Romanov and Geipel succesfull

The first round of the Procar season 2008 was held last weekend at the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben. The first race was won by the Russian Andrei Romanov in his BMW 320i E36 after a relentless duel with the runner-up from Leubnitz Philip Geipel (Toyota Corolla T-Sport). Third place went to the newcomer of division 1, Jens-Guido Weimann, in a Mercedes C200.

In the second race Geipel turned the tables and won after lapping 12 times the 3.696 metres long track. The Swiss Peter Rikli (Honda Accord 2.0) and Weimann completed the podium in second and third place.

The biggest title contender and unner-up from last year Andrei Romanov won the first race this season. The Engstler-driver started from second on the grid. At the start he overtook pole position man Philip Geipel with flying wings and used all advantages of his rear drive.

In the second race however, he collided in second position with Uwe Reich and had to retire. “The first round was a perfect, faultless race,” Romanov explained. “I did not have a good start in the second race and lost a few valuable positions. I was able to reach Geipel again but collided with the Uwe Reich’s Alfa when I tried to overtake him. Uwe did not see me despite the blue flag. That was unnecessary”, the driver from Moscow said.

Philip Geipel was the one who benefited most of Romanov’s unfortune. The DFS-Yaco driver snatched victory in the second race, after achieving place two during the first race of the weekend. “I was very close to Andrei but I was not fast enough to attack. In the second race, I had a perfect start and could go ahead with a wide gap to the rest of the field. Even without the accident of Romanow, I could have achieved the victory,” explained the 21 year old score leader.

The Swiss driver Peter Rikli caused lots of sensation in both races. In the first race he had to get back into the pit as a sensor in the engine caused engine cut-outs. The engineers found the error quickly and sent the car back out on the track. The driver from Wangen had to work his way up from the very end of the field. He managed to climb the podium when crossing the finish line in second.

He showed a great and sensational performance with his Honda Accord. “I could not believe it when right after the start of the first race the engine caused trouble. The second race went much better and I risked a lot to reach the top of the field. I am delighted that I achieved second place,” said a happy team boss.

Jens-Guido Weimann showed a great and surprising performance after finishing the first two races this season with his Mercedes C200, coming from the Swedish Touring Car Championship STCC. The driver from Preetz achieved two third places for his Thate-Motorsport-Team with his 280 hp strong car. “We are very surprised with these results. I am sure that a bit luck was there too but I have to admit that we could handle the track with just a few test drives and our car has a lot of potential as well”, said a confident division 2 winner from last year.