MOTV8 Posted April 9, 2011 Share Posted April 9, 2011 Euros.... Here's the deal. I wasn't planning a 2011 FIA GT1 thread. Corvettes were NOT slated to be racing in the "new & improved" FIA GT1 series, but apparently they couldn't fill out the grids or something 'cause they added four old GT1 C6.Rs from two teams to the field about a week before the series opener. They didn't do much in Abu Dhabi (think Gila Bend, with oil) so I said "meh" and ignored them. But one of those old warhorse GT1 C6.R's just about won a round at Zolder, finishing second, "surprising" all of the "new" GT1 regulation sleds. So I'll be following more euros now....fantabulous. Anyway....let the ketchup begin! Don't forget, FIA GT1 runs two races, a 'Qualifying' & a 'Championship' round at each track, like two 1 hour sprint races with one mandatory driver change during each race. The carnage ensues.... GT1 World – Twenty cars for Abu Dhabi BY MARCEL TEN CAAT ⋅ MARCH 18, 2011 One week before the start of the FIA GT1 World Championship things are slowly falling into place. The FIA today announced a twenty-car strong entry list for the season opener in Abu Dhabi. The five brands, Aston Martin, Nissan, Ford, Lamborghini and Corvette, will be represented by ten teams in the World Championship this year. Eight of out ten teams were already known and today it became clear that the four remaining spots would be taken by Corvette teams. DKR Engineering will run two cars, while the other two cars will be run by Exim Bank Team China. The complete entrylist as it was released today is: Young Driver AMR DEU Aston Martin DB9 Young Driver AMR DEU Aston Martin DB9 Hexis AMR FRA Aston Martin DB9 Hexis AMR FRA Aston Martin DB9 Sumo Power GT GBR Nissan GT-R (R35) Sumo Power GT GBR Nissan GT-R (R35) JR Motorsports GBR Nissan GT-R (R35) JR Motorsports GBR Nissan GT-R (R35) Marc VDS Racing Team BEL Ford GT Matech Marc VDS Racing Team BEL Ford GT Matech Belgian Racing BEL Ford GT Matech Belgian Racing BEL Ford GT Matech All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport DEU Lamborghini Murcielago LP670 R-SV All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport DEU Lamborghini Murcielago LP670 R-SV Swiss Racing Team CHE Lamborghini Murcielago LP670 R-SV Swiss Racing Team CHE Lamborghini Murcielago LP670 R-SV Exim Bank Team China CHN Corvette Z06 Exim Bank Team China CHN Corvette Z06 DKR Engineering LUX Corvette Z06 DKR Engineering LUX Corvette Z06 The Exim look: DKR: and then... Marc VDS Racing Team wins in Abu Dhabi BY MARCEL TEN CAAT ⋅ MARCH 26, 2011 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport had a Qualifying Race to forget at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi. Having taken pole position on Friday the Stewards decided to penalize the #37 Lamborghini for using an external battery prior to its run in Q1. Despite All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport disputing the infringement they team still got its five place grid penalty. At the start Darren Turner, who had inherited the pole position and Frédéric Makowiecki went into turn 1 side-by-side but behind them Tomas Enge missed his braking point and slid into the back of the Ford GT. Fortunately Makowiecki got away but Enge spun around and collected the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini of Nicky Pastorelli and was then hit by the DKR Engineering Corvette of Jaime Camara. All three cars were forced to retire from the race. Video of the first laps of carnage: Linkydink Turner took advantage of the problems behind him and was some three seconds ahead of his nearest rivals after ten minutes. Rookie Catsburg did well in his Corvette and was only passed by Jamie Campbell-Walter’s Nissan on lap ten. Unfortunately for the young Dutchman he the spun his #11 Corvette, allowing the Lamborghini of Marc Basseng to pass him as well. (WTG, rook.) Makowiecki, Turner and Westbrook crossed the line just seconds before the pit window opened and when it opened Ricardo Zonta was the first driver in the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship to make his compulsory pit stop. On the next time by Turner and Makowiecki pulled in – the JR Motorsports cars taking a gamble by staying out. Maxime Martin and the Marc VDS Racing Team were quickest out of the pit and as the cars emerged from the pit lane the Ford GT was in the lead. Young Driver AMR didn’t just lose the lead but into turn 2 Mücke’s car went straight – a problem with the left front wheel resulting in the car to come back into pit and retire. After Westbrook had completed another lap and handed over the car to Peter Dumbreck the Scot tried to get back onto the track in front of Maxime Martin. As he rejoined he was next to the Ford GT, but despite attempts to take the lead it was Martin who pulled in front of the Nissan. By the time the pit window closed the two leaders were well clear of the rest of the pack. With Dumbreck fighting Martin JR Motorsports second car, now driven by Lucas Luhr, passed Enrique Bernoldi for third. Bernoldi’s teammate Brabham was fighting with the Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini #5 and the Hexis AMR Aston #4. The Australian eventually passed both cars – but was still down in eighth with not enough time left to catch up with the sixth placed car. Despite looking for options several times Dumbreck knew it was impossible to pass Martin under normal conditions and realized a second place finish and a decent place on the Championship Race grid would be worth more than a do-or-die action to take the win. The Scot backed down. After 31 laps it was Maxime Martin who secured the first win for Marc VDS Racing Team. Dumbreck finished just 1.476 seconds behind in second with Lucas Luhr taking third at 16.593 seconds from Martin. Hexis AMR take surprise Championship Race win BY MARCEL TEN CAAT ⋅ MARCH 26, 2011 Unlike the first race of the day the entire field made it through turn 1 in the Championship Race. Enrique Bernoldi, Peter Dumbreck and Markus Winkelhock were quick enough to pass Maxime Martin at the start, but four wide into turn 1 didn’t exactly fit. The Lamborghini went just wide, allowing the Ford to move back into third place. Bernoldi took the lead but was unable to get away from Dumbreck and soon Martin and the others were closing in on him again and the top four was within a second of each other. David Brabham, still way down in eleventh place, posted the fastest lap before being given a drive-through penalty. A clear indication that the frontrunners were fighting and losing ground, which was shown on lap 8 when the top 8 was back within five seconds of each other again. After starting from the back of the grid Stefan Mücke made his way up through the field and on lap 10 he made his move on Lucas Luhr for seventh place. The Aston driver went through, but not after causing the Nissan to suffer a puncture. On lap 13 Maxime Martin suddenly moved to the side of the Nissan GT-R of Dumbreck and took over second place. On the next time by Bernoldi and Martin came in for their pit stops, followed in by Piccione (Hexis AMR) and Mücke. In the pit everyone focused on the battle between Marc VDS Racing Team and Sumo Power GT, which ended in the Ford driving into the Nissan on the pit road and causing a puncture to the Nissan that was now driven by Ricardo Zonta. Zontra returned to the pit after doing one lap, while Frederic Makowiecki was able to continue. What most people had missed though was an incredible pit stop by the Hexis AMR team. The team performed its pit stop almost seven seconds quicker than its rivals and sent out the #3 Aston back onto the track well ahead of its rivals. Nicky Pastorelli – who was still out on the track – briefly led the race, but after he had handed over his car to Dominik Schwager the Lamborghini failed to restart and lost time in the pit. Dumbreck had also pitted and when his teammate Westbrook rejoined the race he came back just ahead of Makowiecki. The #41 Ford GT was then given a drive-through for its role in the pit incident and Makowiecki had to come in, ending all hopes of a race win. Marc Basseng moved into third place. At the front Stef Dusseldorp put in some strong lap times just after his pit stop and kept the Hexis AMR #3 Aston in the lead, knowing that the cars behind him had much more experienced drivers onboard. Westbrook did indeed put in some fast lap times but they were not fast enough to really close the gap to the Aston Martin. With just eight minutes left in the race Westbrook had finally closed the gap and was about half a second behind the Dutchman, but closing the gap didn’t automatically mean he was able to pass. Westbrook checked for an opportunity twice, but was unable to pass Dusseldorp. On the last lap the Hexis AMR team knew they would be winning this one and as Dusseldorp crossed the finish line a loud cheer could be heard coming from the pit wall. On only his first FIA GT1 World Championship weekend and his second race Dusseldorp already secured his first victory. Westbrook finished in second place and Basseng took third. and then finally this weekend in Belgium... GT1 Zolder – Free Practice and Pre Qualifying BY MARCEL TEN CAAT ⋅ APRIL 8, 2011 Round 2 of the FIA GT1 World Championship got underway today at Zolder with the Free Practice and Pre Qualifying sessions. Marc VDS Racing Team and All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport were quickest in the two sessions. In the 80 minutes long free practice session the Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT of Frederic Makowiecki set the fastest time on the 4.004m long Belgian circuit. The French driver was the only one to complete a lap around the Zolder in the 1:29s, setting a 1:29.631. Second quickest was the Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DBR9 of Stefan Mücke at 0.448 seconds from Makowiecki, while Ricardo Zonta in the Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R was just 0.002 seconds slower in third. At the end of the session 13 cars were within one second. Several cars made a trip through the gravel or were caught cutting the chicane. The Ford GTs had some brake issues, with smoke coming from the cars when they stopped in the pit – one of the Belgian Racing cars even requiring the fire extinguishers to be used on the left rear wheel. DKR Engineering’s Corvette suffered left side damage when it went off and clipped the tyre wall. After the session the team immediately started work on the car. In Pre Qualifying a few hours later the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV was the fastest car on the track. Dominik Schwager set a 1:28.716, 0.277 seconds quicker than the second placed JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R of Michael Krumm. Tomas Enge finished third in his Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DBR9. A couple of cars hit trouble during the session. Vanina Ickx went into the graveltrap at turn 9, causing a yellow flag in sector one for a couple of minutes. Then it was the Sumo Power GT Nissan #20 that went into the gravel at turn 8 and just ten minutes before the end of the session the Hexis AMR Aston Martin DBR9 #4 stopped at the inside at turn 11, bringing out the third yellow flag of the day. The FIA Stewards issued penalties of a drop of three grid places for the qualifying race for not slowing down under yellow flags to the following cars – · Nr7 Young Driver Aston Martin DB9 · Nr23 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R · Nr11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette Z06 · Nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT · Nr20 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R · Nr38 All-Inkl.com Muennich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV The nr 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT will also have to drop five grid places in the Championship Race due to changing the engine for the third time. Oh Snap! and... GT1: Basseng, Winkelhock Win Qualifying Race German duo give All-Inkl Munnich Motorsport its first FIA GT1 World Championship victory... http://www.gt1world.com | Posted April 09, 2011 Marc Basseng and Marcus Winkelhock in the All-Inkl Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No. 38 took their maiden GT1 win in a thrilling Qualifying Race in Zolder. Second place went to the Exim Bank Team China Corvette No. 11 of Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg, which had been a surprise leader for the first half of the race. (No Corvette leading is a surprise, a-hole...) The Young Driver Aston Martin No. 7 of Tomas Enge and Alex Muller rounded out the podium in third. A dramatic start set the tone for the rest of the race, as the front row starters - the No. 37 All-Inkl Lamborghini and the No. 8 Young Driver AMR - clashed at the first corner - effectively ending both cars challenges. The No. 22 JR Motorsport Nissan GT-R fell victim to the carnage ahead, suffering damage to the rear suspension which ruled it out on the first lap. The first corner carnage caused a major reshuffle in the pack, as Nicky Catsburg in the No. 11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette moved from sixth into the lead by turn two. Second fell to the fast-starting No. 41 Marc VDS Ford GT, which had started from 10th, while third was occupied by eventual race winners Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the No. 38 All Inkl Lamborghini - which had started from 12th. They were joined by Alex Muller and Tomas Enge in the No. 7 Young Driver Aston Martin in a four-way battle for the lead, which reigned until the opening of the pit stop window when the No. 41 Ford was finally able to end Catsburg's impressive resistance in the Corvette and move into the lead. Hexis AMR then came to the fore as they produced yet another scintillating pit stop routine to help the No. 4 Aston Martin of Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini jump into the race lead, as a wheel socket problem befell the No. 41 Ford during its pit stop and dropped it from first to seventh. That left the No. 4 Hexis Aston Martin leading from Hezemans in the No. 11 Corvette and Basseng in the No. 38 Lamborghini, but with 20 minutes of the race remaining the gaps began to close as the trio were covered by less than one second. Hezemans defended doggedly for several laps but was finally unable to resist Basseng's charge as the German moved the No. 38 All-Inkl Murcielago into second through turns two and three, before locking onto the back of the lead No. 4 Hexis Aston Martin DB9. There was still time for late drama however as with four minutes of the race remaining Basseng made light contact with the No. 4 Hexis DB9, which suffered suspension damage and was forced to retire. That left Basseng free to take the chequered flag and with it the All-Inkl squad's maiden GT1 victory. "It's incredible - our first win!," a delighted Basseng said. "I'm sorry to Aston but it was a racing move, really light contact. For us though, our first podium in the last event and now our first win - fantastic!" Hezemans had to defend again in the closing stages but coped admirably to secure second in the Exim Bank Team China's Corvette, with the No. 7 Young Driver Aston Martin DB9 surviving a three-way fight for the line to clinch third. There were several casualties throughout the race, including both Belgian Racing Ford GT cars which clashed on lap nine at the second chicane - the resulting damage ruling out both cars from their home Qualifying Race. (Eat it Ford!) Race two results to follow... