Brice Bosi and Dominik Baumann were second in the nr44 HEICO MOTORSPORT Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG and with the nr45 car finishing 6th, the German team become the 2011 FIA GT3 Team Champions, leaping ahead of the Need for Speed Team Schubertand the Faster Racing by DB Motorsport outfits.
Third overall was the nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Mike Parisy and Gregoire Demoustier. The 15-points confirmed Parisy as the 2011 Vice Champion, finishing the season 9-points behind the new Italian Champions.
The Michelin Award for the faster of the two champions was won by Francesco Castellacci, which will enable him to move up to the 2012 FIA GT1 World Championship.
Round 12
The large 28 car field was led into the first corner by Christopher Haase in the nr33 Team WRT Audi as Mike Parisy moved up to second in the nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes, overtaking the nr11 Gravity Charouz Racing Mercedes of Stefan Rosina at the first corner. Brice Bosi in the nr44 HEICO Motorsport Mercedes got a great start from 12th on the grid to end the opening lap in 6th place, ahead of the nr50 AF Corse Ferrari of Francesco Castellacci.
Maxime Martin in the nr9 LMP Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9 was the first casualty after a collision at the start left the Aston Martin with a damaged radiator and ending a dismal weekend for the French team.
Meanwhile Christopher Haase had opened up a comfortable three second over his nearest rival as the next three cars of Mike Parisy, Stefan Rosina and Philippe Giauque were joined by the BMW of Nick Catsburg in a close fight for the minor podium positions.
The nr1 Prospeed Porsche of Maxime Soulet came into the pits and the Belgian driver clambered out as the Round 11 winning car retired with transmission failure.
As the pit window opened on lap 15 the leaders all stayed out but one lap later Castellacci brought the AF Corse Ferrari in to hand over to Federico Leo. The leaders stayed out for a couple more laps, with Haase pitting on lap 20 to hand over the driving duties to Enzo Ide in the lead Audi.
After the pitstops had finished it was Ide in the Belgian Audi Club R8 who held an 8.1 second lead over the nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes of Gregoire Demoustier and the nr36 Faster Racing by DB Motorsport BMW of Harrie Kolen. However it wasn't long before Kolen was being challenged by the nr44 HEICO Motorsport Mercedes of Dominik Baumann, who passed the nr4 Mercedes of Thomas Jaeger and the nr11 Gravity-Charouz Racing Mercedes of Leo Machitski. Baumann moved up into 3rd, passing the nr36 BMW with ease.
Machitski's race came to an end on lap 25 when a spin at T6 ended with a trip to the pitlane and retirement.
Meanwhile Championship leader Federico Leo was making up places, passing the struggling Harrie Kolen and the nr4 Graff Racing Mercedes to move into 4th place, securing the points needed to secure the title. Demoustier needed to catch and pass the nr33 Audi but Ide was moving ahead of the Frenchman and was 9.3 seconds ahead on lap 27. Demoustier had bigger problems as Baumann reeled in the nr3 Mercedes and swept past into 2nd on lap 31. The nr45 HEICO Mercedes had also been moving up the order and as the race drew to a close Christiaan Frankenhout had moved into 6th place and the combined score of the two HEICO cars was enough to move them ahead Team Schubert in the Team Championship race.
At the flag it was Enzo Ide won crossed the line to record his third win of the year, finishing 5.9 seconds ahead of Dominik Baumann and 18.8 seconds ahead of Gregoire Demoustier. Federico Leo finished a further 3 seconds back in 4th overall but the Italian was overjoyed and stopped to celebrate at the side of the track before returning to the pits to continue the celebrations with Francesco Castellacci and the rest of the AF Corse team. It was all smiles in the HEICO Motorsport pit as they celebrated becoming the 2011 FIA GT3 European Team Champions.
CLICK HERE for the provisional result of Round 12
CLICK HERE for the race facts
CLICK HERE for the provisional Championship Positions after Round 12
Francesco Castellacci - 2011 FIA GT3 European Champion / Michelin Award Winner
“I’m so happy to be here. I cannot believe it, that the Championship is finished and that I’m champion. The race yesterday was a bit tough, but we tried to manage the points over the weekend and not risk too much, and we made it. I would like to thank Ferrari and the AF Corse team did a great job all year and supported us from the beginning to end. The Ferrari 458 Italia is a really good car, built by Michellotto. All the people from Michelotto have been with us all year, working with us to develop the car race by race, which I think is now the strongest GT3 car that there is. Thanks to the whole team. Federico and I met at the beginning of the year and it was our first year in GT. We found ourselves so good together that we managed to win this title which is still unbelievable for me. I will look forward to go to the new GT1 World Championship, which I think will be a very good championship for the future, because I think that the future of GT is with GT3 cars, which are the best for the manufacturers and the factories. To compete in a world championship next year with 10 manufacturers will for me a dream come true.”
