FIA GT1 - 2010

[MOTV8]

Dawg made me feel so bad I had to go find some more corvette-centric coverage.... Interlagos: Series Championship Race report Racing series FIA-GT Date 2010-11-28 Local heroes grab the spoils The Brazilian flags fluttered wildly at Interlagos as local heroes Enrique Bernoldi and Xandi Negrao, starting from fourth position on the grid, took their Vitaphone Maserati No.2 to victory in a thrilling Championship Race. Pole-sitters and early leaders Tomas Enge and Darren Turner in the Young Driver Aston No.7 were second with Marc Hennerici and Alex Margaritas in the Phoenix Corvette No.13 third. The racing was intense before a huge partisan crowd in the heartland of Brazilian motorsport. Battles raged throughout the field for the full 60 minutes in temperatures reaching 30C. After Enge had handed over the No.7 to Turner in the lead it was left to Negrao to make the move towards the end which proved decisive as the Aston struggled with tyre wear. Both cars made contact as Negrao dived down the inside into the mid section of the lap. Turner conceded that the move was hard but fair. The overall results put a new complexion on the drivers' championship battle which will now be extended to the final race in San Luis next weekend. Thomas Mutsch (Matech Ford GT No.5), second to the leaders Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels (Vitaphone Maserati No.1) before the race, dropped to fourth. Mutsch and Richard Westbrook started from the rear of the grid and despite a strong performance, finished 14th and out of the points thus ending his title hopes. Bertolini and Bartels finished 9th and collected two points. Their total is now 132 points with Turner and Enge moving up to second on 104 - a lead of 28 points with 33 points available in San Luis. Hennerici is third with 99 points - 33 behind - but cannot take the title due to the fact that the Maserati pair have four wins to the Corvette man's one. Sao Paulo Championship Race: What the drivers say ... Marc Hennerici, Phoenix Racing Corvette No.13 "It's great to be on the podium here again -- the fourth podium for 2010 -- and three podiums with Alex (Margaritas) in four races. "We worked hard over the weekend. We started in 15th place in Free Practice and now we end up on the podium. Alex had to drive more laps than me and he did a superb job. "We are in a good position in the (drivers') championship -- third in front of Thomas Mutsch and Tomas and Darren are a few points ahead of me. So it's still real battle for the top three at the end. My big goal is to go to Monaco on December 10th, I am still in the race and that's what I'm fighting for." Alex Margaritas, Phoenix Racing Corvette No.13 "For me it was very difficult. I am lucky to be here in Brazil. On Monday evening I got a bad poisoning in my stomach so I had to cancel my flight on Tuesday and took one on Thursday evening. Today I was not totally fit but we know we had to attack today so I kept my head day and pushed till the end. "I knew the Aston (No.10) was coming from behind but I was not looking in the mirror and I'm really to get the third place to help Marc." Pos Driver Car Time/Gap 1. Bernoldi/Negrao Maserati 1h01m23.296s 2. Enge/Turner Aston Martin + 2.348s 3. Hennerici/Margaritis Corvette + 5.874s 4. Piccione/Hirschi Aston Martin + 6.077s 5. Martin/Leinders Ford + 9.060s 6. Dumbreck/Krumm Nissan + 10.574s 7. Schwager/Pastorelli Lamborghini + 11.367s 8. Jani/Armindo Ford + 22.358s 9. Bertolini/Bartels Maserati + 22.925s 10. Heger/Muller Maserati + 23.225s 11. Nygaard/Mucke Aston Martin + 31.682s 12. Kox/Haase Lamborghini + 43.720s 13. Makowiecki/Clairay Aston Martin + 45.738s 14. Westbrook/Mutsch Ford + 52.474s 15. Bobbi/Palttala Ford + 54.724s 16. Ara/Nilsson Nissan + 1m11.191s 17. Serra/Longo Maserati + 1m18.694s 18. Wendlinger/Moser Nissan + 1m34.780s 19. Huisman/Kuismanen Corvette + 1 lap ...and yes, it IS you. It's an orange thing.

[Desertdawg]

Well thanks...

[MOTV8]

Welll...de nada. But it gets worse.