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Butt first... "Who are those guys?" The last year of the Z06 (GT1 C6.R) and for round 1 at least we only have 2 cars in the grid instead of 4. Despite taking 2 wins in 2010 the Corvettes endured a poor season – off the track as much as on it. After being fast at round 1 in 2010 the balance of performance adjustments slowed them right down at RD2 – coupled with the loss of 1 of the Phoenix cars in a fire – which didnt return until RD5 at Spa – and then this car was withdrawn ‘at its owners request’ for the rest of the season leaving Phoenix with 1 car and exclusion from scoring points for the rest of the season. The other Corvette team for 2010, Mad Croc Racing was a combination of Corvette teams Selleslagh Racing Team and DKR Engineering which had a mixed season, which apart from the final round at Argentina was a consistent season with points, and running at the best of your abilities when your drivers have more money than talent, and when sponsorship deals fall through leaving you unable to race – as neither Mad Croc car made the track at Argentina. Mad Croc, we'll miss you! Moving onto 2011, Phoenix have gone but Selleslagh (running as Exim Bank Team China) and DKR remain – with for the moment, 1 car apiece. The rules require 4 cars per brand, but it has been said for future rounds that both teams will acquire an extra car – with only 8 C6R Z06′s built and 3 of the remaining 6 being unavailable it will be interesting to see what happens. Longterm Corvette driver Mike Hezemans returns to the Exim car with former Megane trophy driver and fellow Dutchman Nick Catsburg, while GT pairing Michael Rossi and Jaime Camara share the DKR car, with the Exim car having a slightly stronger pairing, but both should mount a challenge. Lets hope there are 4 Corvettes ontrack at some point in 2011 – which only happened at Abu Dhabi,Silverstone and Spa in 2010. and... Zolder Qualifying Race: What the drivers say ... Marc Basseng, All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.38 “It’s just amazing, I can’t believe it. Thank you to the mechanics who did a great job. I have great memories here at Zolder, but I think this is the best yet – the first win in GT1 for All-Inkl. “After I got Mike (Hezemans), which was a nice move, I caught up the gap to the front really quickly. I had a good exit on the back straight, he defended a little so I went on the outside and then he turned into me. I’m sorry for that because his car was damaged but it was not my fault. It’s a shame for the other All-Inkl as well – pole position again and another first corner incident, but now its in our hands to take it a little bit better. The race was great and it’s really nice to win – and hopefully we can have another good result tomorrow!” Markus Winkelhock, All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.38 “I think I was quite lucky to come through from 12th to third in the first corner – I almost couldn’t believe it! The car was pretty good in the beginning, but just before I came into the pit stop I got a bit of oversteer and I almost spun, so I was a bit more careful. It’s a great result for us, thank you to my team and my team-mate – Marc made a great move and that’s the reason we won actually. Two podiums in three races – it’s not a bad start, and I hope it continues like that!” Mike Hezemans, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No. 11 “The car felt okay, but coming out of the pits (Nicky) said ‘No brakes, no brakes’ so when I came out of the pits I put the balance to the back. On the first lap I still had no brakes and the Aston Martin overtook me, so I did a few slow laps and the brakes started coming back. I caught back up, but then the Lamborghini passed me. I really wanted a good finish, and a good starting position for tomorrow, so I’m really happy.” Nicky Catsburg, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No. 11 “I was quite amazed myself with the start – I was so lucky because some drivers went left, some went right and I stuck to the middle and came out first! I was amazed by that, but by the end of my stint I had some problems with my brakes, I kept going deeper and deeper so I couldn’t hold off the Ford any more. We didn’t expect to be here at all though so I’m really happy! The Corvette is quite nice to drive and with Mike I have the best teacher, I just have to listen to him and do what he says!” Tomas Enge, Young Driver Aston Martin Racing No. 7 “I would say I was really lucky in the first corner, because I could see the accident right in front of me and I was nearly caught up in it! I got hit and the steering wheel wasn’t straight anymore so I thought that might be my race, but I kept going and it was clear after the first few laps there was no other damage. I knew we had a pretty fast car and that it was pretty hard to overtake, so we just held position and I think this is a great starting position for tomorrow so thanks to my team-mate and the team.” Alex Muller, Young Driver Aston Martin Racing No. 7 “Tomas said the steering wasn’t straight so we had a bit more understeer, which gave us a bit more degradation in the rears, but as Tomas said it’s a good position for tomorrow going into the Championship Race. The car is fast, so we hope to have a clear start and see what happens.” Karl Wendlinger, Swiss Racing Lamborghini No. 5 “I’m really pleased with the result. We struggled a little at the beginning of my stint with the low tyre pressure but the car was consistent. May one lap more I could have got one place more but we have to focus on the main race tomorrow. The boys were very fast in the pit stop so I’m looking forward to tomorrow as we now have a good starting position. Christian Hohenadel, Hexis Aston Martin No.4 “We had a great pace at the start and it was going well. As for the incident (with the No.38 Lamborghini), my tyres were worn so I tried to stay on the inside at the braking point at the last chicane. He came up quite fast and I couldn’t just disappear. It was a real shame. I made contact and the suspension broke. It was a strong move but that’s racing I guess.” Vanina Ickx, Belgian Racing Ford GT No.9 “I am not that disappointed. We came from back in the field (17th). Yesterday I was not confident in the car but didn’t have the chance to get my marks. Today we gambled on the set-up and it was a good gamble because it took only a few laps for me to get into a good rhythm. I avoided the crashes early on and I was running 11th until the crash (a collision with the sister Belgian Racing car) which which was a disappointment of course but it’s important to have a good feeling in the car. I am feeling much better about tomorrow. It’s always difficult to talk about expectations when you are dropped in a new championship with a new. Yesterday I talked with (Laurence Hanssen, team manager) and she said we could aim for the top 10 and I didn’t believe her but it was close. Tomorrow, we have the confidence to try for that.” Maxime Martin, Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 “We had quite a lot of luck at the start from 10th position. Mako (Fred Makowiecki) did a really good job – he was first at the end of his stint. We had a problem at the pit stop, something broke with the gun so we lost 12 seconds. But anyway, we still finished fifth so we scored some points. I think we had the pace to win but the most important race is tomorrow. The object is to make a good start, stay out of the mess at the first corner and get a good result. For sure we have a good car.” Frederic Makowiecki, Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 “After a good start, I pushed until I could see a chance to take the lead and it was going well. But then we had a problem in the pit stop. We re-joined in seventh place so it was disappointing to lose all those places. We just have to do better tomorrow.” Marc Hennerici, Marc VDS Ford GT No.40 “Another disappointing day. Bas (Leinders) had little chance when he got caught up in the trouble at the start and the suspension broke. That’s motorsport I guess. This is the worst start to a season in my whole career but we just have to stick together and get through it. I’m sure we are going to be back at the top of the grid. We are going to be back.” Martin Matzke, Belgian Racing Ford GT No.10 “It was a racing incident, I don’t think it was anyone’s fault. It was a mistake on both sides.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I can't believe I just read all of that.. and still can't believe those guys are ok with the stupid moves that wipes out 3 cars in the first corner. Keep the updates coming, if the rest of the season is anything like the race in the sandbox, this might get good! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted April 10, 2011 Author Share Posted April 10, 2011 Exactly, the four-wide-into-turn-1 first laps are always entertaining... BTW, here's the vid of yesterday's race finish showing the Aston break after a Lambo lovetap: Linkski GT1: All-Inkl Lambo Sweeps Weekend At Zolder Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock take Championship Racing victory, GT1 World Championship point lead... Posted April 10, 2011 Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock completed a dominant weekend in Zolder, romping to a comprehensive Championship Race victory in their All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.38 - a day after collecting the team's first GT1 win in the Qualifying Race. It was an impressive performance from the German duo who led from pole and crossed the line over nine seconds ahead at the flag, capturing the lead in the Drivers' Standings in the process. Second was the Aston Martin No.4 of Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini who again benefitted from some slick work from the Hexis crew in the pit stop. Third place went to the Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 of Alex Muller and Tomas Enge with the Swiss Racing Lamborghini No.5 of Karl Wendlinger and Peter Kox pipping the Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 of Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg at the line to clinch fourth. A torrid start saw a collision between the two Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-Rs which was triggered by the DKR Engineering Corvette No.47. In fact it was a trying day for the Nissan quartet with only the No.23 JRM car finishing the race. The No.37 Lamborghini of Dominik Schwager and Nicky Pastorelli, which had set pole in Abu Dhabi, was also an early casualty, while the No. 6 Lamborghini of Jiri Janak and Max Nilsson wasn't able to start the race due to an oil pump problem. As the field came through the first lap it was the No. 38 Lamborghini in the lead from the No. 11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette of Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg. The field remained tightly bunched however with less than four seconds covering the top eight after five laps, and the order condensed further three laps later when the Safety Car came out. Peter Dumbreck had dived down the inside of the No.40 Marc VDS Ford GT and looked to have the line, but spun as the Ford refused to cede ground and was collected by the helpless No. 9 Belgian Racing Ford GT - the resulting damage causing a lengthy Safety Car spell. With the race resuming just one lap before the pit lane window opened, pit stops were crucial and Hexis again pulled off a superb stop to help the No. 4 Aston Martin of Andrea Piccini and Christian Hohenadel vault from ninth to second. All-Inkl matched Hexis' superb 49-second stop however, and the No. 38 Murcielago emerged with a healthy lead which it proceeded to build in the closing stages, eventually coming nine seconds clear to give the team its second consecutive victory in Zolder. The No.11 Corvette had been second after the pit stops but was picked off firstly by the No.4 Hexis car and then by its sister No.7 Young Driver Aston Martin - with the two DB9s rounding out the podium. The Corvette tried to respond and exerted huge pressure on the Aston, only to fade badly in the closing stages and fall into the clutches of the No. 5 Swiss Racing Lamborghini - which claimed fourth on the run down to the chequered flag, 0.025s ahead of Catsburg in the Corvette. Hexis' No. 3 DB9 claimed sixth ahead of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke in the No.8 Young Driver Aston Martin, which had to work extremely hard to keep the No.41 Marc VDS Ford GT of Frederic Makowiecki and Maxime Martin at bay. Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr were the top Nissan pairing in the No.23 JRM GT in ninth, with the No. 40 and No.10 Ford GTs rounding out the finishers. Coming out of Zolder, Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock lead the Drivers' Standings on 49 points ahead of Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione on 36 points, while the Hexis Aston Martin squad lead All-Inkl in the Team's Standings by 66 points to 49. GT1 next heads to Portimao, Portugal, in four weekends' time for the third round of the 2011 championship. DKR placed in 13th or something after some carnage, maybe they'll avoid contact better in later rounds... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bigfoot Posted April 10, 2011 Share Posted April 10, 2011 I don't know, I just have trouble with a Communist themed/looking Corvette. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 I don't know, I just have trouble with a Communist themed/looking Corvette. It's a chinese bank sponsorship on a car racing in a world wide series, they're not pushing teens to be Commies, attacking democracy or you in particular Sean. However, Zonta and his Nissan should be banned for this crash at the start that took out not only teh DKR vette, but his own freaking teammate in another Nissan. Dood, you can't just start swerving when you're three wide at WOT. Zolder Race 2 start Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted April 11, 2011 Author Share Posted April 11, 2011 This interview with veteran racer Hezemans reveals the vettes are still overweight and over-restricted from last year! FIA GT1 2011: Mike Hezemans Interview Mike, you are back in GT1 again this year. How did the decision come about to return with Corvette? I received a call about 10 days before the first race with a good deal, so I thought "why not?". I also know team owner Patrick Selleslagh very good. He always does a good job with the Corvette. How is the Corvette GT1 since you last drove it in terms of performance and driveability? Well, the car is basically the same, but our problem is just that the other cars have got less restrictions. We now have the heaviest car on the grid with the smallest restrictors. Mike, will you be racing for the full season? or will this be a race by race approach? This season for me, depends on the Balance Of Performance that is conducted by the FIA. Otherwise it does not make sense to continue. How are you getting along with your new teammate? Is he adapting well in the team after the start of the season? Nick is adapting very well in the team. Before the start of the season, I asked the team if it was possible to drive with him. He is not very known. but is very fast. Which race on the calendar are you looking forward to racing the most this season? My favorite track on the calendar would have to be Argentina. I always love racing at this track. Will you be racing in any other series this season? I will be racing in this years 24 Hours Spa in the Blancpain Endurance Series. I will be in a GT3 Mercedes SLS with my old teammate Bert Longin and Vincent Radermecker. Your performance at the two races in Zolder seemed to surprise many, what do you think of the competition this year? It’s a pity that we lost one place in the pit stop because I think we could have been as high as third today. We know that with the Corvettes there is so much rear tyre wear in the last five or six minutes so it is a struggle for us. The racing is very competitive just the two All-Inkl cars seem to be a bit ahead at the moment but I’m happy with the car, the team is coming together and it’s going well so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Desertdawg Posted April 12, 2011 Share Posted April 12, 2011 This is getting good, turn 1 fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 5, 2011 Author Share Posted May 5, 2011 Ahh...the south of Portugal. Um...Never been there. Meh. GT1: Portimao Preview FIA GT1 World Championship gears up for Portuguese showdown at Portimao... FIA GT1 World Championship | http://www.gt1world.com | Posted May 04, 2011 This weekend the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship travels to the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve for the second time. The 4.7km circuit has become a firm favorite with the teams and drivers due to the exciting nature of the track that allows plenty of overtaking opportunities. In 2010 victory in the Championship Race went to eventual World Champions Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini, while