Paddock Rundown

GT3 NEWS #1
PADDOCK RUNDOWN

The first day of competition for the FIA GT3 European Championship saw the nr 15 S-Berg Lamborghini Gallardo set the fastest time in both free practice sessions. All the cars and all the drivers are ready, but it is clearly too early to have an initial hierarchy.

PADDOCK RUNDOWN

Seventeen teams, with eleven different cars are in Silverstone for the first round of the season.
Before the first qualifying tomorrow, here is a rundown of all the teams.

Tech 9 Motorsport – Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
nr 1  Phil Quaife, Tom Ferrier
nr 2 Jonathan Lang, Phil Keen
nr 3 Dimitris Deverikos, Peter Snowdon

The 2006 team and driver FIA GT3 European Champion, Tech 9 Motorsport is here to try and win again. This British team, founded and managed by Phil Hindley, multiple British GT Champions, is going to be watched closely by everybody, as the team to beat.

Trackspeed Racing – Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
nr 4 James Pickford, Ryan Hooker
nr 5 Richard Williams, Alex Buncombe
nr 6 Chris Hyman, Paul Warren

The 2006 British GTC Champion is now moving  to the FIA GT3 European Championship. With six British drivers in the three Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars, this team is expected to get a good result in Silverstone, their best-known track of the season. Afterwards they will have to learn the circuits, but Trackspeed Racing is used to the Porsche and will be serious competition for the victory.

RPM – Dodge Viper Competition Cup
nr 7 Gilles Duqueine, Alex Mortimer
nr 8 Mikael Forsten, Robert Wilson
nr 9 Edwards Morris, Richard Stanton

A newcomer to the FIA GT3 European Championship, RPM is going to be the only Dodge Viper team this year. This well-known British team, founded by team owner and manager Robin Peter Mortimer, is also racing in the British GT Championship, the British Porsche Carrera Cup and the Formula BMW British Championship.

First Racing – Lamborghini Gallardo GT3
nr 10 Nicolas Navarro, Maxime Dubrulle
nr 11 David Tuchbant, Ulric Amado
nr 12 Pascal Ballay, Alexandre Renneteau

This French team is discovering the GT3 this year, after enterning GT1 in the French GT Championship last year. Managed by Fabien Giroix, First Racing is also racing in, and currently leading, the French GT3 Championship. This newcomer to the Championship could create quite a surprise.

S-Berg Racing Team – Lamborghini Gallardo GT3
nr 13 Hans Knauss, Werner Grobl
nr 14 Marius Ritske, Vadim Kuzminykh
nr 15 Erik Janis, Jirik Jaromir

This Austrian team, founded and owned by Hans Weitgasser is racing for their second season in the FIA GT3 European Championship. The team knows the Lamborghini very well, and with drivers used to this Championship, the aim of the S-Berg Racing Team is to fight for the victory this year.

Martini Callaway Racing – Corvette Z06R GT3
nr 16 Uli Berberich-Martini, Klauss Ludwig
nr 17 Martin Matzke, Jiri Skula
nr 18 Luca Pirri, Jürgen von Gartzen

During the winter, Uli Berberich bought Team Carsport Callaway, founding Martini Callaway Racing, which is now based in Germany. With two brand news cars, and one car from last year, the team is well prepared for this season and with drivers as Klauss Ludwig or Jürgen von Gartzen, the Martini Callaway racing is going to be a team to beat.

Riverside – Corvette Z06R GT3
nr 19 Arnaud Peyroles, James Ruffier
nr 20 Philippe Charriol, Stéphane Lacroix-Wasover
nr 21 Christophe Lemee, Marc Sourd

This French Team, owned by Philippe d’Agostino, has been specialising in GT races for many years. This is the second year that Riverside is racing in the FIA GT3 European Championship with Corvette Z06R GT3 cars. With six French drivers, Riverside count on its experience to make the difference.


BMS Scuderia Italia – Aston Martin DBRS9
nr 22 Francesco Maggi, Gian Marino Zenere
nr 23 Diego Alessi, Alex Frassinetti
nr 24 Toni Seiler, Sandro Sardelli

This famous Italian Team, with an incredible prize list as 2003 and 2004 FIA GT Champion and 2005 Le Mans Series winner, is racing this year in GT1 with the Aston Martin DBR9, in GT2 with the Porsche 997 RSR and of course in the FIA GT3 European Championship with three Aston Martin DBRS9 cars. And in all categories, their goal is obviously to win.