Federico Leo - 2011 FIA GT3 European Champion
“I don’t believe it yet. Maybe I’m not that happy yet because I still don’t believe it. I first want to thank Francesco, because we did the whole championship together. When you’re two drivers, his mistakes are my mistakes, his wins my wins, so thank you Francesco. We did a great job. Everyone says that Formula cars are a lot harder to drive, but to take the feeling with a GT is not as simple as you might think, as you have a lot more weight than a World Series car for example. But the feeling was very good. I have to thank the team as well, my engineer, who helped me to learn how to drive this car. I also have to thank all of AF Corse, Amato Ferrari, Michelotto guys and to my manager to bring me to this team, and Francesco. I have no more words.”
Christopher Haase
Nr33 Belgian Audi Club Audi R8 LMS
“I’m so happy because, you come back to the FIA GT3, and then you can win the race, it’s a pleasure for me, but I have to say really thanks to the team, because team WRT gave us a great car and they did such a great job, they worked very hard with the drivers and the car, and Enzo is a great driver; he’s improving, he wants to learn, he’s improving lap by lap, which is great. The goal was to win 3rd place in the Championship, we did it and we’re all happy, and I like that.”
Enzo Ide
Nr33 Belgian Audi Club Audi R8 LMS
“If they told me this would happen two years ago, I wouldn’t have believed them. For me it’s really great. This race was unbelievable. Christopher had a fantastic stint, it was unbelievable. He was very fast. Then we had a gap, and I managed to bring the car home in 1st place. This is really good. I want to thank the team for the whole season. I started with them and was really a rookie; I was just finishing my first year, and then I started with them and they believed in me. I will try to improve a lot in my driving skills. But for me, third place in this championship with such a high level is really great. I hope that next year I’ll be back here.”
Brice Bosi
Nr44 Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“We are happy. The target was to bring the team championship home. I had a pretty bad qualifying; I couldn’t find a free lap to do a time. My target in the qualifying was to do at least as fast as Dominik did, but that wasn’t the case. We started from 12th. I had a pretty good start. After that, it was all about managing the tyres and trying to give Dominik the best car possible, and that’s what I did. I was behind the little train in front of me which had a good race pace in the first stint, but I was checking my mirrors more than I was looking ahead, managing my tyres. Then I gave Dominik the car and he was lapping 2 seconds faster than the cars in front of him, and that’s what I was supposed to do and that’s what I did. We’re very happy to have the team championship in our pocket.”
Dominik Baumann
Nr44 Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“He gave me a really great car. Brice managed the tyres so good, and we found a really great setup for today, much better than yesterday’s. As he said, his target was to save the tyres, and then I could climb up the field. Now we’re in 2nd and we won the team championship, what more could you want?”
Mike Parisy
Nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“It’s a good position for my team and myself, and Mercedes. I am quite disappointed because our target was the title. We knew that the weekend would be very difficult and we tried to push all the time. My new driver, Gregoire Demoustier did a very good job. It’s important in this championship to be strong together, and this weekend was fantastic, but we were 14 points away from the leader, and now we are a lot closer. But the season was fantastic, Graff racing did a great job, Mercedes too, so thank you everybody, to my sponsors. It’s been a great season, we are vice-champions, and we’ll see next year for the title.
"It was quite difficult. The two AF Corse drivers are very good, so you have to take in the drivers’ classification, so it’s always a play. You have to find a perfect pair to fight.
"We’re talking with Graff Racing and Mercedes and we’ll see about the future.”
Gregoire Demoustier
Nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“I’m very happy, because this is my first podium in GT3. I’m a bit disappointed for Mike because we had hoped to help him win the championship, but it’s worked out like this and next time we’ll be better. The car was very good, Mike was very good, it was a very good weekend.”
Paul van Splunteren
nr1 Prospeed Porsche 911 GT3 R
“Pole helps. The guys from Mercedes let us through by making a little mistake yesterday. Of course, if I had been third, I don’t know what would have happened. Today, here, the qualifying was great, I had a fantastic lap and I’ve never driven so fast here before. The start was relatively easy; I know the track, I know where to be on cold tyres as well, and I think that helped on the first lap. I had a decent first lap, and everything was a matter of trying to preserve the gap for my codriver here. I managed it, and then it was just a matter of doing a clean in-lap, a good pit stop, and Max took over and we just managed to maintain what we did.
“It was a really fantastic feeling this morning, with qualifying going well, because I really had a lap that I was proud of, we had a fantastic car with the team, the Porsche likes the cold weather, and I could capitalize on that, and Chris Frankenhout came to tell me I was on pole, and that was a very good feeling. I also had the increased pressure of not screwing up in the first lap, because when you lead you‘re not allowed to screw up. For me it’s great because we have a lot of guests this weekend, so these are important sponsors or partners, and also to finish like this, for the team, after the hard first half of the year. This second win here means a hell of a lot to the team, to Rudi and his guys at Prospeed and our partners and to us.”
