MINI Challenge in Germany 2008

[Fredrik]

Pictures from Fredriks race at Oschersleben where he was knocked into the Armco-barrier by another driver - his car got quite damaged (pictures of the rebuilding) but luckily he was unhurt:

Fredrik Lestrup

On saturday 24 May the race were held at the Nürburgring - Fredrik qualified in a good sixth position (of 33 cars). He passed some cars and was lying in fourth when a guest driver hit him and sent him off the track .

Piccies from Nürburgring will follow later.

[jordangpboy]

Cool I didnt know the challenge was at the German GP this year! Im going, so will get some pics!

[Fredrik]

Pictures from the Nürburgring race, taken by Fredrik Lestrup:

Fredrik Lestrup

[Fredrik]

Quote: Originally Posted by jordangpboy (original)

Cool I didnt know the challenge was at the German GP this year! Im going, so will get some pics!

Lucky you - bring back loads of photos, please

[jordangpboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fredrik (original)

Lucky you - bring back loads of photos, please

Will do, I cant wait, really looking forward to it!

[Fredrik]

I got an SMS from Fredrik today saying he got his first podium finish.
He finished in an excellent third position at Oschersleben just eight tenths of the winner

Tomorrow at 11.30 is race two and Fredrik will start from fourth position.

Pictures will follow as soon as Fredrik is back home in Sweden getting his site up to date.

[Fredrik]

In race two Fredrik was involved in a racing incident so no points scored there, unfortunately.

However as stated in the post above, he got his first podium finish this weekend in the MINI Challenge series, a well deserved third in the first race

Pictures from the event below, please note the vikinghelmet in swedish colours worn by Fredrik on the podium

Fredrik Lestrup

[Fredrik]

The coming week-end (18-20 July) Fredrik Lestrup and the rest of the drivers in MINI Challenge in Germany will race at the Formula One venue at Hockenheim, let´s see what will happen this time around.

I talked to Fredrik last week, and he said that there are so many supportclasses plus the time for the F1-cars to use the track, the MINI racers do not get as much testing as normal during a race week-end. Still, exciting stuff when you are sharing pits with Lewis, Kimi, Fernando, Felipe and the rest of the pack

I also talked to him regarding the fact that he is probably going to drive in the series for Schubert Motorsport next year aswell, I am thinking of going to a race in Germany next season to have a look and soak in the atmosphere at a MINI Challenge venue

[Fredrik]

Fredrik sent an SMS to me yesterday saying that he qualified in 11th spot.
During the race today he passed some competitors, ending up in sixth place.

In race two the first six get the starting order reversed, meaning that Fredrik Lestrup will start from POLE tomorrow in front of all the F1-spectators

As soon as Fredrik has put in some piccies on his site I will link to it so you guys can have a look

[Fredrik]

Fredrik Lestrup was polesitter in race two - he got a brilliant start but was passed by a car the next lap.
A couple of laps later a competitor braked to late and slammed into the rear of Fredriks raceMINI , almost sending him in a spin and was passed by serveral competitors, but he regained control and finished seventh.
Race control immediatley decided to disqualify the competitor that smashed into Fredriks car plus another one, so Fredrik Lestrup finally landed fifth place

Some words from Fredrik (in swedish, sorry guys) and a lot of piccies from Hockenheim and the special atmosphere surrounding F1:
Fredrik Lestrup

[jordangpboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fredrik (original)

Fredrik Lestrup was polesitter in race two - he got a brilliant start but was passed by a car the next lap.
A couple of laps later a competitor braked to late and slammed into the rear of Fredriks raceMINI , almost sending him in a spin and was passed by serveral competitors, but he regained control and finished seventh.
Race control immediatley decided to disqualify the competitor that smashed into Fredriks car plus another one, so Fredrik Lestrup finally landed fifth place

Some words from Fredrik (in swedish, sorry guys) and a lot of piccies from Hockenheim and the special atmosphere surrounding F1:
Fredrik Lestrup

Hey,

Just got back from Germany, I only caught the 2nd MINI challenge race on the Sunday, missed the one on the Saturday. Fredrik had a great few laps at the start he was lucky to miss the carnage at the start! Didnt know that someone went into the back of his car, but that does explain why he lost a few places.

Will get some pics as soon as I upload them to my Flickr.

[Fredrik]

Quote: Originally Posted by jordangpboy (original)

Hey,

Just got back from Germany, I only caught the 2nd MINI challenge race on the Sunday, missed the one on the Saturday. Fredrik had a great few laps at the start he was lucky to miss the carnage at the start! Didnt know that someone went into the back of his car, but that does explain why he lost a few places.

Will get some pics as soon as I upload them to my Flickr.

That´s great, really looking forward to see them

[jordangpboy]

Quote: Originally Posted by Fredrik (original)

That´s great, really looking forward to see them

German GP 2008 - a set on Flickr

[Fredrik]

Quote: Originally Posted by jordangpboy (original)

German GP 2008 - a set on Flickr

Great piccies, jordangpboy

[Fredrik]

Fredrik Lestrup qualified in 16th spot on the grid for race 1 due to the fact that it was extremely tricky conditions and they could not find the right set-up.
However, a strong race from Fredrik saw him all the way up to seventh when crossing the finish line, a good job despite the fact that the windscreen broke by small rocks and gravel kicked up by competitors running off the track. The sidewindows also break (piccies in link from Fredriks own website), giving Lestrup some trouble, but he kept his cool and brought it home

Race 2: starting from 7th it was a quite still race, Fredrik losing out a place so he finished eight in this race. he is still a bit back in the points standings, but "I am gaining ground compared to the guys in front" states Fredrik.

The link (text in swedish but some nice pictures as always):

Fredrik Lestrup