Theeba Motorsport endured a challenging Saturday at the Hungaroring after sustaining weekend-ending damage following a collision in Race One at the Budapest-based venue.
Driver, Adam Christodoulou, secured second on the grid in qualifying for the sixth race of the 2022 International GT Open season, missing out on pole position by only 0.008 seconds.
When the 70-minute race got underway, he lost ground after being overtaken into Turn One by the #19 Oregon Team Lamborghini of Kevin Gilardoni yet remained within striking distance of the Italian.
A stoppage for the #777 Olimp Racing Audi brought out the Safety Car in the 18thminute to createa 14-minute pause in action as the stricken vehicle was recovered.
The race was resumed with 38 minutes to go and Adam quickly charged to the head of the field when Gilardoni and race leader, Leonardo Pulcini, pitted soon after.
The Briton subsequently handed the car over to team-mate Reema Juffali 27 minutes from the chequered flag who rejoined the race 12th overall and seventh in class after facing a success penalty.
On cold tyres, Reema ran wide in Turn Nine during her out lap and after losing traction off-line, collected the barriers on the inside of the right-hander.
Due to extensive damage, Theeba Motorsport was forced to retire from the race and will not participate in the second part of the International GT Open’s Hungarian round, instead prioritising repair work on its Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.
The team will return to action 10-11 September at the Red Bull Ring.
“I’m very disappointed for our race to end in this way, especially after we showed so much promise over the first half. Adam delivered a strong result in qualifying and put us in a good position at the end of the first stint before I took over for the final third. I was pushing on my out lap and ran wide in Turn Nine. This caused the car to lose traction and snap and I hit the wall. Unfortunately, because the damage is extensive we will be unable to repair the car in time for Race Two. Time to regroup.”
“Despite losing one position at the start, I think our pace was very strong today and we were right in the fight for the overall win. Obviously, it’s disappointing for our race to end inthe barriers but motorsport is unpredictable and while there are good days, it’s inevitable that we’ll face some challenges along the way. We’ll come back fighting in Austria.”
