Motorsport: Almost a class win for the birthday

The Dutch agency Creventic, which organizes the International FIA Endurance Series with the 24 Hours of Dubai and Barcelona as the highlight, included the previously purely British endurance race in the calendar for the first time. The otherwise dominant GT cars were not allowed. "It was great not to have to look in the rear-view mirror all the time," said a delighted Stefan Tanner, who, together with his technical partner Luigi Stanco, entered two Renault Clio IVs under the presenza.eu Racing Team Clio banner.

In their car, which they shared with compatriot Stephan Jäggi and two Dutchmen, Tanner and Stanco dominated the A2 class for six hours. With a five-lap lead, the heating fan first failed during the night. Just before the end of the 20th hour, when the team had almost made up the resulting deficit, the V-belt of the water pump jumped off without any outside influence. This was unusual engine damage to the Clio Turbo, for which Renault subsequently apologized.

Class victory missed by one second
A class victory would have been the perfect birthday present for Stefan Tanner, who turned 39 on April 5. The second Presenza.eu team with five Danish customers looked set to take it. However, in the final phase, they allowed a slower Clio RS III to snatch victory from their grasp. Finishing second in an eleven-car class in a 24-hour race is a success - but with a gap of just 88 hundredths to the winners, it is also a slight disappointment. Team boss Tanner took it sportingly: "With the podium in sight, they just got a bit nervous and made a few mistakes. Last year, we had a lot of luck on the way to winning the championship in our class, which we lacked a little this year."

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Photos: Eric Teeken, presenza.eu Racing