Hexis Racing – Aston Martin DBRS9
nr 25 Julien Rodrigues, Clement Mateu
nr 26 Jean-Claude Lagniez, Frederic Makowiecki
nr 27 Ron Marchal, Tom Cloet

This young French Team is racing for their first season at an International level. After a few seasons in the French Formula Renault Championship, Clement Mateu and Philippe Dumas, the managers, decided to try GT racing last year, with a Porsche 996 Cup car in the French GT Championship. After an encouraging season, they have gone one step further this year by engaging the Aston Martin DBRS9 in both FIA GT3 European Championship and French GT3 Championship.

Damax – Ascari KZ1R GT3
nr 28 Howard Spooner, Adrian Willmott
nr 29 Martin Rich, Andrew Thompson
nr 30 James Brodie, Jon Barnes

The Damax team has been at the forefront of GT racing for many years. With success in British GT, the British and the European Ferrari Challenge, Damax is pushing hard this year to win a race in the FIA GT3 European Championship with the Ascari. For its second year of competition in this Championship, Damax will be a great challenger.

Team Berlanga – Ascari KZ1R GT3
nr 31 Klaas Zwart, Erik Zwart
nr 32 Daniel Gibson, Michael Greenhalgh
nr 33 Paul Gibson, Ben Collins

This brand new team is discovering this year the FIA GT3 European Championship, but most of the team members know the Ascari KZ1R GT3 very well. With such an experienced driver as Ben Collins, one of the Ascari experts, Team Berlanga will immediately be on good pace.

JMB Racing – Ferrari 430
nr 34 Ian Khan, Stéphane Daoudi
nr 35 John Greasley, Philip Walker
nr 36 Nicolas Comar, Philippe Rambeaud

Created in 1995, JMB Racing won 14 titles and became a major team in the endurance racing world. Always very close to Ferrari, JMB Racing worked a lot during the winter to develop the new evolution of the Ferrari 430 GT3. Engaged in the FIA GT Championship, in the FIA GT3 European Championship and in the GT4 European Cup, JMB Racing is very busy on the FIA GT Championship week-end.

Kessel Racing – Ferrari 430
nr 37 Wido Roessler, Freddy Kremer
nr 38 Henri Moser, Gilles Vannelet
nr 39 Ronnie Kessel, Christopher Breuer

A worldwide Ferrari specialist, Lorris Kessel’s Kessel Racing, will participate in the full 2007 FIA GT3 European Championship season. With homogenous drivers, the aim of the Kessel Racing is keen to fight for the podium as soon as possible. With the new evolution of the Ferrari 430 GT3, Kessel Racing has a good weapon.

Spectrum Topspeed Racing – Ford Mustang FR500 GT
nr 40 Eric de Donker, Kenneth Heyer
nr 41 Dana Brewer, Gianni Giudici

Within two months Andreas Leberle has created Spectrum Topspeed Racing, with the support of Multimatic, to introduce the legendary Ford Mustang into the FIA GT3 European Championship. This impressive car, with a very particular look, will make its debut in Silverstone. Only two cars are ready for the first round, a third car will arrive in Bucharest.

Matech Racing – Ford GT
nr 43 Martin Barek, Thomas Mutsch
nr 44 Romain Bera, Stefan van Campenhoudt

Over the winter, Martin Bartek created Matech Racing, mainly based on the PSI team, with a lot of people like Christian Schumacher coming from there. Matech Racing built and developed the Ford GT in an incredibly short time. Two cars are at Silverstone, the third car should be ready for Bucharest.

Apex Motorsport - Jaguar and Auto GT Racing - Morgan
Neither Apex Motorsport, entering the Jaguar XKR, or AutoGT Racing, running the Morgan Aero8 GT3, will be taking part in the Silverstone races.  Although both teams are entered in the full 2007 season, the homologation procedure for the cars has not yet been completed. The cars, present in Silverstone, will do some demonstration laps on Sunday for the crowds.

Handicap Weights :
Ascari KZ1R : +160 kg of ballast, hard compound tyres, a raised chassis height by 7mm at the front and 7mm at the rear
Corvette Z06R : +100 kg of ballast, a raised chassis height of the chassis from the ground to 10mm at the front and 10mm at the rear, addition of 1 restrictor of 75.000 mm maximum diameter, hard compounded tyres
Dodge Viper Competition Coupe : +60kg of ballast, hard compound tyres, addition of 2 restrictors of 48.56 mm maximum diameter each, raising the height of the chassis from the ground to 89mm at the front and 114.5mm at the rear
Ford GT : +20 kg of ballast

For the Aston Martin DBRS9, the Ascari KZ1R, the Corvette Z06R, the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, the Ford GT and the Ford Mustang, the Bureau reserves the right to adjust the minimum weight of the car by means of a ballast at any time during the Silverstone event.

2007-05-05
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