Maxime Soulet
nr1 Prospeed Porsche 911 GT3 R
“To be honest, after my qualifying, I thought this was going to be very hard. But Paul brought the car in with a gap and I kept the gap. At the beginning I had to push really hard to make the gap a bit longer, and then it was really hard on the tyres as I pushed so hard at the beginning. I just had to keep the distance between us for it to be all right. The whole team is happy for this win.”
Michael Lyons
nr38 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 Italia
“In British GT we’ve enjoyed a bit of success and finished 3rd in the championship, and it’s been a good year for the guys, this being Scuderia Vittoria’s first year it’s great to have so many wins and podiums. Last time in the Ferrari at Silverstone, we had a good pace in qualifying but some issues in the race. It’s great to have the opportunity to be so far up there at the start. I had a good pace, but it’s very difficult to overtake around here, so I was focused more on keeping good laps, watching the gap and looking after the tyres, so that Felipe had a good opportunity for the last half of the race. It worked out really well. We only knew we were coming here last Sunday, so it’s great to be able to pull it all together so well. I had a hard time here in free practice yesterday, it’s my first time here, I think we were about 20th. This is a great result for me to look to the championship next year.”
Filip Salaquarda
nr38 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 Italia
“After today’s qualifying which didn’t go very well and I was quite slow, stuck in traffic and I made some mistakes, I’m really happy to be here, in the top 3. I have to thank Michael for his good gap in the beginning. I had to push, but I was struggling with the front tyres. It was becoming better and better, I saw the Lambo behind me and tried to push a bit more, but I think I overheated the tyres and I was struggling again, so I’m really happy I kept the gap and finished 2nd.”
Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof
nr24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600
“The start was really good, we didn’t have any trouble, and the pace was really good and we could just go with the flow. I didn’t attack so that I could save the tyres for the end of the race, then all of a sudden, I was getting into the rhythm and out of this corner, uphill lefthand, there was just no engine; I couldn’t accelerate, shift up or down, nothing was happening for 4-5 seconds, standing uphill. Then all of a sudden it came back on for me. I tried to catch up, having lost 2 positions, and then could get back into the rhythm. Then we had another problem with the brakes. But I can’t complain, we’re in third place and Albert did an amazing performance at the end. I was just standing there for 20 minutes, dying on the pit wall until it was over, and I think he made an incredible effort with the lap times he pulled, so consistent and so fast.”
Albert von Thurn und Taxis
nr24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600
“It was a fun race, it was really good and exciting to see that the times were so close to each other. There was one pace, the whole pack was moving. I think that despite the bad luck with our electronics and our brake issues that we’ve carried over from qualifying, we really managed to get a good run. I tried to take the Ferrari, but I didn’t even make it close! I pushed a little bit in the beginning, but my rear tyres didn’t make it. It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium.”
With the nr13 Fischer Racing Ford GT (accident) and the nr8 LMP Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9 (technical) missing from the grid after being withdrawn from the event, 28 cars lined up for the start of the penultimate race of 2011. Starting from pole after the nr44 and nr45 Heico Motorsport Mercedes were both given a 10 grid penalty for overtaking under a red flag during free practice, it was Paul van Splunteren who got the best start and the nr1 Prospeed Porsche led into the first corner ahead of the nr38 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari of Michael Lyons, the nr24 Reiter Lamborghini of Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof and the nr46 Aevitae Bleekemolen Racing Porsche of Ronald Van de Laar.
Van Splunteren opened up a 1.2 second gap to Lyons but the young British driver kept close tabs on the Dutch driver and kept the gap between one and two seconds for the next seven laps.
Further back the two Heico Mercedes were making progress from the 11th and 12th places on the grid, with Christiaan Frankenhout making up three places on the opening lap. The nr24 Lamborghini was holding 3rd place when he suddenly lost power and fell back two places before the Lamborghini engine fired up again. After several laps of pressure from the nr13 Ford GT of Markus Palttala the Austrian driver was able to maintain his pace in 5th.
On lap 15 the pit window opened and the leaders came in over the next few laps. After all the pitstops Maxime Soulet was in the lead in the nr1 Prospeed Porsche, 5.7 seconds ahead of the nr38 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari of Filip Salaquarda. The nr24 Lamborghini had managed to leap back into the final podium position, which now had Albert von Thurn und Taxis at the wheel, ahead of the two Heico Mercedes led by the nr45 car of Patrick Hirsch. The nr46 Bleekemolen Porsche, now with Dennis Van de Laar at the wheel, was losing ground and by lap 29 had dropped out of the top 10 after he was tapped into a spin after a spirited battle with fellow Dutchman Jeroen den Boer in the Faster Racing BMW.
The nr50 AF Corse of Francesco Castellacci seemed to be struggling and was passed by several cars, including the nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes of championship rival Mike Parisy. The young Italian hung on to finish 9th, just one place behind Parisy at the chequered flag.
At the end of the race it was Maxime Soulet who crossed the line in the nr1 Prospeed Competition Porsche, 6.885s ahead of the nr38 SCuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 of Filip Salaquarda and a further 2.224s ahead of the nr24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini of Albert von Thurn und Taxis.