First off...Mad-Croc Is Out

Both Mad Croc Corvettes will not take any further part in the weekend’s activities, but for two very different reasons. The No. 12 machine of Pertti Kuismanen crashed in Free Practice this morning, damaging the Corvette beyond repair on-site. The team’s sister car was also withdrawn but prior to the day’s activities after one of its drivers failed to come up with the necessary funding.

As a result for the withdrawal of the No. 11 car, which didn’t complete a lap this weekend, the FIA has stripped the team of its championship points from the start of the season. Only force majeure or an accident from the previous race could be acceptable reasons for a car’s absence, according to the FIA.

Phoenix Racing/Carsport were also ejected from the teams’ championship for a similar situation earlier this year when one of its Corvettes suffered a fire at Silverstone in May but didn’t return until mid-season before being later withdrawn all together.

With both Mad Croc Corvettes out of the event, it leaves only one Corvette, the No. 13 Phoenix/Carsport machine of Alex Margaratis and Marc Hennerici, set to start tomorrow’s pair of races. It will also mark the lowest starting grid of the year at 21 cars.

..and then...

Ratel On GT1’s Future

Today, I had the opportunity to sit down with SRO boss Stephane Ratel to discuss a variety of topics, including the future of the FIA GT1 World Championship. While a full interview will be published next week, here are some of the more interesting news bites.

• The 2011 GT1 WC schedule will be confirmed by the FIA during it’s next World Council meeting in Monaco on Dec. 10. Expect to see a 10-round championship again, but with four rounds outside of Europe. Ratel says he’d like to have five “flyaway” races by 2012.

• One of the races in 2011 will be in Mongolia at the new Ordos International Circuit, located 450 miles west of Beijing. Ratel said he’s hoping to also hold some sort of GT1 event on the streets of Beijing but isn’t sure if it would count as a championship event or simply be an exhibition race, due to the circuit not currently being FIA approved.

• There won’t be an American round next year, despite the series’ best efforts in organizing a race. Scheduling conflicts was the major cause for a no-go in 2011, but Ratel is confident of making it happen in 2012.

• The European GT3 Championship will hold a points-paying round at the Smolensk Circuit in Russia next year. Ratel said that he had looked into bringing GT1 there next year but will likely hold off until 2012.

• The format of the GT1 WC will remain unchanged for next year, with both Qualifying and Championship races staying at 60-minute lengths with the same points structure. There had been talk of the Championship Race perhaps expanding to a 90-minute race, but Ratel dismissed those rumors.

• Don’t expect any new manufacturers in GT1 next year. Alpina’s project to take its BMW Alpina B6 to GT1 hasn’t materialized, as the tuner has not built the minimum number of road cars for FIA homologation (300 production vehicles in a 12-month period). As a result, the car will not be legal for GT1 competition.

• Instead, GT3 cars are poised to fill new and vacated manufacturer slots in 2012, when the Aston Martin DBR9, Corvette C6.R and Maserati MC12 reach the end of their lifespan as grandfathered cars. Examples such as Audi’s R8 LMS or the Mercedes SLS AMG could be upgraded to GT1 spec to compete on the world stage.

Hasta la vista GT1 Corvettes.

(o)(o)

and then...

Hexis AMR wins Qualifying Race – Vitaphone wins title

The Qualifying Race at the Potrero de los Funes circuit got of to a hectic start. Yann Clairay managed to pass Stefan Mücke on the run down to the first corner, but the Young Driver AMR driver ran into the back of Clairay. Hirschi, trying to avoid the two Astons in front of him, spun his car and was lucky not to be hit by the cars behind. Having started from pole position the Young Driver AMR retired before even completing a single lap.

Two laps later things went wrong again. Christopher Haase’s Lamborghini seemed to suffer a failure on the left front and the car veered to the left right onto the side of the Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12. Both cars spun, but with the Reiter Lamborghini parked in the wall the Safety Car was deployed.

Twenty minutes into the race the safety car came in again and into lap seven the green flags were waved again. Shortly after Mutsch and Armindo put pressure on Clairay and seemed to make a pass, but Armindo suddenly slowed down and dropped down the field before parking his car on the side of the track – he would return to the pit later on and eventually the car even rejoined the race.

As the pit window opened the race leaders pulled in, Jonathan Hirschi completed one other lap. Frederic Makowiecki was the first of the drivers out of the pitlane, now followed by Peter Dumbreck after a quick Sumo Power GT stop. Unfortunately for Dumbreck and the Sumo team the Hexis AMR team were even quicker during their #10 stop and Piccione pulled out onto the circuit in front of the Nissan.