the honours in the earlier Qualifying Race went to the Nissan GTR and Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck. However the drive of the weekend went to Richard Westbrook, who stormed though the field in the Ford GT to secure a 5th and 2nd place alongside teammate Thomas Mutsch. This year Dumbreck is joined by Westbrook at JR Motorsport, while Krumm is partnered by fellow German Lucas Luhr in the second JRM Nissan. Five manufacturers are represented on the GT1 grid this season, Aston Martin, Corvette, Ford, Lamborghini and Nissan, with two teams of two cars for each marquee. The performance of the cars is balanced by the FIA to ensure close, action packed racing for each of the 60-minute races. Aston Martin is represented by French team Hexis AMR and German team Young Driver AMR. The Hexis team travel to Portugal as leaders in Team Championship thanks to Clivio Piccione and Stef Dusseldorp’s victory at Yas Marina and a podium finish by the second car of Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini in Belgium. The Young Driver team scored valuable points in Zolder with Tomas Enge / Alex Müller taking two 3rd places and with Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner also scoring points, Young Driver AMR are currently third in the Team Championship. The Corvette teams consist of Exim Bank Team China and DKR Engineering. Dutch pairing of Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg had a strong showing in the opening round and followed this up with a second place finish in the Qualifying Race and a fighting 5th in the Championship Race. The DKR Engineering Corvette of Jaime Camara and Michael Rossi haven’t yet scored any points due to accidents in Abu Dhabi and at Zolder, they will be hoping for a change of fortune in Portugal. Both Ford teams are based in Belgium, with the Marc VDS Racing Team having a very bumpy ride in Abu Dhabi with engine issues causing sleepless nights for the mechanics as they struggled to find the problem. However they had the consolation when their hard work put Maxime Martin and Frederic Makowiecki in a race winning position in the Qualifying Race. They then followed up with two points scoring finishes in Belgium. The Belgian Racing team is new to GT1 World this year and their two cars run in the black, red and yellow national colours. The Lamborghini Murcielago won three times in 2010 in the hands of the Reiter team. In 2011 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport is joined by Swiss Racing, who switch to the Italian manufacturer from the Nissans they ran last season. All-Inkl’s Marc Basseng and Marcus Winklehock scored a very welcome podium in the Championship Race in Yas Marina and then dominated in Zolder with two race wins. However the No. 38 Lamborghini will be carry 50kg of success ballast as a result and the team will have to work hard to overcome the extra weight in the Algarve. The Swiss Racing team boasts the services of the highly experienced Karl Wendlinger and Peter Kox had their best ever GT1 World Championship finish by finishing 4th in Belgium and will be aiming to improve this weekend and take their first step onto the podium. The two Nissan teams have two highly experienced driver line ups. 2010 team Sumo Power GT are joined by JR Motorsports this season running the Nissan GT-R. JR Motorsports had a very successful first weekend in Abu Dhabi with three top 3 finishes but a mixture of bad luck and technical problems saw them flounder in Belgium. British duo Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck have teamed up this year and both tasted success here in the Algarve last season and they will be looking to repeat the experience this weekend. Germany’s Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr were a fighting third in the qualifying race in Yas Marina and was the only Nissan to score points in Belgium last time out. Sumo Power’s driver line up has former F1 drivers, a Le Mans 24 Hour winner and two former FIA GT Champions. 2010 race winners Enrique Bernoldi and Ricardo Zonta have been paired in an all Brazilian line up but their race in Zolder was wrecked at the start when they and fellow Sumo Power team mates, Australia’s David Brabham and Britain’s Jamie Campbell-Walter, were caught up in a startline accident that eliminated both cars. Sumo Power will be hoping for a return to form this weekend. Standard preview blurbage. But teh extra weight on teh Lambo is nice... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 8, 2011 Author Share Posted May 8, 2011 The carnage resumes... Nissan fills Portimao podium Saturday, May 7th 2011 Nissan swept the podium positions in the GT1 World Championship qualifying race at Portimao, with the JR Motorsports cars of Peter Dumbreck/Richard Westbrook and Lucas Luhr/Michael Krumm finishing first and second ahead of the Jamie Campbell-Walter/David Brabham Sumo Power machine. The Nissan crews had filled the first two rows after qualifying, but the second Sumo Power car was spun to the back of the field at the first corner when Ricardo Zonta was tagged by the fast-starting Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini of Peter Kox. The Dutchman was then among the victims in a multi-car pile-up at Turn 4 that saw both the Swiss Lamborghini and Stef Dusseldorp's Hexis Aston Martin pushed into separate spins, and Alex Muller's Young Driver Aston briefly up on two wheels in the resultant traffic jam. Those collisions allowed the top three Nissans to break away, and for several other cars to make dramatic first-lap progress, with the Exim China Corvette, #38 All-Inkl Lamborghini, #8 Young Driver Aston and #37 All-Inkl Lamborghini immediately up to fourth through seventh places from 11th, 12th, 14th and 18th on the grid. Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner made the best progress to get their Aston up to fourth, while the Nicky Pastorelli/Dominik Schwager Lamborghini reached fifth by lap 10, but by then the lead Nissans were totally out of reach. The Luhr/Krumm car jumped Dumbreck and Westbrook for the lead in the pitstops - coming in one lap earlier paying dividends for the #23 crew. But within a few laps Westbrook was diving down the inside into Turn 1 to reclaim a lead that he would hold to the flag, despite mounting pressure from Luhr in the closing corners. Campbell-Walter and Brabham completed the podium ahead of the #8 Young Driver Aston and #37 All-Inkl Lamborghini. Marc VDS' Yann Clairay and Maxime Martin were sixth in the leading Ford, with championship leaders Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock only seventh in the end. Zonta and Enrique Bernoldi recovered to eighth in the other Nissan, two places ahead of Kox and team-mate Karl Wendlinger. The Nicky Catsburg/Mike Hezemans Exim China Corvette slipped back to ninth. Results - 34 laps: Pos Drivers Team/Car Time/Gap 1. Westbrook/Dumbreck JR Nissan 1h00m04.931s 2. Luhr/Krumm JR Nissan + 0.388s 3. Campbell-Walter/Brabham Sumo Power Nissan + 11.239s 4. Mucke/Turner Young Driver Aston + 16.218s 5. Pastorelli/Schwager All-Inkl Lamborghini + 25.994s 6. Clairay/Martin Marc VDS Ford + 32.599s 7. Winkelhock/Basseng All-Inkl Lamborghini + 39.688s 8. Bernoldi/Zonta Sumo Power Nissan + 40.999s 9. Hezemans/Catsburg Exim China Corvette + 45.470s 10. Wendlinger/Kox Swiss Lamborghini + 1m00.389s 11. Hohenadel/Piccini Hexis Aston + 1m01.718s 12. Nilsson/Janak Swiss Lamborghini + 1m10.533s 13. Piccione/Dusseldorp Hexis Aston + 1m14.432s 14. Nygaard/Ickx Belgian Ford + 1m20.638s 15. Bobbi/Rossi DKR Corvette + 1m33.815s 16. Matzke/Leclerc Belgian Ford + 1 lap Retirements: Hennerici/Leinders Marc VDS Ford 20 laps Muller/Enge Young Driver Aston 0 laps Teh video highlights! Stoopid Nissans. I declare a penalty weight of 100kg before the next round! :armed: Still just the one vette per team when the rules mandate 2 cars per team...at some point they either have to score two of the remaining GT1 spec C6.Rs, or the FIA is gonna pull the plug. And they love pulling plugs in France. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 9, 2011 Author Share Posted May 9, 2011 Portimao Qualifying Race: What the drivers say ... Richard Westbrook, JRM Nissan GT-R No.22 “I just want to thank my team-mate and everyone at Nissan and JRM - it’s one hell of an achievement to have three cars on the podium. There is a lot of hard work that has gone into this, and while this track is good for us it’s so important we make the most of it. “Well done to these boys and their crew (the No.23 JRM team), they did a good stop and beat us in the pit lane. It’s so close with all of us that a quick pit stop can change everything. I felt like I had a better car than Lucas (Luhr) in the first few laps though, I could see him struggling particularly in the last corner so I thought ‘here’s my chance’, went for it and got the lead. Sure enough he came back at me later and had the legs on me, and it wasn’t easy in the last few laps. You can definitely overtake here, so the race tomorrow is wide open - we have some improvements to make and we have better tyres so we’re looking forward to it.” Peter Dumbreck, JRM Nissan GT-R No.22 “My start wasn’t the best ever, I think I was a bit preoccupied with avoiding the marbles on the last corner. Ricardo (Zonta) got the jump on me a little bit, but I took him on the brakes into the first corner and then I saw him get tagged in my mirrors. It turned out to be a good thing for me because it got me nice clean air, so I got my head down and pushed. I saw Michael (Krumm) coming, so from there it was just a case of trying to control the race, not let Michael get too close to me and just trying to do my job getting ready to hand over to Richard. “The pit stops were still to come and I was pretty happy with my pace, so I wasn’t too worried that Michael might do something crazy. He stayed with me and we gradually just pulled away from the others. I would have liked to be in one lap earlier (to the pits), but with how the race panned out Richard was struggling with the tyres towards the end so it was actually perfectly played. The No.23 car jumped us in the pits but luckily Richard is a good driver and could pass him back again. I don’t think I would have done it, but fair play to him – a perfect move.” Michael Krumm, JRM Nissan GT-R No.23 “I think Peter (Dumbreck) didn’t get away very well, so I went to the left and I saw Peter Kox I think on the inside and I was expecting an accident already. I just took it easy, went to the outside and was really careful, and I think (Ricardo) Zonta was spun and I was lucky to avoid that accident. I found myself in P2 which was great, and from there on the race was pretty easy – the target was just to stay as close to Peter as possible and that’s what I did. Three Nissans on the podium – it’s absolutely fantastic.” Lucas Luhr, JRM Nissan GT-R No.23 “First of all, our guys did a great pit stop and as I came down the main straight I saw Richard (Westbrook) coming out of the pit lane. On my out lap I already was struggling with front grip, and I was struggling a lot in the last corners. I saw Richard coming, he had a huge run on me out of the last corner and he dived down the inside – I could have closed it a little bit but at the end we are team-mates and it’s important we have a good result for Nissan. "Also I didn’t have the weapons to fight at that time so I thought maybe I could come back later. I did, but it was a really good move by Richard into turn one and it was fair, so it was clear from my side not to do anything stupid. The big points come tomorrow however and we have some improvements to make to our car. Hopefully all three cars can be back tomorrow for the Championship Race – that would be really great for Nissan.” David Brabham, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21 “A bit like Peter (Dumbreck), I didn’t make a great start and had two guys either side of me. The Lamborghini on my right was a bit of a danger and I think it made contact with Ricardo (Zonta) which was a shame for those guys. I managed to avoid the accident, and then it was a case of trying to hang on to the JRM guys which I managed for a few laps, and then I was struggling for grip and losing three or four tenths and it got worse. Then it was a case of trying to hang on and just hand over to Jamie (Campbell-Walter). The guys to our left (JRM) did a cracking job all weekend and we know that we will have a very strong race tomorrow.” Jamie Campbell-Walter, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21 “If we look back to Zolder we had two DNFs, so Sumo Power team were pretty down in the dumps. To bounce back and have three cars on the podium is absolutely fantastic, not only for Sumo Power but also for JRM and Nissan. All credit to them, the Sumo guys have had a hard three weeks since Zolder to repair the cars and we’ve had a few little problems here from knock-on effects, so to be third is fantastic – well done to everybody in the whole team really. "We had a great pit stop actually, it’s something I think all four crews have improved on massively, but unfortunately because Brabs was so up the road compared to some of the other cars that came in we lost maybe two or three seconds when I had to stop for the Lamborghini coming in. We definitely have to make some little improvements to our car tomorrow, these guys were a little bit quicker, but we’ll nibble away at it and hopefully have a good result and be here tomorrow.” Stefan Mucke, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 "Today was the maximum we could do - fourth place behind the Nissans. They look much too strong as do the Lambos from the lap times. Our tyres lasted and our lap times were very consistent which is important and good to know for tomorrow. "I am looking forward to tomorrow but I don't think we have a realistic to get a podium position unless something happens up front. Again today there were a few accidents at the first couple of corners so we have to stay out of trouble tomorrow for the first few laps and try for a consistent race and some decent points." Dominik Schwager, All-Inkl Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.37 "I guess we have to be happy that we finished the race but bad luck still hangs around our car. Even if we had qualified better and started from the front row the best we could have done was fourth or fifth. Our target for sure tomorrow is a podium but it will be difficult. To pass a Nissan here is tough. Even if you can manage it, the difference in straight-line speed will make it difficult to stay in front. "We know where could be, we have good pace in the car. It's the first time we brought the car home which is a positive start, so let's hope we can now build from that." Nicky Catsburg, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 "The start was quite lucky. But after that the guys around me were too quick so I had to push too much so in the end my tyres were gone, especially the rears. Mike (Hezemans) did a good stint to do not a really fast time in the beginning but still doing the same time in the end. I can learn from that because normally I am a bit more rough on the tyres. "We are going to try some changes in the warm-up so maybe we can fight for fifth, sixth seventh tomorrow. I was also going to do GT3 today but my team-mate crashed the car in Qualifying so no more GT3 for me this weekend." Yann Clairay, Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 "The race was not too bad for comeback to GT1. I don't know the car too well. Maxime did a good job and I was happy with my stint. It is a good position for tomorrow and maybe we can go one or two places better in the Championship Race. It seems like here you have the Nissan race and all the other cars in their own race." Teh pix, including some pit babes, are posted under 2011, Rd 3 Algarve, duh: GT1 picture gallery -and then teh "Championship" race: GT1: Luhr, Krumm Win Portimao Championship Race Nissan caps off dominating weekend with Championship Race win at Portimao... FIA GT1 World Championship http://www.gt1world.com Posted May 08, 2011 Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm made it a double success for Nissan with victory in the Championship Race at Portimao. Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner in the Young Driver Aston Martin No. 8 got the better of an absorbing battle for second place from the Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No. 21 of Jamie Campbell-Walter and David Brabham. There was bitter disappointment for the Qualifying Race winners and pole sitters Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck in the JRM Nissan GT-R No. 22. Having led the race by as much as six seconds in the hands of Algarve specialist Westbrook, the car developed a gearbox problem when in the lead following the pit stops and was forced to retire with 12 minutes remaining. “Our boys did a great job at the pit stop which allowed Michael (Krumm) to come out of the pits one and half seconds behind Peter," said Luhr, who claimed his first FIA GT1 World Championship victory. "Obviously our sister car had a problem at the end but that’s the way racing is, sometimes you are lucky, sometimes you are unlucky. With the 1-2-3 yesterday, it has been a good weekend for us.” In the post race technical checks the minimum weight of the front upper wishbones of the No. 23 and No. 21 Nissans were found not in compliance with the homologation form. Uh-oh. After a hearing the FIA Stewards accepted that the homologation form contains a formal mistake and decided to impose a fine of 5000 Euros for each car and an obligation to correct the homologation form before the next event (Stewards Decisions 13 and 14). WTF, that's it? Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock finished 6th and lead the Driver’s Championship with 57 points, 20 points ahead of Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr and Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke, who are all tied on 37 points. Hexis AMR lead the Team Championship with 73 points, just one point ahead of JR Motorsports and All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport, who both have 72 points. The next round of the FIA GT1 World Championship will take place in Germany at the Sachsenring on May 13-15. Exim finished 9th, DKR back in 14th. Full results posted: HERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 12, 2011 Author Share Posted May 12, 2011 Here's the entire Championship Race from Portimao: Video -and- News out heading into the weekend in Germany.... Matech File For Bankruptcy It is fair to say that it hasn’t been a good month for Matech. Last month their founder, Martin Bartek, passed away unexpectedly at the tender age of just 44. This month, to add insult to injury, the Geneva based concepts company have had to declare bankruptcy – if the twitter murmurs are anything to go by. Matech currently partners with Ford Racing to develop the Ford GT sports car for competition, and constructs the FIA GT1 and GT3 versions of the GT. GT Racing drive Bas Leinders tweeted earlier today that “Matech has filed for bankrupcy, we cannot get any new parts for our car at the moment, a struggle…” – it looks like unless they are careful, this years performance (and the least) could be severely marred by this development. He went on to say, understandably, that “We need to be very cautious and careful, if we want the GT1 World to continue this year and next, we can definitely use some help.” Not to be confused with Doran, who builds the Ford GT's for ALMS team Roberstson Racing. -And lastly, teh preview, Nissans/Lambos did gain weight... Home advantage for Lamborghini duo The championship makes a maiden visit to the Sachsenring for the fourth round of the series this weekend. The challenging 3.7km circuit will provide a spectacular setting for the battle of the brands. For a number of teams and drivers it is a step into the unknown. The German contingent on the entry list, will hope to benefit from being on home soil. Young Driver AMR and All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport, as well as nine German drivers feature, including Alex Muller, Christian Hohenadel, Michael Krumm, Marc Basseng, Markus Winkelhock, Stefan Mucke, Marc Hennerici, Dominik Schwager and Lucas Luhr. In Zolder for round two the Saxony team of All-Inkl Lamborghini was the dominant force. The No.37 Lamborghini of Schwager and Nicky Pastorelli secured the team's second pole position in two races but it was the No.38 car of Basseng and Winkelhock which took the chequered flag in both races, to leave Belgium with maximum points and the lead of the driver’s championship. Basseng and Marcus Winklehock have scored three podiums in the first four races, however the No.38 had to carry 50kg of success ballast in Portugal. Despite the handicap, they still managed to score points and are lying 20 points ahead of their nearest rivals in the drivers' championship. The team are based not far from the Sachsenring in Friedersdorf and will be aiming for the top step of the podium once again at their home track. In round three at Portimao, the Nissans were the class of the field. The JR Motorsport duo of Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck led their team-mates Krumm and Luhr for a team 1-2 in the Qualifying Race. Jamie Campbell-Walter and David Brabham, in the Sumo Power Nissan, finished in third to give the Japanese manufacturer the first ever 1-2-3 in the championship. In the Championship Race, Dumbreck retired after the pit stops but Krumm took the chequered flag to complete a dominant weekend for Nissan. The French team Hexis AMR travelled to the Portuguese round as leaders in teams' championship courtesy of a win for the No.3 car of Clivio Piccione and Stef Dusseldorp in Abu Dhabi and a podium finish by the second car of Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini in Belgium. Hexis came away from Portimao with the lead intact but the margin reduced to one point to All-Inkl and JRM. Fellow Aston Martin outfit Young Driver AMR scored valuable points in Zolder with Tomas Enge and Alex Muller taking two third places. Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke took a hard-fought second place in the Championship Race in Portugal, the only top three finish for a car other than a Nissan. The Dutch pairing of Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg in the Exim Bank Team China Corvette had a strong showing in the opening round and followed this up with a second place finish in the Qualifying Race and fifth place in the Championship Race. The No.11 car scored a second place in the Qualifying Race in Zolder and was inside top 10 pace at the Algarve. Matteo Bobbi has replaced Jaime Camara in the DKR Engineering Corvette but he or Michael Rossi have yet to score and the Luxembourg team will be hoping for better luck in Germany. As for the Ford teams, the positives in a difficult season have been the Qualifying Race win for Maxime Martin and Frederic Makowiecki in Abu Dhabi, despite engine problems with both cars, and two points finishes at the team's home race in Zolder. There was another mixed weekend in Portimao with 10th place in the Championship Race for Bas Leinders and Marc Hennerici in the No.40 and a lowly 15th for the sister car of Martin and Yann Clairay. Belgian Racing, the Ford GT stablemates of Marc VDS, new to GT1 this year, have had a trying introduction to the series. At Sachsenring, the Belgian national flag of the team will be flown by Vanina Ickx and Christoffer Nygaard in the No.9 and Yann Clairay and Antoine Leclerc in the No.10. The Swiss Racing Lamborghini team boasts the services of the experienced pairing of Karl Wendlinger and Peter Kox, who had their best championship finish in Zolder, where they finished fourth, followed with a fifth in Portugal. There are some driver changes for Sachsenring with Clairay moving from the Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 he drove in Algarve to replace Martin Matzke in the Belgian Racing No.10 car. Meanwhile, Warren Hughes replaces Ricardo Zonta in the No.20 Sumo Power Nissan GT-R. There has also been some adjustments to the Balance of Performance weights with the Nissan GT-R receiving an additional 15kgs and the Ford GT getting a reduction of 10kgs. In terms of success ballast, the following applies for Sachsenring ... Success Ballast Nr Team Total for R4 8 Young Driver AMR 20 kg 21 Sumo Power GT 10 kg 23 JR Motorsports 35 kg 37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 5 kg 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 45 kg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 13, 2011 Author Share Posted May 13, 2011 Huh, the bankrupt Fords found some speed, but the Exim Vette did too... Ford tops the charts in Free Practice Ford took the upper hand in the battle of the brands at Sachsenring by topping the time sheets in Free Practice. The Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 of Maxime Martin and Fred Makowiecki led the way with a time of 1:19.846 around the tight, twisty Saxony circuit. Second fastest was the sister car of Marc Hennerici and Bas Leinders with 1:19.977 and third quickest was the Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 of Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg in 1:20.116. The winners of the Championship Race last time out in Portimao, the JRM Nissan GT-R No.23 of Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr were fourth in 1:20.164. The drivers' championsip leaders Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini, handicapped by 45kg of success ballast, struggled at the foot of the table with a time of 1:22.055. -and- Ford stays ahead of the pack Ford maintained their dominance of the fourth round of the championship at Sachsenring by staying ahead of the pack in Pre-Qualifying. As in this morning's Free Practice, it was the Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 of Maxime Martin and Fred Makowiecki which posted the fastest time of 1:19.468. Second fastest was the Exim Bank Team China Corvette of Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg with a best time of 1:19.50. Third in the pecking order was the second Marc VDS Ford GT of Bas Leinders and Marc Hennerici in 1:19.680. The action turns serious tomorrow with the Qualifying session starting at 09:10 am local time. -and- Sachsenring Pre-Qualifying: What the drivers say ... Frederic Makowiecki, Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 “We are really quick on this track, but we need to wait until Qualifying to find the proper performance of every car. Nissan and Lamborghini are very quick in Qualifying. It’s really important on this track to start on the front, so starting on the front is a priority. I’m happy to racing here with Maxime (Martin), and I think pole position and victory are possible – why not?” Maxime Martin, Marc VDS Ford GT No.41 “It’s better here than Portimao for sure. We have to see tomorrow how Qualifying turns out, because we don’t know who is doing what, what strategies they are on. We will see but we are quite confident for tomorrow. It’s also nice to have Frederic (Makowiecki) back – we are friends and we have the same driving style, which gives the car and the team a good balance.” Mike Hezemans, Exim Bank Team China No.11 “The car is good for the circuit, and we have 20kg less so now I hope we are looking good. We didn’t try for lap time, we just really concentrated on set-up for Qualifying because we desperately want to get into Q3. We have less weight and hopefully that will make it better for us in Qualifying and the race.” Alex Muller, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “We are thinking positive for the race, and I think we have a good set-up for it. For Qualifying tomorrow I don’t think our performance will be as great, but we will see tomorrow morning. I think the top six in Qualifying will be possible, and with a nice clean start and a good pit stop we hope to be in the points - maybe even a podium, which would be great. We look in good shape, but you need good traction around here and the Ford in particular looks very strong.” Tomas Enge, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “This is a completely different track to Portimao, and we will definitely be fighting further up the field. I think realistically we are looking for P5 – both Marc VDS cars look really strong and the Corvette looks good as well. We feel positive, but I think the midfield differences in Qualifying will be really small and every tenth of a second will count – it could make all the difference. We are definitely more positive than we were in Portugal, but Qualifying and pit stops will be crucial so we will see how tomorrow works out.” Karl Wendlinger, Swiss Racing Lamborghini No.5 “First of all I was here once but it was more than ten years ago, so I had to get used to the track. It’s an exciting circuit, you have to find the right line, find the right set-up and everything. I think we’ve made good progress so far, so I’m happy, especially with our performance in Pre-Qualifying. It’s difficult to say what we are capable of, but I think we showed well in Portimao and this track should suit our car even better. Anything can happen, the weekend can be over after one corner, but I hope we can improve the performance a little bit and have a strong result.” Warren Hughes, Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R No.20 “It’s great to be back. I’m here to do anything I can do to help the Sumo Power effort. That’s very much at the forefront of our minds. JRM have had the lion’s share of the Nissan glory so far and I’d like to do my bit to change that.” BTW, Sachsenring is a great track, I always enjoy the Moto GP races there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 Lamborghini promoted to pole in Sachsenring The No.37 All-Inkl Lamborghini took its third pole position of 2011 in the Sachsenring, although only after the No.11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette had its times discounted for an infringement during qualifying. Schwager, who is paired with Nicky Pastorelli, placed second in the times in Q3 by with a lap time of 1m18.714s, but was promoted to the top spot when Mike Hezemans lost his best time in the Selleslagh-run Team China Chevrolet after he returned to the track after stopping at his pit, which is prohibited in Q3. The decision means team-mate Nicky Catsburg will start this afternoon's qualifying race from seventh position. The two cars had been locked in a battle for the front row, with the Corvette eventually emerging fastest, just 0.059s ahead of the Lamborghini. That's right, a used C6.R....fastest. However the No.11 machine then had its best times discounted, dropping to the bottom of the pile in Q3 - with the No.37 Lamborghini inheriting pole position as a result. Boo. Second went to the No.3 Hexis Aston Martin of Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione, with the sister No.8 Young Driver DB9 of Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner rounding out the top three. The tricky Sachsenring circuit caught several drivers out during Qualifying, and both Q1 and Q2 were split by red flags as the No.41 and No.10 Fords respectively spun into the gravel and had to be rescued. The No.41 Ford had set the pace in Practice, Pre-Qualifying and Q1 before its spin, from which it was not able to continue. Three Nissans once again made it into Q3, with Warren Hughes enjoying an ideal return as he and Enrique Bernoldi put the No.20 Sumo Power GT fourth. The highest Ford was the No.40 Marc VDS of Bas Leinders and Marc Hennerici - with its sister No.41 GT and both Belgian Racing Fords ending their session in the gravel. The No.38 All-Inkl Lamborghini was the biggest casualty in Q1 meanwhile, as Markus Winkelhock and Marc Basseng - currently leading by 20 points in the Drivers' Standings - missed out by just eight thousandths of a second. -and then- Ford fly to Qualifying Race victory Frederic Makowiecki and Maxime Martin claimed an emphatic victory in the Qualifying Race in Germany, storming from 14th on the grid to a winning margin of more than seven seconds. That owed much to a remarkable opening stint from Makowiecki, who passed a succession of cars to sit fifth as the pit stop window opened. The team then elected to stay out for a long first stint, and Makowiecki's pace - coupled with a rapid stop - allowed the team to just jump the No.3 Hexis Aston Martin of Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione for the lead. The Aston itself had benefited from a fantastic stop, but came out moments behind Maxime Martin in the Ford and, after one lap of heavy pressure, gradually lost ground to finish second. Third was eventually claimed by Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner in the No.8 Young Driver Aston Martin, with Mucke passing series returnee Warren Hughes in the No.20 Sumo Power Nissan GT minutes before the chequered flag fell. Makowiecki and Martin's win was a welcome respite in an otherwise unfortunate race for the marque, which saw the No.40 Marc VDS and the No.9 Belgian Racing GTs ruled out in an opening lap incident also involving the second No.10 Belgian Racing car. The collision brought out a safety car for the opening four laps, with the No.37 Lamborghini leading the No.3 Hexis and No.8 Young Driver Aston Martins when the green flag restarted the race. As Makowiecki worked his way through the order, the top three stayed the same and all three cars pitted at the first opportunity. Hexis once again excelled, the No.3 jumping into the lead, but the No.37 All-Inkl Lamborghini lost critical time and eventually dropped down to ninth as a result. It fought back to sixth, before a late spin dropped it once place to seventh. The No.8 Aston Martin of Turner and Mucke meanwhile lost one place during their pit stop and fell to fourth, only to clinch the final step of the podium in the final minutes as they passed the No.20 Nissan Sumo Power GT of Warren Hughes and Enrique Bernoldi. Several drivers were caught out by the tricky, undulating Sachsenring circuit, including the No.11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette which spun out of the race on lap five as Nicky Catsburg vied with the No.23 Nissan JRM for seventh place. More weight for the Lambo then! