Archive News - July 2010

23 July 2010

Battle of the Brands ends in chaos

A welcome return to racing in the UK for Freddy Nordström was disrupted at Brands Hatch last weekend, when drama struck in both races.

After making the switch to the SEAT Eurocup Championship for the UK round last weekend (16-18th July), Freddy was keen to demonstrate his skills on a circuit he knows well. Arriving at the circuit Thursday evening to find a revamped SEAT Leon awaiting him kicked started the weekend how he wanted to, whilst his faith in the car was restored during the first on track action on Friday.

Freddy initially set the second fastest time of the practice session, before an incident and yellow flags brought about some confusion. With the session drawing to a close, there was no time to go back out to secure his time, leaving him in a respectable fourth.

Freddy’s early pace soon set the precedent for the weekend, and by the time qualifying arrived his confidence was echoed through his lap times. By the end of the session the SEAT specialist had secured a third place start for the opening race. “It was great to be back at the sharp end of the field,” said Freddy. “The car feels great, it’s the best start to a weekend we’ve had all year,” he added.

As the first race got underway Freddy held station in third place. As the race ticked towards half distance, Freddy was in a fierce battle with SEAT Eurocup front runner Eoin Murray, with the youngster forced to defend heavily.

Determined not to hand over his podium paying spot, Freddy battled hard to keep his position, until he was forced wide and into a spin. Before Freddy had time to compose himself to resume his race, he was hit by an unsuspecting Gabor Weber, another Eurocup regular. After crawling back to the pits with a tyre puncture looming and bodywork damage, Freddy was forced to retire. Despite his bad luck, he demonstrated yet again that he has the pace, matching the times of eventual winner Dan Welch.

Due to his non-finish in race one, Freddy was obligated to display another of his storming drives through the field after starting from 20th on the grid for race two. After making up a few places in the first two laps, his pace was haltered with the release of the safety car to recover an incident.

As the race got underway again Freddy had progressed from 20th to 11th, however a terrifying incident just one lap later, which saw the SEAT of Francisco Carvalho launch into the air and over the barrier brought out the red flag.

Due to the severity of the incident, and time constraints, the race was deemed to be over, despite only completing three actual racing laps.

In what became a somewhat strange weekend, Freddy showed his pace is just as strong as ever, and his optimism shone through in his actions. “It started off as such a good weekend. The car felt fantastic, the best it’s felt all season, and my pace was there as ever. It was just a shame both races ended as they did,” said Freddy.

“With regards Francisco’s accident, I came around the corner to see his car landing on its nose, which wasn’t a nice sight at all. It was a terrible accident and I’m just glad he’s ok.

“We’ve got a bit of a break now until the next race, and it’s a brand new track so everyone will be in the same position with their lack of knowledge about it. Fingers crossed the car stays like it is for the rest of the season, as it was great to drive at Brands Hatch,” he continued.

With the searing summer heat in Spain there are no races during August. Freddy will be back out on track with the SEAT Supercopa assemblage at the new Navarra circuit, the weekend of 25/26th September.

12 July 2010

Freddy comes back to Brands

SEAT motor racing ace, Freddy Nordström, will return to racing in the UK next weekend (16-18th July), as he temporarily switches to the SEAT Eurocup Championship.

With three rounds of the 2010 Spanish SEAT Supercopa already done and dusted, Freddy has decided to echo his 2009 exploits by making a one-race swap to the British round of the Eurocup series. With a return to Brands Hatch Freddy is set to demonstrate his skills in front of a top crowd.

Regardless of contesting the Spanish series for the last two seasons, Freddy has made a few appearances at the infamous Kent-based circuit in recent months. July 2009 saw the Anglo-Swedish youngster contest the Eurocup series for the first time, while earlier this year he enjoyed a pre-season test with his new SEAT Leon. With a great deal of knowledge about Brands Hatch, he is sure to impress on his brief return to his local circuit.

After racing at Portimao, in the Algarve last weekend, Freddy’s uniquely coloured SEAT has since received some improvements, which is expected to relieve his anguish he’s suffered so far.

“I like Brands Hatch, it’s a great circuit with so much history, so I always look forward to racing there,” said Freddy. “It will be nice to return to a circuit that’s so familiar to me as well. We want to move on from the issues we’ve had so far this season, and keep looking forward. Fingers crossed Brands will be the weekend we can do this,” he added.

Portimao saw Freddy racing in front of the top teams and drivers in the touring car world, with the Supercopa series providing supporting action to the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). Brands Hatch will be another opportunity for the 21 year old to show the WTCC assemblage what he can do behind the wheel, with the Eurocup sharing the weekend with the prestigious series.

“Being able to support a series like the World Touring Car Championship is a fantastic opportunity for me and the team, and to be able to do it twice is even better. Some of the best drivers in the sport combined with a legendary circuit will make for a top weekend. It can’t come soon enough for me,” continued Freddy.

Freddy will be in action over the course of the three days next weekend, with practice, qualifying and two races being spread over Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

7 July 2010

Third time lucky for Freddy

Another weekend in Spain saw Freddy’s 2010 SEAT Supercopa assault take shape, as his campaign finally got started in the right way at Portimao last weekend (3/4th July).

After two rounds of bad luck Freddy at last got to enjoy three race finishes, having completed a trio of outings at the Algarve-based circuit. Friday saw the thirty-two car grid enjoy two free practice sessions, followed by qualifying. After suffering problems at Valencia and Jarama, Freddy was out to prove he meant business at Portimao; despite still experiencing a car glitch the young racer set the 14th fastest time in qualifying.

Ready for the first race, the grid took form. In true Freddy style, the first lap saw the Advent Motorsport ace rocket up to 12th place, making up a number of places from the off. By lap six the drama found him once more, when he was hit by another driver, causing damage to his SEAT Leon. Regardless of the damage, Freddy fought through to finish in 17th place.

With race two taking place immediately afterwards, Freddy lined up on the grid for the second time, this time starting 17th. Doing his best to drive through his apparent car problems, the youngster did his upmost to fight off his rivals, despite his SEAT being evidently low on pace when compared to others. After fighting as hard as he could he eventually took the chequered flag for the second time of the day, this time in 18th place.

The third and final race saw Freddy start from 18th on the grid, which he soon transformed as he again flew through the pack. His talent shone through once more, as he put to bed his car’s woes to finish a remarkable 14th.

After careful attention to his SEAT Leon it was deemed that the boost pressure was significantly lower than that of other cars, meaning he was a good deal lower on power than others. Considering his disadvantage it was another sterling performance from him, showing he refuses to be overcome by issues.

“It was good to start and finish all three races, but it was still frustrating to have yet more problems,” said Freddy. “The performance just wasn’t where I’d hoped it would be with the lack of pace, but we did what we could to work around it,” he added.

Freddy is now looking forward to a prominent meeting in just two weeks time, as he embarks on a slightly different journey. Contesting the British round of the SEAT Eurocup championship, he will return to the familiar Brands Hatch circuit, again supporting the prestigious World Touring Car Championship and Formula 2 series. “I can’t wait for Brands Hatch, it’s going to be a very exciting weekend for us,” he said. “Brands is a fantastic circuit and I’m looking forward to racing at one of the most renowned circuits in motor racing,” he added.