The 3rd and 4th round of the Blancpain GT World Challenge Asia at Chang International Circuit in Thailand was like being on an American mountain for Estonian circuit racer Martin Rump. The No. 12 Rump/Tan Audi squad, which showed good momentum during practice in the humid heat and changing track conditions, finished 5th and 6th in qualifying.
In the first race, Weiron Tan started from fifth place. Tan, who had a difficult start and dropped to eighth, was back up to sixth by the end of the first lap. Rump, who took over in seventh place in the second shift, was on a roll. By the 35th minute, Rump was holding third place, pushing hard on Philip Hamprecht in second. Surprisingly, Alexandre Imperatori, who had been a lap down, prevented Hamprecht from moving up to second place, as his intermediate move gave Hamprecht space and left Rump under fire from his fourth-placed rival. A tremendous but certainly nerve-wracking battle for Rump ended with the Estonian in third place. It was the first overall podium of the season for the Rump/Tan Audi R8.
Sunday's second race, however, was extremely short. In a dramatic start, Rumpi's Audi was hit by a rival in the first seconds of the race, causing a puncture. In the pits, the mechanics determined that the race was over for the No. 12 Audi Sport Asia Team Absolute car due to further damage.
Martin Rump: "We were in good form with Weiron all weekend. We had a good weekend with Weiron all weekend long. On Saturday we put up a good fight and it's great to get the first overall podium. We also went out on Sunday to put in a strong performance, but unfortunately we had to retire. Now we will focus on the Suzuka preparation."
After the four stages, the Rump/Tan team is eighth overall and fifth in the Silver Cup.
The next 5th and 6th rounds of the season will be held on 22 and 23 June at Suzuka International Circuit in Japan.