After thirteen laps Makowiecki was already 11.009 seconds clear of his team mate in the #10 Aston Martin DBR9. Piccione, Dumbreck, Westbrook and Martin were within one second of each other though.

The four drivers tried everything to improve their position, but when Piccione overran a corner it wasn’t Dumbreck who took advantage but Westbrook. The Ford GT driver passed the Sumo Power GT Nissan and shortly afterwards he made his move on the second placed Aston Martin.

The gap to the leader was huge though with Makowiecki now 14.5 seconds ahead of Westbrook. Despite a couple of fast laps the Matech Competition Ford GT was unable to challenge the Aston Martin in the remaining laps and after almost one hour of racing Makowiecki was shown the chequered flag, winning the Qualifying Race for Hexis AMR.

With Marc Hennerici out of the race four laps before the end – after a coming together with the #2 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12 – and the Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DBR9 of Darren Turner and Tomas Enge just finishing in tenth place, Vitaphone Racing Team, Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini won the Teams and Drivers Championships. The manufacturers championship will be decided in the Championship Race later today.

^-^ and then...

Dominant win for Hexis AMR at Potrero de los Funes

Hexis AMR drivers Frederic Makowiecki and Clivio Piccione had the best start and were leading the pack as the cars rounded turn 1 for the first time. Unlike earlier today all cars made it through the first corner. Nicky Pastorelli spun his All-Inkl.com Lamborghini a few corners later though.

Marc Hennerici had a horrible start of the race and dropped to twentieth position after contact with the Ford GT of Maxime Martin. The Belgian Ford GT driver ran wide, hit an All-Inkl.com Lamborghini, went wide again and came back on track right in the path of the Phoenix Racing Corvette. Unfortunately for Hennerici it effectively ended any chances of a good result for the Corvette.

Richard Westbrook in the Matech Competition Ford GT showed why he was hired by the Swiss team and opened the attack on the second placed Aston Martin. After rear-ending Piccione the Briton made his overtaking move one corner later and moved into second place. Makowiecki was still setting faster lap times though and was already six seconds clear of the rest of the field after just ten minutes.

As Makowiecki kept putting in fast laps there were several battles further down the field. Peter Dumbreck spun his Nissan GT-R and dropped from 5th to 18th. Jose Maria Lopez meanwhile had a stronger run and passed several cars in the final part of his stint.

After the pit stops Clairay still held a comfortable lead over Thomas Mutsch and with Hirschi in third place Hexis AMR was on its way to the second place in the Team’s Championship.

Henri Moser was the first driver to retire from the race. The Swiss driver first spun after making contact with Tomas Enge and then crashed into the barrier at the chicane. With damage to the front of the car he is forced to withdraw from the race. Two laps later Miguel Ramos spun his Maserati on the same chicane, forcing him out of a great battle that was going on between the cars in 13th to 18th place.

Marc VDS Racing Team and Sumo Power GT ended their season prematurely. The Marc VDS Fords retired on lap 16 (one car on track, one car in the pit) and a few laps later both Sumo Power GT cars were also out of the race (power steering problems for Krumm and gearbox issues for Hughes).

The Hexis AMR drivers did not have these problems and Clairay just kept going, keeping his rivals far behind him. Mücke meanwhile did his best to pass the All-Inkl.com Lamborghini of Marc Basseng and on the last lap Mücke did just that, taking home fifth place.

After one hour of racing Yann Clairay crossed the line to take yet another dominant victory at the Potrero de los Funes circuit, the first Championship Race win of the season for Hexis AMR. Thomas Mutsch finished in second place, 13 seconds behind Clairay, while Hirschi secured an Hexis AMR 1-3, finishing 9.5 seconds behind Mutsch.

As a result of Hexis AMR taking first and second Aston Martin secured the SRO Trophy for Manufacturers and preventing a Maserati cleansweep of the 2011 titles.

Jeeze, I'm glad that's over.

[Desertdawg]

I'm ready to say on the whole FIA crap! What fun will it be to watch without any Corvette's???

[MOTV8]

I'm ready to say on the whole FIA crap! What fun will it be to watch without any Corvette's???

