03.08.2003  NO LUCK FOR PRODRIVE AT TROIS RIVIERES AS ENGINE FAILURE STRIKES PETER KOX AND TOMAS ENGE 

Car 88, having led the class for the opening hour - during which Tomas Enge was pressured at all times from one or other of the Corvettes but brilliantly maintained position – retired at the end of the second hour with an engine problem.  Enge and team-mate Kox had been dismayed to find that, after their first pit stop, the Ferrari 550 had gone one lap down on its rivals because the flags for a caution period were thrown just as Dutchman Kox exited the pits.  It was extreme bad luck for the team – one lap later and the class lead would have been maintained. 

A long brake pedal irritated but did not drastically hinder the progress of the Australian/Danish pairing, who were in third position in class when Brabham felt an abnormal vibration to the rear of the car.  He came into the pits, and the problem was discovered to have been caused by an unfortunate pit crew error although a left rear brake disc (rotor) was changed as a precaution. 

Tomas Enge (CZ), car 88:  “My first stint was not bad although I found it was very hard to keep ahead of the Corvettes.  They were for sure much faster so I was just trying not to make any mistakes.  It was bad luck for us we lost the lap because of the safety car, and very disappointing.  We tried to fight back but unfortunately when I got back into the car for my second stint, after just a few laps the engine went.  No points this weekend and I think it will be very hard to close the gap now in the points standing.” 

Peter Kox (NL), car 88:  “It’s obviously very disappointing.  Before we came here we knew we would have a hard time and Saturday turned out to be really good for us.  Tomas did a fantastic job in the qualifying, putting the car on pole and we were all excited and looking for a good result.  I had a really good feeling for what was going to happen.  It turned out to be a disappointment for us all because we retired, but we’ve learnt some lessons and we mustn’t forget our competitors have played this game for a long time and we are still quite new to it.  We have to up our game.” 

David Brabham (AUS), car 80:  “It was a disappointing result.  At the beginning of the race we were all running pretty close.  I felt like I could run a bit quicker than the guys in front and then I started to get along brake pedal which just caught me out and I went straight on, brushing the tyres wall.  There wasn’t any damage but I lost a lot of time there and then we got caught on the yellow again.  We changed tyres at the end of my first stint – I hadn’t been sure about it but the car was starting to slide quite a bit – and that turned out to be a good decision as Jan had a good run and caught up nearly a lap on the 88 car which had double-stinted their tyres.  We scored some points and we learnt some lessons and we are now even more determined to win the next few races.” 

Jan Magnussen (DK), car 80: “Obviously not a good end result but the speed was there for sure.  We were unlucky with the safety car and the loss of the lap but we gained most of it back, although we knew by then we didn’t have much chance of gaining on the Corvettes.  The points are a bonus, but it wasn’t our day for sure.”