JRM hoping to capitalise on Dumbreck's Japanese experience
Photo: JRM Racing
JRM Racing began their 6 Hours of Fuji week in a very positive way by posting the fastest testing times in both the morning and afternoon sessions on Wednesday. Slowly but surely the No.22 JRM HPD-Honda’s performance and speed has improved, and in Japan the team is looking to finally deliver on the promise it has shown to date and wipe away the memory of the technical issues that led to retirement in the 6 Hours of Bahrain.
Currently lying third in the LMP1 Privateers FIA Endurance Trophy chase, JRM is looking to capitalise on Peter Dumbreck’s extensive experience at Fuji and the support of the local crowd. The Scottish driver raced in both the Japanese F3 Championship and Formula Nippon in 1988/9 and then in the Super GT Championship from 2005 to 2009. While in Japan he was based in Gotemba, just a few miles from Fuji Speedway.
Peter Dumbreck, No.22 JRM HPD ARX 03a: “I've spent six seasons racing in various categories in Japan. I'm looking forward to make my first trip back in four years after seasons in European GT and now the WEC. Fuji is actually one of my favourite circuits so I hope to step up and help achieve a good result for JRM and my team-mates. There is some tremendous support for motorsport in Japan so it will be good to see the same faces that I've seen over the years of racing.”
David Brabham, No.22 JRM HPD ARX 03a: “It has been a long time since I was in Japan, but I have fond memories racing there and really look forward to racing at Fuji. I won the All Japan GT500 series in 1996 and I hope to see some old friends. It will be another close battle for the privateers, but we have to step up and produce a better performance to date, which we will work hard to do.”
Karun Chandhok, No.22 JRM HPD ARX 03a: “This will be the first time I'm going to race in Japan, which should be interesting. I did the Friday free practice session last year for Team Lotus at Suzuka, but Fuji will be a new experience altogether. My visit last year was the first time I've been to Japan and I absolutely loved the country, the culture and the passion for motorsport there. The JRM team and my team-mate Peter Dumbreck have a strong history with Japanese motorsport so I hope we can get a good result for everyone there. In the last couple races we've been in pretty good shape in the races only for some reliability issues to make a mess of the result. I know Nigel and the team have been working very hard to get on top of that and the extra day of testing in Fuji will hopefully help us a bit more."
Team principal, James Rumsey: “We’ve shown some serious potential this year, with fastest times in practice, good strategy calls and a formidable driver line-up that is gelling well. Unfortunately, however, we’ve had a few technical issues that meant we couldn’t realize that potential. That’s the pitfall of being a new team; no one gives you a manual of what to do – we are learning on the job. We’ll go to Fuji now with the additional information from Bahrain and Brazil and try to finish the year on a high. Getting a good result in Japan would be fantastic as JRM has strong links with the country through our ties with Nissan Motorsport and the GT championship, plus Peter has an established fan base after his years of racing there. We hope the local support will cheer us to the finish line.”
Fiona Miller (quotes from JRM team press release)
Photo: Karun Chandhok, Peter Dumbreck, David Brabham (left to right).