In the Driver's Championship Federico Leo and Francesco Castellacci's 9th place finish and with their nearest rival Mike Parisy managing to finish one place higher, means the Italian pairing hold a 12-point advantage in tomorrow's race.
In the Team Championship both of the Faster RAcing by DB Motorsport BMW's finished in the points and this means Need for Speed Team Schubert's lead has been cut to just 11 points ahead of the final round of the season.
Round 12 is due to start at 13:15 (local) and this will decide who will be crowned the 2011 FIA GT3 European Champions.
CLICK HERE for the result of Round 11
CLICK HERE for the race facts
CLICK HERE for the Championship Positions after Round 11(please note that the nr38 Scuderia Vittoria is a race by race entry and therefore it and the drivers do not score any championship points)
Paul van Splunteren
nr1 Prospeed Porsche 911 GT3 R
“Pole helps. The guys from Mercedes let us through by making a little mistake yesterday. Of course, if I had been third, I don’t know what would have happened. Today, here, the qualifying was great, I had a fantastic lap and I’ve never driven so fast here before. The start was relatively easy; I know the track, I know where to be on cold tyres as well, and I think that helped on the first lap. I had a decent first lap, and everything was a matter of trying to preserve the gap for my codriver here. I managed it, and then it was just a matter of doing a clean in-lap, a good pit stop, and Max took over and we just managed to maintain what we did.
“It was a really fantastic feeling this morning, with qualifying going well, because I really had a lap that I was proud of, we had a fantastic car with the team, the Porsche likes the cold weather, and I could capitalize on that, and Chris Frankenhout came to tell me I was on pole, and that was a very good feeling. I also had the increased pressure of not screwing up in the first lap, because when you lead you‘re not allowed to screw up. For me it’s great because we have a lot of guests this weekend, so these are important sponsors or partners, and also to finish like this, for the team, after the hard first half of the year. This second win here means a hell of a lot to the team, to Rudi and his guys at Prospeed and our partners and to us.”
Maxime Soulet
nr1 Prospeed Porsche 911 GT3 R
“To be honest, after my qualifying, I thought this was going to be very hard. But Paul brought the car in with a gap and I kept the gap. At the beginning I had to push really hard to make the gap a bit longer, and then it was really hard on the tyres as I pushed so hard at the beginning. I just had to keep the distance between us for it to be all right. The whole team is happy for this win.”
Michael Lyons
nr38 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 Italia
“In British GT we’ve enjoyed a bit of success and finished 3rd in the championship, and it’s been a good year for the guys, this being Scuderia Vittoria’s first year it’s great to have so many wins and podiums. Last time in the Ferrari at Silverstone, we had a good pace in qualifying but some issues in the race. It’s great to have the opportunity to be so far up there at the start. I had a good pace, but it’s very difficult to overtake around here, so I was focused more on keeping good laps, watching the gap and looking after the tyres, so that Felipe had a good opportunity for the last half of the race. It worked out really well. We only knew we were coming here last Sunday, so it’s great to be able to pull it all together so well. I had a hard time here in free practice yesterday, it’s my first time here, I think we were about 20th. This is a great result for me to look to the championship next year.”
Filip Salaquarda
nr38 Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 Italia
“After today’s qualifying which didn’t go very well and I was quite slow, stuck in traffic and I made some mistakes, I’m really happy to be here, in the top 3. I have to thank Michael for his good gap in the beginning. I had to push, but I was struggling with the front tyres. It was becoming better and better, I saw the Lambo behind me and tried to push a bit more, but I think I overheated the tyres and I was struggling again, so I’m really happy I kept the gap and finished 2nd.”
Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof
nr24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600
“The start was really good, we didn’t have any trouble, and the pace was really good and we could just go with the flow. I didn’t attack so that I could save the tyres for the end of the race, then all of a sudden, I was getting into the rhythm and out of this corner, uphill lefthand, there was just no engine; I couldn’t accelerate, shift up or down, nothing was happening for 4-5 seconds, standing uphill. Then all of a sudden it came back on for me. I tried to catch up, having lost 2 positions, and then could get back into the rhythm. Then we had another problem with the brakes. But I can’t complain, we’re in third place and Albert did an amazing performance at the end. I was just standing there for 20 minutes, dying on the pit wall until it was over, and I think he made an incredible effort with the lap times he pulled, so consistent and so fast.”
Albert von Thurn und Taxis
nr24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600
“It was a fun race, it was really good and exciting to see that the times were so close to each other. There was one pace, the whole pack was moving. I think that despite the bad luck with our electronics and our brake issues that we’ve carried over from qualifying, we really managed to get a good run. I tried to take the Ferrari, but I didn’t even make it close! I pushed a little bit in the beginning, but my rear tyres didn’t make it. It’s a great feeling to be back on the podium.”
Dominik Baumann
Nr 44 Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“We found a really great setup for the track here. It’s my first time here in Zandvoort. When we went around the track, I noticed it was a very high speed track and very technical, but now we’re normally on pole, the car is great to drive here, really easy. From 11th we hope we can get onto the podium today. It’s a really old track and really not the easiest when you’re here for the first time. There are easier tracks.”
