Isaac Tutumlu forced to retire from the Spa 24 hours

The Spaniard of Kurdish heritage couldn’t make to the finish on his debut at the Spa hours as a result of a crash at La Source following a brake issue. Tutumlu, who was at the wheel of the Leipert Motorsport-run Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo in Kurdistan Racing Team by Tigris colors when the crash happened, still left a strong mark with solid, fast pace during his double stints.

Isaac Tutumlu completed a promising debut at the Spa 24 hours, which was held at Spa-Francorchamps this weekend. The Spanish driver of Kurdish ancestry entered the mammoth GT3 event, the biggest GT race in the world, at the wheel of a Leipert Motorsport-entered Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo defending the Kurdistan Racing Team by Tigris banner alongside Tyler Cooke, Brendon Leitch and Max Weering.

Free practice and prequalifying took place on Thursday with Tutumlu posting very competitive lap times ahead of qualifying, which took place at evening. Dutch driver Weering took qualifying duties in Q1 posting a lap of 2m21.232s and Tutumlu was nominated for Q2. Tutumlu set a best lap of 2m19.638s but unfortunately Cooke had a minor incident and Q3 and Leipert Motorsport couldn’t complete the qualifying session and were forced to start from the back of the field. Anyway, starting grid position isn’t never crucial in a 24-hour race when race trim is strong.

On Saturday, Leitch made the first two stints and rapidly move through the 66-car field. When he handed over the Lamborghini to Tutumlu, Leipert Motorsport was already running 9th in the Silver Cup class. After a safety car period, a rival hit Tutumlu’s Huracan GT3 Evo car but the Spaniard just lost minor time and they were still in contention for a strong finish in class. Unfortunately, both Cooke and Weering were forced to make unscheduled pit stops at night but Leitch and Tutumlu, who was solidly lapping in 2m21s and 2m22s, fought back in the small hours. But an issue with a front brake cylinder brough the race to an early end when Tutumlu crashed into the barriers at La Source in the morning. Tutumlu managed to escape unharmed.

“It wasn’t the end that we were expecting but racing is like that. I could escape unscathed from a serious crash. It was a problem with a front brake cylinder so I had just rear brakes at La Source and the car was uncontrollable”, explained Tutumlu. He added that “despite the car wasn’t very badly damaged, it made no sense to continue sixty laps down. It was bad luck because we had a strong pace. Let’s see if we have Lady Luck on our side at Hockenheim in September after summer break.”