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 14, 2011 Author Share Posted May 14, 2011 Work sucks. But posting random FIA GT1 pix from last week and this weekend sure kills the time...notice the DKR vette, now less red, more murdered out (my son says). Not that it makes them any faster.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 15, 2011 Author Share Posted May 15, 2011 Here's the highlight reel from yesterday showing the Exim Vette spin...Qualifying Race highlights Hexis AMR wins Sachsenring Championship Race BY MARCEL TEN CAAT ⋅ MAY 15, 2011 The opening lap was one of the messiest starts in the history of the FIA GT1 World Championship with incidents in both the first and second corner. Going into turn 1 pole sitter Maxime Martin pushed the #3 Hexis AMR Aston Martin of Stef Dusseldorp into the gravel, with Stefan Mücke’s Aston hitting the Ford GT. In the turmoil behind them the #22 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R went wide as well. One corner later there was more drama when Karl Wendlinger in the #5 Swiss Racing Team Lamborghini drove into the Young Driver AMR #7 of Tomas Enge. The Austrian spun and was then hit by his teammate Max Nilssen and the Ford GT of Vanina Ickx. The damage on the two Lamborghini’s was too much for them to continue, while the Belgian Racing Ford GT returned to the pit and went straight into its box. As a result of the crashes the safety car was deployed. Just before the safety car came back in the rain that had already hampered the support races earlier in the day returned and the race director quickly declared ‘wet track’. At the end of lap 5 the race was restarted. Shortly after the Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT of Maxime Martin returned to the pitlane with damage. Taking advantage of the mayhem were the #8 Young Driver AMR Aston of Stefan Mücke and the #4 Hexis AMR Aston of Christan Hohenadel. The two Astons took he the lead of the race and started a frantic battle that included banging doors on multiple occasions. On lap 10 Hohenadel made his move into turn 1 and took the lead of the race. Soon after Dominik Schwager also passed the Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DBR9 and put the #37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini in second position. As the pit window opened after 25 minutes of racing Hohenadel was still leading, now 3.349 seconds ahead of Schwager and 7.096 seconds ahead of Stefan Mücke. On the first opportunity the top three came in for their mandatory pit stops, which allowed the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport #38 of Markus Winkelhock to move into the lead of the race. After its pitstop Marc Basseng returned the #38 Lamborghini just in front of the #3 Hexis AMR Aston but at turn 7 the right rear wheel on the Lamborghini failed and Basseng bounced through the gravel. The German stopped his car on the side of the track at turn 8. When all the pit stops were completed and all cars were back on track it was still the #4 Hexis AMR Aston Martin that was in the lead. Nicky Pastorelli was second, now just over 5 seconds behind the Aston, while Darren Turner was third, thus leaving the top three intact. The second Hexis AMR Aston, which had dropped down the order at the start, returned to fifth, courtesy of another perfect pit stop by the Hexis pitcrew. Unfortunately on lap 28 Piccione went off and returned to the pit to have his right front wheel replaced. This resulted all the hard work made undone as the #3 car dropped down the order to eleventh position. The gaps between the cars at the front meant there was no real battle for the podium places, but the battle for fourth was interesting with the Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-Rs and the Exim Bank Team China Corvette very close to each other. Just a few seconds further down the road the JR Motorsports Nissans and the #40 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT were battling for seventh position. Despite being on each others bumpers the nature of the track made it hard for any of the drivers to pass for position, only Hennerici was able to make up a position an moved into eighth place. After one hour of racing at the Sachsenring circuit Andrea Piccini was the first to cross the finish line, taking another win for the Hexis AMR team. All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport’s Nicky Pastorelli was the second driver to cross the line, with Darren Turner taking third for Young Driver AMR. Sumo Power GT did well by finishing in fourth and fifth, with the Corvette of Mike Hezemans and Nick Catsburg completing the top 6. The next round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship will take place at Silverstone on June 4/5. -and- Sachsenring Championship Race: What the drivers say ... Christian Hohenadel, Hexis Aston Martin No.4 "I saw that there was a bit of a mess at the start and I ended up second. The car was very good and I was able to push a lot to get passed the No.8 (Young Driver Aston Martin) and then when I got the lead I pushed again to open up the gap as I was quicker than him. It's my first win in GT1, I didn't expect it so soon. To win in Germany with all my friends here is just fantastic." Andrea Piccini, Hexis Aston Martin No.4 "It's never easy when you are first because so many things can happen, and the weather was unpredictable. Christian did a good job and he did most of the work for me. The car was OK, the tyres were fine and the pit stop was fantastic. I just got the car to the end. It's very nice to be leading the (drivers') championship but there is still a long way to go." Dominik Schwager, All-Inkl.com Munnich Motosport Lamborghini No.37 "At the start I just focussed on staying out of trouble, not hitting anyone but still making up positions. It's not that easy, you can see on TV that our starts are much closer than GT3 starts because everybody is really on it and its sometimes millimetres between being kicked out of the race or getting a good start. Under braking, I made two or three positions, then I had the two Astons in front of me. I made a move on the Young Driver car and it worked out perfectly. "I was quite happy that the rain didn't come too heavy because with the slightest mistake in the wet and you're off on this track. I am happy that we finally have our podium. We missed so many I can't count them anymore. I'm not jumping for joy but it's a start, we collected decent points and I'm really looking forward to the next race." Nicky Pastorelli, All-Inkl.com Munnich Motosport Lamborghini No.37 "It was easy because I didn't have to fight with any cars behind or in front of me but it was difficult because I had to really push on the limit to close the gap to the car in front (Hexis Aston Martin No.4). Some laps I could close a little some laps not. In the end we are happy with this result after all the bad luck we have had. Hopefully we can continue like this now." Stefan Mucke, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 "At the start, I tried to stay on the inside to avoid any contact. Initially the Ford (Marc VDS No.41) missed its braking point so he locked up his front tyres and he went a little bit wide and I was able to overtake both of the cars ahead (the No.41 Ford and the Hexis Aston No.3) and take the lead. After the safety car it was a struggle to get the tyres up to temperature. It was quite a tough race because we had some success ballast (20kg) but we are happy to be here on the podium and score some important points." Darren Turner, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 "We know that the Lambo (No.37) finds it quite difficult to warm up its tyres so I was pushing quite hard on the first lap out of the pits. But after that he was able to pull away. We could both see the Hexis car ahead but we weren't able to close it down but it was only really a car-length at a time. Being a German team, we had a lot of guests here. It certainly seemed quite active in the box, it was a busy place. Hopefully they all had a good day." Jamie Campbell-Walter, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21 “It’s nice to have a result, and while it’s not a win or a podium I think it’s a great result for the Nissan GT-R, the Sumo Power team and the JRM team to have all four cars in the top ten. Realistically it isn’t a great track for us so we’ve pulled out a really good result for ourselves. I’m personally really happy: Brabs has driven amazingly, the pit stop crews have done a fantastic job and we’ve produced a nice result and a good haul of points.” David Brabham, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21 “We knew coming in that it wasn’t going to suit us, especially with the extra weight we got from the Algarve. We had a few issues in Qualifying, but in the races we kept going, the guys did a great job in the pit stops and we gained a few places. The team has improved massively: they’re a brand new outfit for this year, but they have just got better and better and it’s been great to see. I think we got it right today, and Jamie did a great job towards the end. For Sumo Power, fourth and fifth is a great result.” Mike Hezemans, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 “The race was good, the car was good on new tyres but then towards the end we struggled with understeer on new tyres – like a lot of cars. We were a little bit quicker than the Nissan, especially at the beginning, but you cannot pass, it’s too difficult on this track. The pace was really good on new tyres and quite good on old. I should have been on pole (yesterday), and then the weekend looks a lot different – that’s the main problem.” Bas Leinders, Marc VDS Ford GT No.40 “We should have been on the podium today, but we got hit on the first lap which completely knocked the suspension geometry on the right rear and made the car very tricky to drive. Actually we were quite lucky to finish the race because it made the tyre wear so badly. There are some positives: for us it was easy this morning to finish fourth fastest, and the No.41 car was fast all weekend. This track suits the Ford quite well though, and even here we had trouble fighting with other cars. Everything that could go wrong seems to – I just hope our luck changes soon.” Stef Dusseldorp, Hexis Aston Martin No.3 “We lost 25 points today. I had a good start and was on the outside, but then I don’t know what (Maxime) Martin did – he just pushed me off big time. After that we didn’t really have a chance: the car wasn’t straight and we had bad understeer. It was not easy, so I just tried to keep the gap and then we had a perfect pit stop, really fast so we went into P5. Then we had the puncture, which was caused by the first corner collision, and that was that.” Tomas Enge, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “I had a pretty good start, and going into turn one it was pretty tight. I think as Johnny Herbert says we are like a magnet to accidents. It was unfortunate, I didn’t know Karl Wendlinger was there and there was no space for two cars: he touched me once and then spun, and hit me on my rear wheel which completely broke the rim. It was a bad weekend for us, so now we just look forward to Silverstone, a track I have been fast at last year. I hope I can repeat that.” Waiting on a vid of the first lap melee in the Championship Race... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted May 28, 2011 Author Share Posted May 28, 2011 FIA GT1 2011, Sachsenring, Championship Race - Highlights -and- GT1: Tourist Trophy Takes Center Stage At Silverstone FIA GT1 World Championship heads to Silverstone next weekend for the prestigious Tourist Trophy... FIA GT1 World Championship | http://www.gt1world.com Posted May 26, 2011 Following a frantic opening to the FIA GT1 World Championship season, the focus turns to Silverstone, the home of the British Grand Prix, and the fight for the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy next weekend. Last year GT1 had the honor of being the first world championship to race on the new 'Arena' circuit layout, and this season heralds another first for GT1 as it becomes the first series to use the superb new Silverstone 'wing' pit complex. Alongside that honor, the FIA GT1 combatants will be battling for the RAC Tourist Trophy, one of the oldest and most prestigious motorsport trophies in the world. The winners of this year's Championship Race will have their names engraved alongside some of the greats in motor racing, including Sir Stirling Moss, Graham Hill and Denny Hulme. The 18-car fight for the Trophy will take on added significance as Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes - last year's winners in the No.22 Nissan Sumo Power GT-R - return in separate Nissans this year. Campbell-Walter pairs with David Brabham in the No. 21 Sumo Power Nissan, while Warren Hughes returned to the GT1 fold last weekend, partnering Enrique Bernoldi in the sister No. 20 GT-R. Additional home hopes will rest on the all-British Nissan JRM No. 22 pairing of Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck, and Darren Turner in the No.8 Aston Martin Young Driver DB9. If the races thus far are anything to go by, we can expect to see plenty of action, overtaking and drama throughout both 60 minute races next weekend at Silverstone, the home of British motorsport. And questionable dentition! