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Although Michael went into round three of the Bridgestone Production Car
Championship confident of a win, the Killarney circuit wouldn’t facilitate this.
Despite the hurdles placed on him, Michael walked away with a podium position at
this weekend’s event (9 May 2009).
Michael wasn’t particularly quick
during Friday’s practice sessions, but after some changes to his Audi’s handling
set-up, Michael was able to qualify third.
The first race began from a
rolling start and Michael held his position from start to finish. He was never
really under threat from Marco da Cunha in the Nissan behind him. “The race was
good, I am used to having to fight for and defend my position, but this time
around it was all smooth sailing. Anthony’s BMW was just too quick in a straight
line, so I didn’t have an opportunity to attack for the position.” commented
Michael. “I am happy to have finished on the podium.”
Race two began from
an inverted grid. After his third place finish, this meant that Michael would
have to start from seventh position. He had a good start, holding his position
for the first lap. He saw an opportunity to pass the Nissan ahead of him and
grabbed it. Michael made a clean pass and defended sixth place from da Cunha for
three laps. Da Cunha tried to take back the position, but misjudged the
manoeuvre and slammed into the back of Michael’s Audi causing a fair amount of
damage and ending Michael’s chances of storming to the front.
Michael
eventually nursed his car home to eighth place.
“I am very disappointed
with the outcome of the second race. I believe I had the pace to reach at least
fourth position. The result is unfortunate, but at least I was able to get one
point so the race wasn’t a complete loss,” concluded Michael.
The next
event will take place in East London on 6 June 2009.
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