Unfortunately despite being 2nd fastest in the Friday testing, the Team Ningbo BMW M3 GT4 hit the wall in an accident during the Saturday qualifying. The qualifying requires the driver to extract the best out of the tyres on lap 3 and 4. By lap 3 the temperatures and the pressures are usually perfect to give a fast lap time. The track and air temperature were below 7 degrees at 9.00am when qualifying started, and lap 3 produced a time that stayed 7th until the end of the session, but there was more to come from the car as the low ambient temperatures would need a 4th lap to get the most out of the car. Lap 4 showed a purple sector which is the fastest set by any driver, and into the end of sector 1 Chris was 0.4 seconds up already. Exiting Tarzan, Chris used the exit kerbs and probably caught the edge of the gravel trap. It is hard to say exactly, as it is inconclusive from the in car video footage whether a part failed, or the car simply ran out of grip, but the result was a high speed collision with the barriers. A major accident which prevented the car going any further. After a spell in the hospital room at the circuit Chris was released unhurt thankfully.
Chris commented after his release, that although he was furious with himself for letting the team down, that he had been lucky and should be thankful that the he is ok, and the car although damaged is repairable too. We have been quickest at times and shown good race pace, and there is no giving up. We are all looking forward to next years European GT4 Championship. A lot of track data has been collated, and we have shown that we can trade places with some of the best drivers and teams in Europe. In 2012 the Championship visits Spa Francochamps, Zandvoort, Silverstone, Nurburgring, Monza, and an undisclosed circuit in France
