Bangkok--3 Sep--Stuvik Racing Project
The third round of the Thailand Super Series 2019 was held at the stunning Bangsaen Grand Prix in Chonburi province of Thailand from the 28th of August to the 1st of September 2019.
The beautiful seaside circuit hosted GT3 practice sessions of Wednesday and Thursday, culminating in a qualifying on Thursday afternoon. This was the first time for Sandy to be driving at Bangsaen in the GT3 category, having previously only run with the smaller categories in endurance. The Thai driver had a lot to learn, but Sandy got up to speed quickly. "This circuit is absolutely crazy but in all the best ways. It was an amazing feeling to drive out onto the streets with our brand new Audi R8 GT3 Evo, and it tackled every corner well."
Sandy qualified in 3rd position for Race 1, after rain hit on his warm-up lap. "The rain came just as I was finishing my warmup lap, which meant that my warm-up lap effectively became the only lap. In hindsight I should have foregone the warm-up lap, but that's easy to say now."
Sandy's teammate Martin Rump did a phenomenal job to qualify on Pole Position for Race 2, in a wet qualifying session.
Race 1 started on Saturday afternoon and Sandy took the start from 3rd place, and managed to maintain his position into the first two corners. From there he began to hunt down the two cars in front of him. Sandy made a move for 2nd place against the Lamborghini and got past smoothly. Shortly after, he was on the heels of the leading Ferrari and made a successful move going into T2, claiming the lead. From that the Thai driver extended his lead until the pit-stop window where he handed the Audi R8 GT3 Evo over to his Estonian partner Martin Rump.
Martin got into the car and rejoined the race in 3rd position due to Sandy and Martin's 52 second additional pit-stop time for being a Silver-Silver pairing. Martin quickly got up to speed and within a few laps was able to make a fantastic move on the Ferrari for 2nd place. A few laps later he had caught up to the leading Lamborghini and took the lead in phenomenal fashion. From there he took the B-Quik Audi to the victory on the streets of Bangsaen. "Words cannot describe what a feeling it is to win in Bangsaen. To do it here with such a special car, and fantastic team in B-Quik Racing, everything just fell into place and I feel that Martin and I both drove our hearts out today."
Race 2 started on Sunday afternoon and Martin Rump took the start from Pole Position. Unfortunately, the Audi could not compete off the line with some of the torque of the Ferraris, and Martin slotted in to 2nd position, maintaining a close distance to the leading Ferrari. The Estonian driver kept the pressure on until the pit-stop window where he handed over to Sandy. After an additional 12 seconds in the pit-stop due to yesterday's victory, Sandy rejoined the race down the order. The Thai driver climbed up and was eventually challenging for 4th position, with the Top 3 in sight. Unfortunately, as Sandy made the move for 4th position he was taken out by one of his competitors, causing the Thai driver to spin, and lose a lot of time. From there Sandy kept his head down and tried to focus on getting points. Sandy secured the fastest lap of the race on the penultimate lap, and is currently the lap record holder for Bangsaen Street Circuit. "It was a mixed day today but I am extremely happy that our teammate car the #26 Audi R8 GT3 Evo of Henk Kiks and Daniel Bilski secured the win today. A double B-Quik Victory in front of all the hundreds of thousands of Thai fans that cane to visit Bangsaen this weekend." Sandy is currently in 2nd position in the overall championship standings, after finishing 5th in Race 2.
"I would like to thank everybody that came to watch the race, thanks to all the spectators that make this race an incredible experience, and thank you to Racing Spirit for organizing this world-class event for Thailand Super Series. It has been a great week, and I can't wait to be back on track in October in Buriram!"
Sandy Stuvik is honored to be supported by The Pizza Company, Thai Airways, Puma Thailand, Thaiwings Travel Agency, Dacon Trading, the Tourism Authority of Thailand, the Sports Authority of Thailand, and the Royal Automobile Association of Thailand.
Find Sandy:
- Website: www.sandystuvik.com
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SandyStuvik/
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/SandyStuvik
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/Stuvikracing/videos
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sandystuvik/
- Line@: http://nav.cx/8mQwzrC