Christiaan Frankenhout
Nr 45 Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“I was going to drive the Clio here this weekend, and I still am going to, but I was trying to help Heico Motorsport, because I know the track. I got a call 45 minutes before first free practice and they said ‘okay, you have to drive because Filip is really sick. He has a stomach infection or something and is really ill.’ I wanted to drive here, but it wasn’t possible because they only allow 6 SLS to drive in one weekend, and the 7th would have been too much, so I’m really happy to drive now. The performance of the car is good. What Dominik said, he didn’t know the track, and I’ve been driving it 10 years already, but it’s only been touring cars here, so it’s a little bit of a disadvantage to do it in a GT3 car now, because you have very different references about how you have to drive on this track. It’s still nice to drive and the car is really good here, the SLS is really good in the high speed corners, and that’s where we make up the most time. We did a really good time, so hopefully we can make up a lot of places this afternoon.”
Paul van Splunteren
Nr 1 Prospeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R
“It was a real surprise to be on pole, because I was really pleased with my time this morning and my place, as the Porsche is not the easiest car here; we don’t have much downforce, it’s very bumpy, it’s really a challenge to drive the car flat out to the top. Chris was the first one to break the news to me that I’m on pole. I was very proud and really pleased for the team; we’ve had a really tough season so far, but we have already got a win. The team did a really great job and found a nice set up. I think the track is really hard on the tyres for our car, but at least we can start up front. Compared to what they did in the 2nd session, I don’t think my team mate had the best of luck in that session, as he’s only at p19. So we have one race where we have an opportunity to score, I hope we can reach the podium. It would be great to finish the season here at my home track. I’m very pleased and proud of the time; I’d never thought I’d be able to do a 1:39 in this car here. It’s a lovely track, a bit tricky here and there, and it’s quite challenging. So thanks to everyone, I’m really enjoying this day.”
Christopher Haase
Nr 33 Belgian Audi Club WRT Audi R8 LMS
“I’m really happy. It’s a pleasure to come back to the FIA GT3 European Championship and to start on pole position. Of course the race will be very hard, I think we will have a very strong race for the first 30 minutes, but I think we can manage that, but every race is really difficult and you have to see what happens by the chequered flag. I have to thank our team, WRT, because they did a great job. They gave me an unbelievable car that was very fast and constant. We’ll see what happens after the chequered flag. The Audi R8 has improved since I won the championship. I drove the first car in 2009 when we won the GT3 championship, and after that point the car has improved, in small details, but these are necessary because every year the series is stronger, and you need a bit of a modification, and Audi did a great job with that in this case. The car is much better.”
Stefan Rosina
Nr11 Gravity Charouz Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“This is my second start in GT3 and on the front row. The first time I drove this car was yesterday, and it’s my first time here and it’s unbelievable for me. I’m happy. We shall see what happens tomorrow, but we need to score points, and obviously if the setup of the car wasn’t great I wouldn’t be there, so thanks to the team and everyone and that they called me. I’m really enjoying the race track which is fantastic because I’ve never driven it. You can’t really calculate what’s going to happen in the race. You just need to enjoy it and I would basically like to finish the race because it’s quite narrow, so it should be quite interesting in the first lap. We’ll see how it goes today and tomorrow.”
Mike Parisy
Nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“It’s quite good for us, because my team mate is very regular too, so I think we have the best performance. The race is going to be very difficult because we don’t know the track very well. Yesterday morning during the first practice we had some problems with the tyres, so we didn’t choose the track and the car, so we were late, I think that in qualifying I could do better, but I need more training on this track.”
After a delay to repair the damaged barrier the second qualifying session got underway. At the end of the 20-minute session 2009 FIA GT3 Champion Christopher Haase scored his first pole position in the championship since Zolder in 2009 by posting a 1:38.920 lap in the nr33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8. Haase was 0.3s faster than the nr11 Gravity Charouz Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Stefan Rosina and a further tenth of a second ahead of Mike PArisy in the nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes.
Round 11 of the FIA GT3 European Championship will start at 15:45 this afternoon.
CLICK HERE for the result of Round 11 Qualifying
CLICK HERE for the result of Round 12 Qualifying
Dominik Baumann
Nr 44 Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“We found a really great setup for the track here. It’s my first time here in Zandvoort. When we went around the track, I noticed it was a very high speed track and very technical, but now we’re normally on pole, the car is great to drive here, really easy. From 11th we hope we can get onto the podium today. It’s a really old track and really not the easiest when you’re here for the first time. There are easier tracks.”
