Free Practice 1&2

GT3 NEWS #2
FREE PRACTICE
    

First Free Practice : S-Berg Lamborghini fastest in first free practice session

Under cloudy but dry skies, the first session of the year was quite close. Most of the cars took to the track immediately, and most of the drivers spent as much time as possible behind the wheel, in order to find a good set-up for the first race of the season.
After a few laps, when the tyres and the breaks were warmed up, the BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 nr 23 set the fastest time with a lap of 1.55.918, ahead of the Tech 9 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and the Damax Ascari KZ1R GT3 nr 28. The times improved and after about 30 minutes, the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 set the fastest time with 1.54.163.
So half way through the session, two Aston Martins were leading ahead of two Ferraris and two Ascaris, with the Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 nr 26 ahead of the BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9. The nr 34 JMB Racing Ferrari 430 was third and nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 was fourth. Respectively sixth and seventh, the nr 33 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3 was ahead of the nr 30 Damax Ascari KZ1R.
During the second part of the session, a few of the cars improved and the hierarchy was very different after the chequered flag! A  few minutes before the end of the session, the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 set the fastest time with a lap of 1.53.706, and the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari went up to third position. So three different cars finished the session in the top 3: the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini, ahead of the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin and the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari. First of the Ascari, the nr 28 Damax was 5th, and the first Corvette Z06R GT3, the Riverside nr 19, was 7th. A sixth different make was in the top 10 as the nr 5 Trackspeed Racing Porsche 997 Cup was 10th - once more proving the homogeneity of the cars of the FIA GT3 European Championship.
The Ford GT was on good pace for its first session on this track, with the nr 43 Matech Racing Ford GT finishing in 14th position.
Three cars did 23 laps, the nr 28 Damax Ascari, the nr 25 Hexis Racing Aston Martin and the nr 29 Damax Ascari.


Second Free Practice : S-Berg Lamborghini still the fastest

The rivalry of the first session carried on during the second free practice session. From the very beginning, the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 was leading ahead of nr 15 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini Gallardo and the nr 4 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. But the nr 15 Lamborghini raised the pace, and set the fastest time with a lap of 1.53.343, faster than its morning best laps. The opposition for the second position was very close between the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 and the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9. The nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin managed to gain the second position, but near the end of the session, the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 Challenge GT3, with a lap of 1.54.222, finally won the battle for second position.
With the nr 1 Tech9 Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in 5th position, four different cars were in the top 5.
During this session, the Spectrum Topspeed Racing Ford GT went off in the gravel, but the car is not damaged. The nr 17 Martini Callaway racing Corvette Z06R GT3 broke its differential, so the rest of the week-end is quite compromised for this car.

2007-05-05
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