs Kuba Giermaziak victory

The pole-position, a perfect start and a three seconds advance after four laps: At the Porsche Mobil 1 Supercup’s sixth run of the season in Spa Francorchamps everything seemed like it was going to be a perfect weekend for Kuba Giermaziak. But two kilometres before the finish line a gearbox problem dashed all hopes for the first victory of the season. Also Patryk Szczerbinski had to finish his race early with a broken radiator.

Already on Saturday the weekend had started really well for VERVA-Driver Kuba Giermaziak: In qualifying he posted the fastest lap-time and was more than two tenths faster than championship leader Sean Edwards. “Thanks to my team, they have prepared the car perfectly,” the Pole said happily. Two years ago he celebrated his first pole-position in the Supercup at the same place. “We should be able to fight for the victory tomorrow.”

After the lights went green at 11.45 AM, Giermaziak had a good start and entered the first corner as the leader. Just after the legendary “Eau Rouge” it became really exciting: On the more than 1000 metres long Kemmel-Straight he had to defend his position against Klaus Bachler, who tried to attack out of the slipstream. From now on it became a dominant performance of the young driver. He continuously increased the gap to his pursuers. After four laps the 23-year-old already had an advance of more than 3,8 seconds.

“From this point on I had the race under my control,” Giermaziak reported afterwards. At the beginning of the last lap all signs were indicating that it would be a safe victory. But suddenly the youngster had to fight with electronic problems: “I was stuck in third gear and had to let the field go without any resistance. I was able to save the eleventh position, because it all happened just a few corners before the finish line,” he explained disappointed. “It is hard to put my frustration into words, everything went perfect this weekend. A victory would have been more than deserved.”

Also his team-mate and fellow-countryman Patryk Szczerbinski had an unlucky weekend. “My start was really good a I was sure that I can fight for some points,” he commented his opening lap on the legendary “Ardennes Roller-Coaster”. “But then I was hit several times during battles.” The impacts were too hard for the radiator of his 460 HP Porsche 911: “The temperature-alarm started, so I had to enter the pits and finish my race early.”

The Polish duo will get the next chance to show their talent already in two weeks. Then the most popular international one-make-cup’s seventh run of the season will be held in the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. The race track in the Royal Park in the north of Milan is known as one of the last real high-speed-tracks in Europe. “We will get there with our heads up high”, both drivers are sure.