Christiaan Frankenhout
Nr 45 Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“I was going to drive the Clio here this weekend, and I still am going to, but I was trying to help Heico Motorsport, because I know the track. I got a call 45 minutes before first free practice and they said ‘okay, you have to drive because Filip is really sick. He has a stomach infection or something and is really ill.’ I wanted to drive here, but it wasn’t possible because they only allow 6 SLS to drive in one weekend, and the 7th would have been too much, so I’m really happy to drive now. The performance of the car is good. What Dominik said, he didn’t know the track, and I’ve been driving it 10 years already, but it’s only been touring cars here, so it’s a little bit of a disadvantage to do it in a GT3 car now, because you have very different references about how you have to drive on this track. It’s still nice to drive and the car is really good here, the SLS is really good in the high speed corners, and that’s where we make up the most time. We did a really good time, so hopefully we can make up a lot of places this afternoon.”
Paul van Splunteren
Nr 1 Prospeed Competition Porsche 911 GT3 R
“It was a real surprise to be on pole, because I was really pleased with my time this morning and my place, as the Porsche is not the easiest car here; we don’t have much downforce, it’s very bumpy, it’s really a challenge to drive the car flat out to the top. Chris was the first one to break the news to me that I’m on pole. I was very proud and really pleased for the team; we’ve had a really tough season so far, but we have already got a win. The team did a really great job and found a nice set up. I think the track is really hard on the tyres for our car, but at least we can start up front. Compared to what they did in the 2nd session, I don’t think my team mate had the best of luck in that session, as he’s only at p19. So we have one race where we have an opportunity to score, I hope we can reach the podium. It would be great to finish the season here at my home track. I’m very pleased and proud of the time; I’d never thought I’d be able to do a 1:39 in this car here. It’s a lovely track, a bit tricky here and there, and it’s quite challenging. So thanks to everyone, I’m really enjoying this day.”
Christopher Haase
Nr 33 Belgian Audi Club WRT Audi R8 LMS
“I’m really happy. It’s a pleasure to come back to the FIA GT3 European Championship and to start on pole position. Of course the race will be very hard, I think we will have a very strong race for the first 30 minutes, but I think we can manage that, but every race is really difficult and you have to see what happens by the chequered flag. I have to thank our team, WRT, because they did a great job. They gave me an unbelievable car that was very fast and constant. We’ll see what happens after the chequered flag. The Audi R8 has improved since I won the championship. I drove the first car in 2009 when we won the GT3 championship, and after that point the car has improved, in small details, but these are necessary because every year the series is stronger, and you need a bit of a modification, and Audi did a great job with that in this case. The car is much better.”
Stefan Rosina
Nr11 Gravity Charouz Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“This is my second start in GT3 and on the front row. The first time I drove this car was yesterday, and it’s my first time here and it’s unbelievable for me. I’m happy. We shall see what happens tomorrow, but we need to score points, and obviously if the setup of the car wasn’t great I wouldn’t be there, so thanks to the team and everyone and that they called me. I’m really enjoying the race track which is fantastic because I’ve never driven it. You can’t really calculate what’s going to happen in the race. You just need to enjoy it and I would basically like to finish the race because it’s quite narrow, so it should be quite interesting in the first lap. We’ll see how it goes today and tomorrow.”
Mike Parisy
Nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
“It’s quite good for us, because my team mate is very regular too, so I think we have the best performance. The race is going to be very difficult because we don’t know the track very well. Yesterday morning during the first practice we had some problems with the tyres, so we didn’t choose the track and the car, so we were late, I think that in qualifying I could do better, but I need more training on this track.”
After a delay to repair the damaged barrier the second qualifying session got underway. At the end of the 20-minute session 2009 FIA GT3 Champion Christopher Haase scored his first pole position in the championship since Zolder in 2009 by posting a 1:38.920 lap in the nr33 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8. Haase was 0.3s faster than the nr11 Gravity Charouz Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Stefan Rosina and a further tenth of a second ahead of Mike PArisy in the nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes.
Round 11 of the FIA GT3 European Championship will start at 15:45 this afternoon.
CLICK HERE for the result of Round 11 Qualifying
CLICK HERE for the result of Round 12 Qualifying
First Free Practice
The nr24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini of Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof set the fastest time in the first session at Zandvoort. The German driver was just 0.078s faster than the nr4 Graff Racing Mercedes Benz SLS of championship contender Philippe Giauque and new co-driver Thomas Jaeger. The nr 46 AEVITAE Bleekemolen Racing Porsche of Zandvoort specialists Ronald and Dennis Van de Laar was 3rd quickest, the Father and Son team setting a time of 1:41.095.
Championship leaders Francesco Castellacci and Federico Leo were 8th fastest in the nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458.
The second Free Practice session is due to start at 15:15 (local)
The nr45 Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG of Patrick Hirsch and Christiaan Frankenhout was the quickest car in the second 60-minute Free Practice session of the Zandvoort weekend. Hirsch was joined by Dutchman Frankenhout as a last minute replacement for Filip Sladecka after the Slovakian was too ill to drive this morning. Hirsch posted a best time of 1:40.382, just 0.004s ahead of Championship leaders Federico Leo and Francesco Castellacci in the nr50 AF Corse Ferrari and 0.075s ahead of the Faster Racing by DB Motorsport BMW Z4 of Nick Catsberg and Harrie Kolen.
