Theeba Motorsport experienced a challenging weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, with the team retiring from the fifth race of the 2022 International GT Open following contact with Singha Racing Team.
Reema Juffali and team-mate Adam Christodoulou qualified eighth overall at the Belgian venue and lined upon the fourth row of the grid for the series’ first endurance race since 2007.
When action got underway, Reema unfortunately lost ground at the start after taking evasive action following a spin in Turn One for the #72 Optimum Motorsport McLaren of Nick Moss.
This put her on an immediate back foot but despite falling to 17th, Reema charged through the field to fight forward to 13th in only two laps amidst an excellent recovery drive.
Extracting the maximum pace from the team’s Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, she quickly battled into the top 10 and ascended to eighth when the pit window opened in the 28th minute.
At the 30-minute mark she handed the car over to Adam who rejoined in ninth, in direct competition with the #39 Singha Racing Team TP12 Porsche of Earl Bamber.
Duelling for fourth in class, the pair ran nose-to-tail for several laps before making contact in Turn Nine which caused Adam to spin through gravel trap and into the barriers on exit.
Facing terminal damage as a result, the team was forced to retire from the 140 minute + one lap affair.
The 2022 International GT Open will resume on 9-10 July in a double-header event at the Hungaroring.
“It’s disappointing for our weekend to end like this but that’s motorsport. At the start I was squeezed quite heavily, boxed in and hit from multiple angles which meant that I lost a lot of ground. Despite that, our pace was strong and I was able to fight forward to eighth by the end of my first stint. When Adam got into the car we were in a good position but he was unfortunately wiped out by the #39 Porsche which ended our race. It’s a long season and there are still plenty of opportunities. We just need to keep our heads up and come back fighting next month in Hungary.”
“After losing ground at the start, Reema delivered a strong recovery drive and did a fantastic job to overtake nine cars in her first stint alone. I was fighting with [Earl] Bamber as soon as I got into the car and because we were battling for position, it was important to stay out in front. Turn Seven isn’t usually a corner that you see overtaking in but he put his nose up the inside and we made contact. Unfortunately, the car was too badly damaged for us to continue which is a big shame because I was confident that we could achieve a strong finish today. Now, our full focus is on Hungary where we’ll hopefully find our previous form.”
