Jimmy Eriksson takes positives from rollercoaster weekend

Press Release

Jimmy Eriksson looked set for a top five finish in this weekend’s Blancpain GT Series round at Zolder, but was ultimately forced into retirement with just ten minutes to go in Sunday’s Main Race after being sent into the barriers by a rival driver while leading the Mercedes charge.

Eriksson, alongside team-mate Dominik Baumann in the HTP Motorsport #86 Mercedes-AMG GT3, arrived at the Belgian circuit looking to build on the kind of form that had netted him three podiums from his first four rounds of GT3 racing’s premier championship.

The weekend duly got off to a good start, with Eriksson being entrusted driving duties in the decisive Q2 and Q3 segments of Saturday’s qualifying session for the first time of his GT career – and delivering in fine style.

The Swede produced a Q3 lap just four tenths shy of pole to lead the HTP Motorsport attack, ahead of reigning Blancpain GT Series champion Maximilian Buhk in the team’s #84 machine, and bag ninth place on the 33-car grid for the subsequent Qualifying Race.

“I was pretty pleased with my performance in qualifying, and happy to be given the shot in Q2 and Q3 for the first time this season,” says Jimmy Eriksson. “I’ve felt ready for it for a while, and it was good to see that confidence being well-founded. I didn’t nail the first sector on my Q3 attempt and I think we could have been third or fourth with a perfect lap, but I learned a lot and it was a good experience.”

In the Qualifying Race, Eriksson then took charge of the opening stint of the one-hour event, crucially avoiding a collision at the first corner that wiped out a couple of frontrunning cars (including the championship-leading #63 Grasser Lamborghini).

Trailing former DTM driver Daniel Juncadella throughout the first half of the race, Eriksson was up to sixth by the time he pitted at the halfway stages to hand the car over to Baumann, looking well-placed for a potential top five result.

However, trouble attaching the left rear tyre cost the #86 crew about ten valuable seconds and vital track position, with Baumann rejoining down in ninth place – which became eighth at the finish after HTP Motorsport team-mate Franck Perera (#84) was handed a drive-through penalty for a pit stop infringement.

“It was a shame about the pit stop, because I was running just behind the #88 car (Juncadella/Felix Serrallés) in the first stint and they went on to finish fifth,” Eriksson continues. “That’s about where we should have been, but that’s racing and thankfully we could still finish P8, which was not too bad.”

Sunday’s Main Race saw a reversed run plan, with Baumann taking the start from eighth on the grid. Handing the car over to Eriksson in sixth, the Swede again found himself locked in battle with Juncadella; but unlike the day before, this time around he did find a way past the Spaniard to snatch fifth place.

Spearheading the Mercedes runners, the duo maintained fifth and sixth until just ten minutes before the end, when Juncadella misjudged his braking point at the Jacky Ickx chicane, swerved across the track and into the back of Eriksson – who was pitched into the outside barriers and into retirement.

Although of little consolation for Eriksson and Baumann, Juncadella was handed a 90-second time penalty for causing the collision.

“A very sad end to an otherwise positive weekend,” Eriksson concludes. “We felt that we’d done what could realistically be asked of us in the Main Race, were the leading Mercedes and would have been content with fifth place.

“Unfortunately Juncadella made a mistake which proved costly for both of us, and while I appreciate the fact that he apologised afterwards, it was a difficult one to take. There was nothing I could do about it, however, so let’s move on. We have the pace and I think I’ve proved that I can take the fight to the top guys in this business, so in many ways it’s been a good weekend.”

The next round of the Blancpain GT Series takes place at Circuit Paul Ricard in France on June 23-24.

RESULTS (top five)

Blancpain GT Series | Rd. 5
Sprint Cup | Rd. 3
Zolder, Belgium