Championship contenders Philippe Giauque and Mike Parisy were 4th and 5th respectively in the nr4 and nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes SLS, just 0.1s behind the leading car.
The time set by the nr45 Mercedes was 0.4s slower than the time set by the nr24 Reiter Lamborghini in the morning session.
The top 19 cars were separated by less than one second.
The nr8 and nr9 LMP Motorsport Aston Martins missed both Free Practice sessions after suffering engine problems. Maxime Martin and Gael Lesoudier (nr9 LMP Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9) are currently 3rd overall in the championship, just 16 points behind Federico Leo and Francesco Castellacci but will have to go into qualifying tomorrow morning without any time to set up the car.
Qualifying for Rounds 11 & 12 will take place at 10:05 (local time) on Saturday 15 October.
In the last round in Slovakia Mercedes-Benz became the latest brand to take an FIA GT3 race win when Brice Bosi and Dominik Baumann won the first encounter in the HEICO Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG. Mike Parisy and Philippe Giauque then took victory in Round 10 in the Graff Racing SLS to complete the double for the German manufacturer. Mercedes-Benz now joins Aston Martin, Audi, BMW, Ferrari, Lamborghini and Porsche as race winners this season, a great endorsement of the Balance of Performance that allows all of these magnificent GT cars to compete on a level playing field.
The current Championship leaders are Italians Francesco Castellacci and Federico Leo on 97-points, a 14-point advantage over their nearest rivals, former French GT Champion Mike Parisy and Switzerland’s Philippe Giauque.
“Even with a 14-point advantage, the championship is still wide open,” said Francesco Castellacci. “I know that it will be difficult, but we have to arrive there with the same mentality that we had for the other races. Full attack, but always using our heads and being careful to not make mistakes.”
In a change at Graff Racing for this weekend Mike Parisy will drive with fellow Frenchman Gregoire Demoustier and Philippe Giauque will move to the nr4 Mercedes and be partnered by former FIA GT1 driver Thomas Jaeger.
“Graff Racing and Mercedes have done a very good job this year,” said Mike Parisy. “We were really unlucky at several races and lost some points, but we are in the battle for the title and we are very motivated to win. I have never raced in Zandvoort, it will be a new experience for me, but in general I am quick to adapt, so it's not a problem for learning a track. I’m looking forward to racing with Gregoire at Zandvoort.”
Snapping at the heels of Parisy and Giauque is the Belgian / French pairing of Maxime Martin and Gael Lesoudier, lying just 16-points behind the championship leaders. After three podiums this year, FIA GT1 World Championship race winner Martin is eager to take the first win in GT3 this year, which would also be the first for himself and Gael Lesoudier since their victory in a Morgan at Silverstone in 2009.
The local fans will have the all Dutch Faster Racing by DB Motorsport BMWs to cheer on, with Silverstone race winners Jeroen den Boer and Hoevert Vos currently holding 4th in the championship. The team hold 2nd place in the Team’s title race, just 19-points behind the other BMW team, Need for Speed Team Schubert. Den Boer’s and Vos’ teammates Nick Catsburg and Harrie Kolen are currently 10th in the Driver’s championship, and still have a mathematical chance of taking the crown, but their efforts at their home circuit could ensure the FIA GT3 European Team Championship remains in The Netherlands following Sunday’s final race.
"My family, friends and sponsors will be attending, so it would be exciting if the effort we will be putting in as a team will pay off with great results,” said Nick Catsburg. “The debut of FASTER in GT3 racing has already been successful but will be even more satisfying if it could be crowned with a title, either as teams or for the drivers!"
While Faster Racing by DB Motorsport have a strong driver line up, the same can be said for their German rivals, with the two Team Schubert driver pairings just 1-point apart in the driver standings. Race winners Edward Sandström and Abdulaziz Al Faisal are in 6th overall on 75-points and Claudia Huertgen and Csaba Walter pulled themselves back into title contention with a double podium in Slovakia.
Sandström and Al Faisal are tied on points with the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT pairing of Greg Franchi and Enzo Ide, who are currently holding 5th place thanks to their race wins in Portugal and Spain but for the season finale the two drivers will have new partners. Franchi will be with French driver Didier Andre in the nr32 Audi, while Ide will have the experience of 2009 FI AGT3 European Champion Christopher Haase to help him in his title quest in the nr33 car.
Thanks to their race win in Slovakia, Brice Bosi and Dominik Baumann have given themselves an outside shot at the title, lying 30-points behind Castellacci and Leo in 8th overall. The final contenders for this year’s title is the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini duo of Albert von Thurn und Taxis and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof, the German pairing having scored two hard fought wins in Spain and in France. They were also heading for some good points in the first race in Slovakia until puncture put them out of contention while leading the race.