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted June 2, 2011 Author Share Posted June 2, 2011 Silverstone preview: What the drivers say ... Jamie Campbell-Walter, Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R No.21 “Having won the Tourist Trophy at Silverstone last year in the Sumo Power GT Nissan GTR, needless to say, I am really looking forward to going back there. I think the car will be really well suited to the fast sweeping corners and long straights. “The key is to make sure you have a well-balanced car, be committed in the fast corners and don't over-drive in the tight and twisty sections. As the home race, there is no extra pressure, but even more motivation to get my name on the trophy twice. It will be great to be the first International event to use the new Silverstone 'Wing'. Nicky Pastorelli, All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.37 “We’re looking forward to Silverstone, because in theory it should suit our car a little bit better than the Sachsenring. I hope we can do well there – after all the bad luck we have had, we were very happy to get the result in Germany. We really have to catch up a little bit if we are to get a good position in the championship, so I hope our form can continue at Silverstone.” Andrea Piccini, Hexis AMR Aston Martin No.4 “I haven’t raced on the new layout, but it’s only a couple of corners different. The track should be very well suited to the Aston Martin, and with our weight penalty that’s very welcome.” Darren Turner, Young Driver AMR Aston Martin No.8 “Silverstone is what the car is designed for really. It’s an aero-dependent car, it’s always very strong on high speed corners and Silverstone is one of those circuits. I’d say out of all the races we do this year it should be the one that suits the car, but saying that everyone has closed up, all the manufacturers are very strong at nearly every circuit now. The gap is much smaller than it was last year between each car and each circuit, so I’m sure it is going to be very competitive.” Bas Leinders, Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT No.40 “I really, really want to be on the podium at Silverstone, together with our sister car. The team has been working so hard, preparing for GT1, Blancpain and Le Mans, and they really deserve a good result. "The key to Silverstone is always finding the right compromise between the fast and slow corners. The Sachsenring was so twisty and tight that it really suited the Fords, but Silverstone with long straights and more open corners will be more difficult. With all the bad luck that Marc (team-mate Hennerici) and I have already experienced this season however, we are sure to be extremely lucky very soon – why not at Silverstone? The Marc VDS Racing Team is all about a passion for motor racing and we want to give joy to all our members and fans.” Mike Hezemans, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 “I have very good memories of Silverstone – I qualified on pole position there in 2006 and 2007, so it’s a good circuit for me. We could have had pole last time out as well at the Sachsenring, and with the field being so balanced this season everyone has a chance – including us. “It’s an okay track for the Corvette really, not specifically good or bad. It’s great to be racing there though, especially under the new pit complex which will be better than before. The starts have really been dramatic this year in GT1, so its also good we have the new starting line as the track is a little bit wider. I just really want to be on the podium – we could have done it in Germany but we lost pole, and now we really want to make up for it this weekend.” David Brabham, Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R No.21 “The Silverstone track should suit our car. I am really looking forward to it, especially as it’s Silverstone and our home event. Like all tracks, you have to push the car and yourself to the limit, but at Silverstone you cannot afford any mistakes. It also really helps to get a clear lap here, without getting stuck in ‘traffic’ or involved in too many battles. “As for being the home race, I try and avoid pressure, as this does nothing to help performance. I’m always motivated, but it would be especially good if I can help Jamie (Campbell-Walter) retain his Tourist Trophy title and, at the same time, get my name on the trophy as well." Clivio Piccione, Hexis AMR Aston Martin No.3 "For me, my objective is clear - we have to fight for the win in both races and bring the maximum points back We have no ballast, and I expect the Aston Martin to be really fast on its home ground. I love Silverstone and I'm really looking forward to going there - it is a track you can really attack every lap. It is home for Aston Martin, and also a bit for me as I spent four years racing in the UK." Peter Dumbreck, JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R No.22 “I always look forward to a home race and there is no doubt that Silverstone, with it's fast flowing corners and wide track, will suit the GT-R more than Sachsenring. I hope we have a nice dry weekend and a large crowd to cheer us on. “There are a lot of medium to high speed corners at this track. It's important to have a good car without too much understeer through these sections and then be able to get the power down for the straights. The track is quite bumpy in some areas, so it's important to have a set-up that can cope with an undulating track through the bends. “Of course to win the Tourist Trophy would be very special, but I don't think we need any more motivation than we already have. We need to push very hard in every race and score as many points as possible, because it's a long year with the title of "World Champion" at the end of it for the best performing team and drivers.” Antoine Leclerc, Belgian Racing Ford GT No.10 “We showed that we had the potential to be in the top five performance-wise in Sachsenring, so we expect to be even more competitive as the season goes along. I’m looking forward to discovering Silverstone now – it’s a fast and very exciting circuit for drivers. To my mind, Beckett’s is important to secure a good lap and I’ve been training on my simulator, like I did for Sachsenring, Portimao and Abu Dhabi. A top five finish in England would be great for Belgian Racing." Enrique Bernoldi, Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R No.20 “For sure, Silverstone will be better than Sachsenring. I’m sure it will be good for the Nissan GT-R because of its long straights and fast corners. We must try to be smooth and avoid making mistakes – and you must not try to over-drive the car." Stef Dusseldorp, Hexis AMR Aston Martin No.3 "I've never driven there before, only on my PlayStation, so it will be a new experience for me. Luckily Clivio (Piccione) knows the track and we have the data, so I'll have to learn quickly. We showed good speed in Qualifying at Sachsenring, but got eliminated in the first turn for the Championship Race. We could have finished on the podium and scored a lot of points, so we have positive feelings about our pace but not about the points we got." Michael Krumm, JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R No.23 “We are confident that the track will suit us better than Sachsenring and the victory with the GT-R last year gives us a good baseline for Silverstone. It's easy to make a mistake in the new, very high-speed section. I remember that, when you push just a little bit too much, you are off the track and the lap is ruined, so keeping it just a little bit under the limit is going to be the key. “Silverstone is a place with big tradition and I really would like to win here especially. But so do all the Brits – obviously - so it’s going to be an extra-tough battle this time.” Marc Hennerici , Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT No.40 “Silverstone is a track that requires two things: a high maximum speed and good aerodynamics, and we only have the latter. We know that the Aston Martins will be very quick there, and the Lamborghini is extremely quick on every track. It’s not going to be easy, but I’m still waiting for our first podium of 2011 and hopefully this will come at Silverstone – where I have won before in WTCC. "The Sachsenring was very well suited to the Ford, so it’s not certain we will be able to perform at the same level in Silverstone. On the other hand, the team is improving during the season and we understand the car in combination with the tyres much better now than we did at the beginning of the season. The team is highly motivated, so I think we will do a good job in Silverstone.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted June 3, 2011 Author Share Posted June 3, 2011 Frenchies.... LE MANS: FIA, ACO Set To Launch World Endurance Championship FIA to sanction official World Championship under Le Mans ruleset, set for 2012 launch... The FIA announced Thursday that it has joined forces with the Automobile Club de l’Ouest, organizers of the 24 Hours of Le Mans and Intercontinental Le Mans Cup, for an official sportscar World Championship, set for a 2012 launch. Revealed during its World Motor Sport Council meeting in Barcelona, the “World Endurance Championship” will comprise of at least six events, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans. FIA World Endurance Championship titles will be awarded to constructors and drivers, while an FIA GT Endurance World Cup will be created for constructors in the production-based ranks. “I am delighted to welcome the return of the FIA Endurance World Championship, especially with a promoter like ACO," said FIA President Jean Todt in a statement. "I am also very pleased to have a legendary race like the 24 Hours of Le Mans as part of it.” While there are no further details beyond the above details, released by the FIA, the ACO confirmed that a press conference will be held at Le Mans on Thursday to formally launch the championship. Additionally, Todt will wave the tri-colour flag to start the 79th Le Mans 24 Hours on June 11. "I am very happy we have reached this agreement with the FIA , a partnership which underlines the rightful place that endurance racing has in motorsport, something we have been promoting since we first established the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1923," said ACO President Jean-Claude Plassart. "Jean Todt has accepted my invitation to start this year's 24 Hours race on Saturday June 11, a symbolic and visible way to celebrate our partnership." The World Endurance Championship, or WEC for short, will mark the first officially sanctioned sportscar World Championship for Le Mans-spec cars since the demise of the World Sportscar Championship in 1992. Coincidentally, the WSC ran under the WEC name between 1981-1985. WEC will take the place of the ILMC, a seven-round global sportscar championship launched this year by the ACO. It currently awards teams and manufacturers titles in LMP1 and GTE, while team's championship additionally in LMP2 and GTE-Am. It’s unclear what the exact structure of the WEC would be. However, the ACO confirmed that the ILMC's 2011 schedule, which includes rounds at Sebring, Spa, Le Mans, Imola, Silverstone, Road Atlanta and Zhuhai, China, will be used as a base to determine the 2012 WEC calendar. The transition to a FIA-sanctioned World Championship does not come as a complete surprise, as the ACO hasn't hidden its desire to take the ILMC to the next level. However, ILMC director Frederic Henry-Biabaud told SPEED.com last month that World Championship status was a long-term goal, and not something that could happen overnight. The FIA also confirmed Thursday an overhaul of its FIA GT1 World Championship, which will remain a standalone sprint-race series format. Beginning in 2012, 2009-spec GT2 cars and 2011-spec GT3 cars will be eligible to compete alongside the current batch of GT1 cars. (I presume that means GT1 or even GT2/3 Corvettes will still be stompin that ass.) All three categories of cars will be performance balanced in order to provide a single-class of GT cars within the Stephane Ratel-run championship, which will become known as the FIA GT World Championship. Despite the similarity between names of the FIA GT Endurance World Cup (for ACO-spec GTE cars) and the FIA GT World Championship (for a mix of GT-spec cars), both championships will remain separate, according to reliable sources. Ya follow? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted June 3, 2011 Author Share Posted June 3, 2011 And the punk kid is out with Exim. Q&A: Andreas Zuber, Exim Bank Corvette Andreas Zuber, a GT1 racewinner in 2010, returns to the fold this weekend at Silverstone as he partners Mike Hezemans in the No.11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette. The pair made an highly impressive start to the weekend, finishing third in both free practice sessions. Here's what Andreas had to say about his first day back in GT1. Andreas, an impressive start to the weekend – how do you feel about the opening day? "Yeah it was not bad. For me, it is difficult because one year I was not in the GT1 car, the Corvette, so I needed to do some laps in free practice just to get used to the car, to the new soft tyre. Now, after the two free practice, I am happy and I think we can be in the top five in qualifying, so lets see." You found out late notice you were racing this weekend – how hard does that make your job in preparing for it? "It was very short for me, because I only found out on Monday that I am driving here. It sounds strange but the most difficult thing for me was sorting out the flight! I’m coming from Dubai so everything was quite hard, but I’m very happy. Even if you told me one day before I had to drive this car I would be ready to do it. I have quite a lot of experience already so I have no problems jumping in a car and being quick straight away." You have race winning experience in GT1 from last year – how big a factor is that? "I know GT1 from last year – I won the race in Abu Dhabi and finished second in the Championship Race, we had pole position also, so I know how it works. Hopefully everything will be fine tomorrow and we will see how we get on." How much has changed since you raced GT1 last year? "The tyres are the main thing – they are softer than last year, and the car is different to drive on them. Last year you were allowed to slide a bit with the car, but this year it is difficult because you lose the rear of the car. You have to take care more when you are driving, especially on the long runs. In the end though it was nice, I got used to it quickly and I’m feeling confident for tomorrow." How quickly have you gelled with Mike Hezemans? "I’ve known Mike for one and a half years now and he’s a very nice guy – so much experience and very quick. I’m very happy with how things are working – he’s showed me everything on the car, and we have also been practicing driver swaps for the pit stops, so it’s working well." How much can you read into today’s times for the rest of the weekend? "You never know what the other drivers and teams are doing, but I think the times are quite realistic now. Everyone has had enough time to play around with tyres and set-ups. I think definitely we can be in the top five tomorrow – I would be happy with that, because then we would have all the chances for the race." Whats the best you can hope for? "If we are in the top five in qualifying I think we have chances to be on the podium. To achieve that though you also need a good start, good pit stop, good driver change – so many things have to come together." -and- Nissan sets the pace in Free Practice Nissan set the pace in Friday's Free Practice session with the British pairing of Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck fastest in their JRM Motorsport GT-R No.22 with a best time of 2:00.086. Second was the sister car, the No.23 of Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr with a time of 2:00.320. The Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 of Mike Hezemans and Andreas Zuber muscled in on the Nissan party to be third quickest, some seventh tenths off the pacesetters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 Corvette flies to Silverstone pole Mike Hezemans gave the Exim Bank Team China Corvette their first pole position of the year at Silverstone, blazing to a 1:58.967s - the fastest lap of the weekend. Qualifying had looked to be a battle between home brands Aston Martin and Nissan, which had topped every session prior to the final stages of qualifying. Corvette had looked strong throughout however, and Dutchman Hezemans - an FIA GT polesitter here in 2006 and 2007 - delivered the perfect lap in Q3 to seal pole for him and new team-mate Andreas Zuber. Second place went to the No.23 JRM Nissan GT of Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr, which ended little more than one tenth of a second down the road. Young Driver Aston Martin will share the second row of today's grid, as the No.7 DB9 of Tomas Enge and Alex Muller narrowly edged out the sister No.8 car of Darren Turner and Stefan Mucke. Nissan then took the next three spots, with the No.22 JRM of Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook taking fifth ahead of the two Sumo Power cars. Jamie Campbell-Walter and David Brabham will start from sixth, with Warren Hughes and Enrique Bernoldi in seventh. Eighth went to the top Ford, the No.41 Marc VDS GT of Frederic Makowiecki and Maxime Martin. Makowiecki had endured a spin across the gravel in Q1, while Martin had showed well and put the car third fastest in Q2. Lamborghini endured a tough Qualifying, with both All-Inkl Murcielagos failing to make Q3. Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager finished as the team's top representative in 11th position. Current Teams' Championship leaders Hexis AMR will start today's Qualifying Race from the fifth row, with the No.3 and No.4 cars finishing ninth and tenth respectively. I am LOVING this. This old warhorse...driven by a grizzled veteran...up against all the "new spec" sleds...still layin' teh smack down! -and- Silverstone Qualifying: What the drivers say ... Mike Hezemans, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 “It was OK, I should have had pole in the Sachsenring – I had pole but then they took it away – so it feels good. To be very honest I didn’t know where we found that time, just for us the track was better in the third sector and the Nissan was in front of me, so that helped a little bit on the straight. It was just a lap without any mistakes, a very good lap, but a 58.9s lap is very nice. “I knew it had to be on the first lap because the tyres go off a little bit on the second lap and we lose a little bit of traction. I have already had three poles at Silverstone, but last time I was here I was on fire so I hope this will be better. It’s always good to be on pole, I hope we can stay out of trouble and then see how we cope on the first lap. I think it will be OK though.” Andreas Zuber, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 “It was a bit difficult for me in Free Practice, because I hadn’t been in the car for a year and it took me a few laps to get up to Mike’s pace. I had a good teacher though, so I was quick by the end. Qualifying has gone well for us, so I’m very happy. The Corvette was good last year in the race, so I hope this year it will be the same. “I think it’s very important to be starting on the front row, but the first corner here is very quick so I don’t think there will be any problems.” Michael Krumm, JRM Nissan GT-R No.23 “I’m disappointed not to have pole. I made a few too many mistakes and pushed a little too hard, and drove off line which lost me a few tenths. Congratulations to Mike and the Corvette team though, it’s fantastic to break 1m59 and I wish I could have done it too. “I’m happy though that the GT-R is on the front row, which is really important. We have a strong race car – we have good straight speed, we’re quick in sector two – so I’m pretty confident for the race. I hope that we can stay out of trouble, it might be a little bit messy here, so we’ll see how it pans out. Luckily Lucas is doing the start.” Lucas Luhr, JRM Nissan GT No.23 “It’s the first time I have raced here at Silverstone, but I felt pretty comfortable with the car straight away. As Michael said we have a good race car, on one lap it’s difficult to squeeze everything out and it’s easy to overshoot one corner, but in the race we really have a good car and I’m looking forward to this afternoon.” Tomas Enge, Young Driver AMR Aston Martin No.7 “Definitely it is a great result for the team, as the aim is to grab the lead of the Teams’ Championship. I’m also happy for me and Alex that we have been in the top three today and yesterday. We knew the Nissans would be quick but we knew this track suits our car as well, and as we have seen it was really tight between the cars. “Q3 was probably more about getting it right in the first lap because the lap is so long there is a slight drop-off on the second lap. We are P3, so we are happy.” Alex Muller, Young Driver AMR Aston Martin No.7 “As Tomas said we had a good car, and the team is working well as our second car is P4. It is a team effort, and now we’re looking forward to today’s Qualifying Race.” Darren Turner, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 “It went OK. Stefan (Mucke) did a good job in both Q1 and Q3. We have a really good pace considering we have 30kg of ballast on the car and it’s nice to be up the front end of the pack on my home circuit. I think the races will be very hard on tyres so we will need to look after them and see if we can hold it out until the end of the race. “For this afternoon’s Qualifying Race we hope to score some points and it would be nice to get a hand on the Tourist Trophy but I think the main thing for us this weekend is to keep the momentum going with the points scoring that we have done over the last couple of races.” Peter Dumbreck, JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R No.22 “Our Qualifying session was going to plan until we got to Q3 when the car all of a sudden didn’t seem to handle too well. Overall we are happy to be in the top five but we had hoped for a bit more so we have to work harder in this afternoon’s race. It would be nice to get up to third into a podium position but it will depend on a good pit stop. We should have the pace to fight with the guys ahead of us but we need to play it cool and not get into any incidents and hopefully improve on the fifth position we’re in now.” Frederic Makowiecki, Marc VDS Racing Ford GT No.41 “I didn’t do a nice lap in Q1 and I had a spin which put a flat spot on the tyre. Q2 was better but we adapted the set-up and didn’t go into the final part of the session in a good way. The objective for this afternoon’s Qualifying Race is to not make any mistakes and to do a good pit stop and get a good out lap. Maybe we can fight for fifth place but I am not too sure if we can aim for the podium.” Marc Basseng, All-inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.38 “We have big problems to get the right set-up for the car. We are suffering from massive understeer. We can’t carry speed into the fast corners and when we start to accelerate the car pushes off line so we have to back off and that’s the reason we are so slow. We are working hard but we have yet to find a solution. We are looking at ride height, stiffness, roll bar and shocks. We just need to find the right combination and then we have a chance. The front is the problem. Maybe if we can cure some of the problems we can find some good race pace.” Nicky Pastorelli, All-inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.37 “This is clearly a track that suits the front engine cars better. And we cannot put the engine in the front of our car so we will have to find another solution to get quicker. We have already made a step since yesterday, obviously not enough, but I’m confident we can make another step for the race, stay close to the pack and make up a couple of positions. A decent finish today will put us in a position to pick up some points tomorrow.” Christian Hohenadel, Hexis Aston Martin No.4 “The team mentioned that Silverstone would be one of the best circuits for the Aston but as we saw yesterday in Free Practice, we are not able to use the fresh tyres as well as the Young Driver Astons. It’s not a really big problem to start at position 10 so if we have a focussed race this afternoon and good pit stops and we up fifth or sixth then we have a good start position for the Championship Race tomorrow. The realistic goal was to end up in the first five this weekend and score some good points. We are positive that we can achieve that.” Should be a carnage-filled fun weekend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted June 4, 2011 Author Share Posted June 4, 2011 Aston Martin triumphs in Silverstone opener Aston Martin triumphed in the Qualifying Race at Silverstone, as Tomas Enge and Alex Muller handed the team its first win of 2011. The pair had lain a close second when the pit stop window opened, but made the most of confusion for race leaders Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr in the No.23 JRM Nissan to snatch the lead at the halfway stage. From there they never looked back, managing a comfortable gap until the final lap when they were able to ease off slightly and collect the chequered flag by just over one second. They will now start tomorrow's Championship Race - which carries with it the prestigious Tourist Trophy - from pole. Krumm and Luhr in the No.23 Nissan finished second, ahead of the No.11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette of Mike Hezemans and Andreas Zuber. Podium dance. Luhr had assumed the lead of the race before the first corner after making a fantastic start. There was confusion as to when he should stop however, and the delay of one lap proved costly as the team dropped to second after the pit window. Zuber meanwhile enjoyed a lively opening in the No.11 Corvette, as he dropped to third at the start before spinning just before the pit lane opened - although he maintained position, allowing Hezemans to bring the car home in third. There was drama on the opening lap as the No.21 Sumo Power Nissan made contact with the rear of the No.8 Young Driver Aston Martin in turn four, tipping it into a spin which also caught out the No.22 JRM Nissan and ruled all three cars out of the race. The No.41 Marc VDS Ford was another first lap casualty, while its sister No.40 car retired late on to complete a difficult race for the Ford squad. -and- Silverstone Qualifying Race: What the drivers say ... Alex Muller, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “I had a really good start – Andreas (Zuber) missed a gear or something so I was able to get alongside and straight away I was second from turn one. In the first part I was a bit slower than Lucas, and while I ended up faster it was impossible to pass. “I just kept the distance, saved the tyres and I was waiting for the pit stop, where the team did a hell of a job – it was phenomenal. Thanks to the boys for such a good stop, as otherwise we would have struggled to pass the Nissan. Thanks to Tomas too, he did a good job.” Tomas Enge, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “Definitely we won the race in the pits today – as everyone can see we had a really swift stop. Alex had a great start, and we were lucky as well to not be caught out like our team-mates in turn four. I would say we have a good position for tomorrow, we look strong. I don’t want to say I was driving easily at the end of the race, but I was not pushing as hard as Michael behind me. We’re happy to have eight points and to be here, and hopefully we can do it again tomorrow.” Lucas Luhr, JRM Nissan GT-R No.23 “The start was good, I was leading into the first corner and after the first lap I had a little bit of a gap. I tried to be conservative with the tyres, but at the end I was struggling a little bit because in the first two or three corners the Aston Martin had an advantage. “Then we had a little bit of a communication issue, and we didn’t come in the lap we should have so we lost a little bit of time. It’s the same starting procedure for tomorrow for the main race though, so I’m pretty happy and I think we have a good chance for having a very good result again.” Michael Krumm, JRM Nissan GT-R No.23 “I tried everything, but it was a little bit frustrating because I could see Tomas was on half speed, I could see he wasn’t using all the road. Like Lucas said we had a fantastic start but really we lost it in the pits – I came out and Tomas was already six second ahead, I almost couldn’t see him. I’m happy with the car, the GT-R was better over distance than we expected, and now we have a good position to try for victory tomorrow.” Andreas Zuber, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 “I had a problem with second to third gear at the start which was a bit frustrating. At the beginning of the race I was between two Aston Martins and touched the one on the outside, so I had to check the car was okay. After that I could push again and I was close to the two boys in front of me, but then I lost the car on my final lap before the pits and that cost us time. We had a good stop, and the rest of the race was good for us. We lack a little bit of race pace, but let’s see tomorrow.” Mike Hezemans, Exim Bank Team China Corvette No.11 “We’re missing a little bit of race pace – we’re fighting with the car, and if you push you really feel it the next lap. It’s a general grip issue that comes in after four or five laps, and then you really have to ease it to the end. I have one idea for tomorrow, so let’s hope it works.” Stef Dusseldorp, Hexis Aston Martin No.4 “The race went OK but we spun in the second corner. From then on Clivio (Piccione) went really quick and he passed a lot of people. Our pit stop was not so fast but I had a clean exit and a good space on the track when re-joining the race. I had a good few laps and caught the Nissan in front of me but 10 minutes before the end of the race the gearbox had a few issues from which we lost a bit of time. Nevertheless, fifth position is quite satisfying.” Clivio Piccione, Hexis Aston Martin No.3 “I had a good first turn but then spun going into turn two. Luckily the other cars avoided contact so I was able to continue. We made up some ground and the car was running really well. We had really good pace and were battling hard against the Ford and Lamborghini. Stef (Dusseldorp) did a great stint and we finished in fifth position so it is looking good for tomorrow.” Enrique Bernoldi, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.20 “My race was pretty much done at the start. I had a really good start and I was lucky to stay out of trouble in the second-corner incident. From then the race ran smoothly but my pace was not as quick as the first three cars. I stayed in fourth and managed to save my tyres to the end of the stint. I think finishing fourth after starting seventh sets us up well for the start of tomorrow’s race.” Christoffer Nygaard, Belgian Racing Ford GT No.9 “The start was a little bit chaotic and a lot of things were going on. Fortunately I started at the back so I could see what was going on. Others were on the grass so I was able to come clean through and had a nice run until the pit stop. We made some places up so we look forward to tomorrow.” David Brabham, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.21 “Not much to say other than I made a mistake and I feel sorry for the Sumo Power team. I went down to the JRM and Aston Martin (Young Driver) teams to apologise because it was a misjudgement on my part. I’m sorry and it doesn’t normally happen but unfortunately it did today. We couldn’t continue because there was too much damage. There was a leak in the radiator. If we didn’t have that damage then I don’t think we had the pace to challenge for a win but we could have finished in the top five.” Darren Turner, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “I got a reasonable start but then in turn three got a bit hit from behind from one of the Sumo Nissans (No.21). That first impact was not so bad but the second impact with the other Nissan (JRM No.22) did some serious damage and that’s was our race over through no fault of our own.” Vanina Ickx, Belgian Racing Ford GT No.9 “I had a race all by myself trying to keep my tyres cool because there is a big drop off in tyre wear and we managed to finish seventh and score our first team points. I am very happy for all of them because they have been working so hard over the past few races. So it’s a very big thank you to Miss Laurence Hanssen (team manager) and all the crew.” Dominik Schwager, All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.37 “Sixth place was an unexpected but perfect result from us. Again there was big excitement and chaos at the start. I was on the inside and tried to stay out of trouble. There was a lot of dust because the inside was quite dirty. There was some trouble at the front of the pack but I made it through turn 4 but speed-wise it was difficult to stay with the Astons and the Nissans here. The more the race continued the more we struggled with understeer so we have to find a solution for that for tomorrow to collect some points. I would be happy if we are P6 or P8 in the race tomorrow.” Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted June 5, 2011 Author Share Posted June 5, 2011 Corvette fastest in Warm Up The No.11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette of Mike Hezemans and Andreas Zuber continued its impressive form at Silverstone by topping this morning's Warm Up. Having sealed pole position for yesterday's Qualifying Race, the Corvette was the only car to dip below the 2 minute barrier in cool morning conditions. It will start today's Championship Race from third. Richard Westbrook put the No.22 Nissan JRM second, although he and team-mate Peter Dumbreck will start from the rear of the field in today's race after being an innocent casualty of an opening lap collision yesterday. Stefan Mucke and Darren Turner in the No.8 Young Driver Aston Martin DB9 were also involved in that incident, and they too responded well this morning by setting the third fastest time. The No.21 and No.20 Sumo Power Nissan GTs were fourth and fifth respectively, ahead of the No.41 Marc VDS Ford of Frederic Makowiecki and Maxime Martin. Seventh went to the top Lamborghini, the No.38 All-Inkl Murcielago of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock. Further down the order, the No.47 DKR Corvette of Michael Rossi and Dimitri Enjalbert and Michael Rossi was not able to post a competitive time, although the car managed six single-lap runs. -and- JRM Nissan takes Tourist Trophy in Silverstone thriller JRM Nissan claimed the Tourist Trophy with a thrilling victory in the Championship Race at Silverstone. Less than half a second separated the top three cars at the finish, with the No.7 Young Driver Aston Martin and No.11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette swarming over the back of the lead Nissan. Lucas Luhr held on the in the No.23 GT-R however, earning him and team-mate Michael Krumm victory - and the prestigious RAC Tourist Trophy. After a clean start, the race hinged around a crucial period at the halfway stage when a Safety Car period coincided with the opening of the pit lane. Richard Westbrook in the No.22 JRM Nissan had been working his way through the field, but made contact with Stefan Mucke in the No.8 Young Driver Aston Martin. As the pair recovered with stricken cars, Mucke chased Westbrook down and the pair made contact again, writing off both cars, Prior to the incident, which brought out the Safety Car, Luhr and Krumm had lain second behind the lead Young Driver Aston Martin of Enge and Muller, but jumped into the lead during the pit stop window. Muller twice sought to find a way back through, passing Luhr on the restart and on the final lap, but on both occasions Luhr was able to repass immediately, hanging on to take a hard-earned win. Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione finished fourth for Hexis Aston Martin, ahead of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the No.38 All-Inkl Lamborghini - who now sit second in the overall standings, three points behind new leaders Luhr and Krumm. Stewards confirmed they would look at the incident between Westbrook and Mucke after the race, in addition to a clash on the restart which ruled out several cars including the No.47 DKR Corvette, which had been fifth before the pit stops. Bas Leinders and Marc Hennerici finished as the top Ford in the No.40 Marc VDS GT, while both Belgian Racing cars finished inside the points. 26,000 spectators flocked to Silverstone to watch today's action, which saw Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr claim a trio of accolades for JRM Nissan - victory in the Championship Race, the Tourist Trophy and the lead in the current Drivers' Standings. -and- Silverstone Championship Race: What the drivers say ... Michael Krumm, JRM Nissan No.23 “I think it’s amazing. We can both be very proud to be on the list with such famous and historic names. I felt very jealous last year when Jamie Campbell-Walter won it, so we are very proud to win it this year. It has a great meaning and this is one of the most important victories in my career. “At the start I didn’t quite manage to overtake Tomas on the outside of turn one, so I slotted in behind and I was pleased we got away without accidents. Then I tried to follow Tomas but he was very quick, so we both drove away from the field and I closed a little bit before the Safety Car came out. “The target then was to stay really close to Tomas before we pitted and try to jump them in the pitlane. It worked but then of course all the distance we had to the rest of the field was nullified when the Safety Car came out, so it was a bit frustrating to have done all that work and then come into the pits with the whole pack. It was a little bit stressful for the mechanics and then for Lucas obviously to get out of the pits.” Lucas Luhr, JRM Nissan No.23 “Well, first of all thanks to the boys for a perfect pit stop, which was fantastic and allowed us to come out in the lead. Then the first corner I think he (Alex Muller) dived down the inside immediately and I opened the gap up because I didn’t want to have an accident or unnecessary contact, but on the same lap I was able to go back and make a move. “It was quite difficult – sometimes you see raindrops on your screen and you think ‘should I slow a bit?’. I enjoyed it though, I think we had a few taps with the Aston Martin but everything was clean and fair. I’m pretty happy obviously for myself but also for the whole team, they did a fantastic job. Thanks to Nissan as well, for providing us with this really wonderful GT-R. “Obviously we are in England, and as an English team they have had a lot of family, friends and sponsors here. To give them a victory is very sweet. I can’t remember in my career when I screamed so loud on the radio.” Tomas Enge, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “It was a good battle at the beginning, I tried to pull away but he (Michael Krumm) had a magnet on the front of his bumper and was just holding me. Unfortunately the Safety Car came out and I thought it was all up to the pit stops, but the other two guys – Alex and Lucas – showed us a really great race. It was a great battle, really spectacular, and I was jumping up and down in the garage. It was thrilling. “Congratulations to the JRM guys and to their crew, they had a better pit stop. We will try and come back next year. Last year it slipped away from my and Darren (Turner’s) hands, today it was the pit stop, so we will try again. Congratulations to the winning guys though, and to Alex for showing us a great show.” Alex Muller, Young Driver Aston Martin No.7 “I saw Lucas had problems with the front tyres locking up, especially in turn seven, so I tried everything I could and I think we had a hard but fair fight. Some love kisses, but I think this is normal and we know how to handle it. “As Tomas said he had a good start, he did a good job and the car was fast. On the pit stop yesterday we caught JRM, but today they caught us – that’s life and racing. We’re looking forward to the next round, we’re full of motivation and want to do our best.” Mike Hezemans, Exim Bank Team China No.11 “Today was better than yesterday, we could follow a bit better and we didn’t have as much drop-off. When the Safety Car came out, we had a few things to change but we only lost one place which was good. Then Andy did a good job, and I must say congratulations to Lucas for winning the race, but I was hoping for a little bit worse. I thought if Andy stayed close maybe we could even win, but I think they deserved it.” Andreas Zuber, Exim Bank Team China No.11 “First of all I had to overtake Piccione in the Aston Martin and then I was behind these guys. In the beginning I think I was a little bit quicker, and I was waiting to attack but after two laps I got a bit of understeer and then I started losing a little bit, gaining a little bit, losing a little bit. It was quite a hard race, I was just looking to the guys in front and hoping they made a nice show for the spectators, but they did a very good race – very fair – so congratulations.” Stefan Mucke, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 “We had a really good start but there was no real chance to pass the Lamborghini’s in front. Anyhow, we approached the complex at Becketts and I felt a hit from behind and it was the Nissan that hit me. I haven’t seen on TV what actually happened behind me but you can’t overtake there. I got spun around but was able to continue. We came up to Hanger Straight and I saw the Nissan quite slow on the left hand side and focused on my line for the next corner. He was very slow and I passed him a little bit too close. It was definitely my mistake but I was just focused on taking my line. I touched him very slightly but he was going very slowly and I thought he may pull to the left. I touched him with my rear left and he had a problem after the contact and that’s how the accident happened.” Darren Turner, Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 “The move from Richard (Westbrook, JRM Nissan No.22) wasn’t great to be honest. We got taken out by Nissan last time and we’ve been taken out by them again. It’s massively disappointing. I’ve spoken to Stefan (Mucke) and it certainly wasn’t his intention to cause an incident. Overall it’s been a very frustrating weekend for both Aston Martin and Nissan. We got taken out in the race yesterday and now it’s happened again. It’s unfortunate.” Bas Leinders, Marc VDS Racing Ford GT No.40 “I got a good getaway but I was stuck behind some cars so I lost many places at the start. Therefore, I couldn’t go anywhere without causing an incident. I had a good battle with Fred Makowiecki and also the Nissans. It was a good scrum and a fair battle. After the safety car and pit stop Marc (Hennerici) did a great job. However, we lost some places in the pit stop after being held up by the No.41 car but I’m happy with sixth. We’ve had a lot of bad luck this year and today it went fine and I had a lot of fun in the car.” Enrique Bernoldi, Sumo Power Nissan GT-R No.20 “We didn’t get a good start and fell back so the race wasn’t going too well. But we had a very good pit stop, we made some places as a result and the guys did a fantastic job. At the re-start I was P5 and racing with Clivio Piccini (Hexis Aston Martin) but he pushed me off. You can’t do a lot when somebody does that to you.” Dimitri Enjalbert, DKR Engineering Corvette No.47 “I was very pleased today as I got some good race experience in the Corvette. It was my first race in GT1 and Michael (Rossi) did a good job in the car as well. I would like to be in the Corvette for the next race and hope we can get a good result for the team.” Markus Winkelhock, All-Inkl Munnich.com Motorsport Lamborghini No.38 “I would say our race was OK as we finished fifth after the weekend we had. In Free Practice and Qualifying we were very slow and we had a lot of understeer. Over the weekend it was getting better and better and in the race the balance of the car improved. Our lap times were not too bad. Overall I am quite happy with P5 and we scored some points so that is the most important thing.” Need some more weight on the Nissan.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted June 24, 2011 Author Share Posted June 24, 2011 Speaking of the 'ring.... The Green Hell awaits for GT1 pack There is a change of pace for a number of GT1 drivers this weekend as they take on the fearsome Nordschleife for the Nurburgring 24 Hour Race. The Nordschleife, the 20.8km long, 170-turn ribbon of tree-lined road course in the Eifel mountains, was given the nickname the Green Hell by former world Formula One champion Jackie Stewart. The exhaustive layout, lack of artificial lightning, big entry list and fickle weather add up to a challenging event. Among the GT1 fraternity competing are All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini team-mates Mac Basseng and Markus Winkelhock. They will be in opposing Audi R8s both fielded by Phoenix Racing. Winkelhock will share his car with Marc VDS driver Marc Hennerici. Christian Hohenadel and Andrea Piccini, regular team-mates at Hexis AMR, are in an Audi TT RS. JRM Motorsport Nissan GT-R regulars Lucas Luhr and Michael Krumm, winners last time out in GT1 at Silverstone, have different machinery for the weekend. Luhr will be at the wheel of a Porsche 911 GT3 while Krumm pilots a Nissan 370Z. Fellow JRM team-mates Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook will pilot Porsche 997 GT3 Rs run by different teams. Young Driver AMR’s Darren Turner leads Aston’s challenge in the Aston Martin Vantage N24 in GT4. Swiss Racing’s Peter Kox reacquaints himself with the Reiter Engineering team in a Lamborghini LG 600 while Vanina Ickx (Belgian Racing Ford GT) will drive a Volkswagen Scirocco. The race starts at 16:00 on Saturday. The GT1 drivers involved will revert to sprint racing at the sixth round of the championship at Navarra the following weekend. -and a rare Exim preview- Hezemans: 'We need to find more race pace' Mike Hezemans is approaching the next round of the championship at Navarra buoyed by results at Silverstone and knowing that the top step of the podium is within reach. Since round one at Abu Dhabi in March he and co-driver Nicky Catsburg have been regular points finishers in their Exim Bank Team China Corvette. A first podium came with second place in the Qualifying Race at Zolder. At Silverstone, with new partner Andreas Zuber, pole position and two third places were the reward for another hard-charging weekend. The consistency of the No.11 Corvette puts Hezemans seventh in the drivers' standings just 24 points off the lead. “The season this year is getting better and better for us," Hezemans said. "We had a good race at Silverstone last time out with a pole position and podium but I think we lack pure race pace which is something we need to work on for the remainder of the season." The next round of the championship will be a step into the unknown for the Dutchman. He believes the technical track layout will be a major challenge for the Corvette. "I have never raced at Navarra so I cannot say too much about the circuit. We will have to wait and see how it goes for us. I remember that the Corvette didn’t suit the track too well at last year’s race so we’ll see what happens. "I hope we can score a top five finish but this will be tough as we have success ballast from the last race." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MOTV8 Posted July 1, 2011 Author Share Posted July 1, 2011 Musical chairs...teh punk Catsburg got booted from teh Exim vette...and landed in a Nissan. Catsburg joins Sumo Power in Spain Nick Catsburg will compete for the Sumo Power Nissan GT-R team in this weekend’s GT1 race at Navarra. The Dutch driver raced for the Exim Bank Team China Corvette team in the first four races of the season with a best finish of fifth at Zolder, but will now partner Enrique Bernoldi in the No.20 Nissan GT-R in Spain. Catsburg replaces Warren Hughes who previously drove the car, as did Ricard Zonta early in the season. The full-time GT3 driver got a feel for the Nissan GT-R at a private test session in Aragon last Monday, but won an opportunity to drive the car last year as a prize winner. “Having won last year’s Eurocup Mégane Trophy, my prize was to test the Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R T-car in Japan,” said Catsburg. “I really enjoyed it and, since then, my dream has been to join the team. And now it’s happened! “I’m delighted to be working with them and to be alongside such great drivers. I am also pleased that this gives me the opportunity to continue to race in the GT1 World Championship.” We're all "delighted" your dream came true asshat. -and- Lamborghini leads the way in Free Practice Lamborghini led the way in Free Practice in the blazing Spanish summer heat as the action got underway in the sixth round of the championship in Navarra. Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the No.38 All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport Lamborghini set the fastest time of 1:37.639 around the twisty circuit located in northeren Spain between Logrono and Pamplona. Second fastest was the sister No.37 car of Dominik Schwager and Nicky Pastorelli with a time of 1:37.904. Third quickest was the JRM Nissan GT-R of Peter Dumbreck and Richard Westbrook with a lap of 1:37.912. Lamborghini's early dominance continues the trend set in 2010 where Reiter Engineering cars won both the Qualifying and Championship Races. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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