I hope you get Dutch tv in Gila Bend....

Ex-Phoenix Racing Corvettes C6.R to race in Holland

The two Phoenix Racing Corvettes C6.R that competed in the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship will not return to the World Championship in 2011. Both cars have been sold to privateers and will be entered in the Dutch Supercar Challenge this season. The cars will be driven by Rick Abresch and Dave Basu.

Rick Abresch will run the ex-Phoenix Racing car that raced in the entire FIA GT1 World Championship last year and only arrived back in Europe some two weeks ago. The car is currently at Phoenix Racing in Germany and will be fully rebuilt before being deliverd to Abresch. Dave Basu will run the other ex-Phoenix Racing car that only took part in a couple of GT1 World Championship rounds before being pulled from the championship, this car is already in The Netherlands.

Abresch and Basu got interested in the Corvette C6.R GT1 in June of last year, when Abresch visited David Hart at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. “I was amazed by the technology of the Corvette C6.R. Its sound was really beautiful. I decided to get some information and it turned out that I could do a nice deal which also involved my Ferrari F430 GT3″, says Abresch.

Abresch then took Dave Basu to the FIA GT1 race at the Nürburgring and soon Basu was sold as well. “If we wanted to do it, we had to do it now, also because there seem to be quite some budget problems in the GT1 championship. The Corvettes have been around for quite a while and can only be used in the FIA GT1 World Championship in 2011 in their current specifications. For us it was a window of opportunity to take over the cars”, explains Basu.

The cars will not race in the Dutch Supercar Challenge in the exact same configuration they raced in the FIA GT1 World Championship. Several adjustments have to be made to the car to meet the Dutch Supercar Challenge regulations. The car is currently fitted with carbon brakes, while in the Dutch Supercar Challenge the C6.Rs will have to race with ‘normal’ steel brakes. “It seems easy to convert, but eventually we had to make different brake heads for these cars. We’re also working on a new exhaust system in order to comply with the noise standards”, says Basu.

It seems certain that Rick Abresch will start the season in his new Corvette, while Dave Basu could run the first race of the season in his old car. Basu wants to get familiar with his car first, before entering it in a race.

Abresch and Basu will not race together in one team, but will compete against each other in the 2011 Dutch Supercar Challenge. Belgian Corvette expert Selleslagh Racing Team will run the two cars for Basu and Abresch in the 2011 season. The professional Belgian squad will service the two former Phoenix Racing cars and owns another Corvette C6.R chassis which was entered in the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship as well.

So, these C6.R's will get beat on one more year in this Dutch series, and then maybe they'll show up on eBay like the old C5-Rs....

[Desertdawg]

Maybe if I still had my 10 foot deep big dish up and running... I doubt dishnet will have it..

[MOTV8]

Well, there's always GT3. Several nations run their own GT3 series, and I'll be keeping an eye on Belgium's.

Corvette to Compete in '11 Belcar Endurance Series

Delahaye Racing, located in Belgium, has purchased an ex-Graff Racing Corvette Z06.R GT3 to assault the 2011 Belcar Endurance Series. Fred Bouvy and Damien Coens have been confirmed as drivers. The team will campaign its new entry in all six 2011 races, including the Spa 24 Hours in June.

Several makes were evaluated-including the BMW Z4, the Mercedes SLS, and the Ferrari 430-before Delahaye committed to the Corvette. The team's chief engineer, Lionel Hansen, explained the choice:

"It's a championship-winning car in the FIA GT3 series. It is very fast, reliable, and easy to run."

Both drivers were Belcar champions in 2008 behind the wheel of a Ferrari. They have both driven Corvettes in the past.

"I've driven both the C5-R and the C6.R GT1 versions," said reigning Belgian Touring Car Series champion Bouvy. "The Corvette is a great product and we are hoping to regain the Belcar title and score a first-ever top-five finish at the Spa 24 Hours."

The Callaway Corvette, built in Leingarten, Germany, with no support from GM, continues to spread it winning ways around the world. For 2011 top teams are racing the Z06.R GT3 in Germany, Belgium, Dubai, England, Australia, Brazil, and Japan.

I know Ed likes that Red Bull livery...

[Desertdawg]

Ed doesn't visit us anymore... To busy playing house husband I think... The GT3 just looks cool. To bad no one is selling that wide body kit!