Whoever becomes the latest recipient of the 2011 FIA GT3 European Championship title, the fastest of the winning pair of drivers will receive the Michelin Award. This is a €150,000 prize-fund, with up to 40 sets of Michelin tyres as well, to move up to the FIA GT World Championship in 2012. 2010 FIA GT3 European Champion Christian Hohenadel has raced an Aston Martin DB9 with French team Hexis AMR this season alongside Andrea Piccini and is currently 4th in the FIA GT1 World Championship, with one win and two further top 3 finishes to his credit.
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Nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
Mike Parisy : “I did a very good start with my car. Afterwards I tried to keep up with Janis’ rhythm. I think I was faster but it was very difficult doing the fast corners with the aero effect of the two cars. I tried to keep my tyres for Philippe. I’m very happy and proud for Graff Racing and Mercedes, because we’ve got our first victory since the start of the year, and it’s a great pleasure for us to win a race in FIA GT3; the level is very hard, and Graff and Mercedes have done a very good job, so my thanks to them. The team spirit is very good and a very good job. I hope that we can fight for the championship now. We were 9th in the Championship yesterday, we’re 2nd now. We lost 3 potential victories since the start of the year, we’ve had a lot of problems, but we’re going well now. I hope we continue to work well with the team and I’m crossing my fingers.”
“I found the track very nice, because it has quite fast corners, we can be artists as well. There are slow parts...the track is very interesting for the team and for us drivers. It’s a very good track, and I’m very happy to come here in this country, because last year I won in Brno, and I’ve now won in Slovakia, so I think I’m going to live here now.”
Philippe Giauque : “It’s good to be here finally on top of the podium. This track’s good, but then all tracks are good. I’m not going to think about the championship now though, but just think about the next races. I’m going to take it easy.”
Nr11 Gravity Charouz Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3
Jarek Janis: “It’s better not to talk about the pit lane...We probably lost the possibility to win the race in the pits, because unfortunately one of the BMW parked in front of us and we were stuck, and when we were on time to move, we couldn’t, because the BMW was in front of us, so we had to pull back, and then we lost about 5 or 7 seconds, and the lead, but we finished second, and I’m very happy with that, because as I said after qualifying, the beginning of the season wasn’t very good and we had to find the right setup, because we were really struggling at the beginning. So I have to say thanks to the teams and the engineers, because we prepared a really good car, and yesterday was a payback for the Graff car’s race, because yesterday we had a little accident with them, and today, they won, so I’m very happy for them, because it wasn’t on purpose to kick him off, but unfortunately that happened. That’s racing. I’m happy that we’re here on the podium and I’m happy for Leo that we got the car to the podium together. He did a really good job, he was very constant. I was a little bit worried about the BMW because it was putting pressure on him, but he managed to control it, and brought it home in 2nd. It’s great for us to win here, as it’s so close; we have a lot of Czech fans coming to see the race, so it’s even better for us, and really good that we score high points and we’re on the podium when we’re so close to home. Let’s hope it continues like this in the last race. We’ll see.”
Leo Machitski: “I’m very happy to be here. I want to thank the team, they’ve done a really good job. I want to thank Jarek, he did an incredible job in qualifying. I had a little bit of a difficult start to this weekend, and made many mistakes in testing: I hit the wall, I hit another Mercedes in race 1, absolutely by accident and I went to apologise yesterday. Clearly, the racing gods decided to sort everything out and gave them the victory today with the pit stops, and I want to congratulate them, the team and say thank you to all the fans who were here, because this was a great warm welcome to Slovakia. The BMW was much stronger in the tight, slow corners than the Mercedes, but the Mercedes is the heaviest car on the grid. For me, my strategy was to slow him right down in the slower corners and to use the power of the big engine to pull away, and high speed was okay. I raced in Zandvoort in 2005, and it’s a really nice circuit.”
Nr7 Need for Speed Team Schubert BMW Z4 GT3
Claudia Huertgen: “We came here and have been on the podium twice, which is fine. The team worked very hard these last few days, it was also because we changed the tyres for this event, so we’ve had a lot of work, so for us it’s really nice for us to be on the podium twice. It was a good start; I could control the speed, and tried to save the tyres as well, because I knew that we could really drive fast at the end. So I just saved the tyres and brought the car back to the pits in a good condition, and Csaba could continue. Here we cannot beat the Mercedes, but I think Zandvoort will be very interesting, because the track it’s closer, you have a long straight line, but on the other side, we’ll be very fast. It’ll be interesting because Zandvoort is like here, it’s a driver track, so we’ll see.”
Csaba Walter: “It was very difficult. For us, we were a bit disadvantaged from our result yesterday, because we had to stand in the pits for 5 seconds longer, and these 5 seconds were very long, because several cars came in front of us because of this. After that, I started to overtake them, and for a while it was quite good, but when I reached the guys in front of me, I started to struggle a bit with the tyres. I tried to push a bit and keep the pressure on him, but he wasn’t kind enough to make a mistake. Otherwise, here at this track, it’s not so easy to overtake with our car. It’s a very good result, and I would like to thank all the Hungarians who came here. We also had a flag in the tribunes and I have a lot of friends and fans here, and I would like to thank them, and the team as well, because the car was perfect again.”
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