Quotes

Ian Khan – No.20 Matech GT Racing Ford GT, first: “I had to come to a complete stop at the first corner after another car spun in front of me – that dropped me right down the field. There were a few bunches of cars which were tricky to get past as I fought my way up, but it was actually a smooth race – no contact with other cars! Tomorrow is another day – we’re not too confident, we’ll just wait to see what happens.”

 

Thomas Mutsch – No.20 Matech GT Racing Ford GT, first: “I had a relatively easy race – no real problems with traffic, and when I tried to overtake other people, they were very fair. The team did a great job over the winter to improve the car, the pit-stop went well, Ian drove well – it was a perfect race for us. Seven laps or so from the finish it started to rain a bit more, and conditions got very tricky, but our car handled very well. For the second race, we’re starting from pole – but it’s a long race, and there might be a safety car.”

 

Mikael Forster – No.36 Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S, second: “I started from pole, but I was struggling to get heat into my tyres. Once they were up to temperature the car was fantastic – I set fastest lap of the race, so I’m happy with that. At one stage I ran wide because of oil on the track, which was a shame, but there was no real damage done. Racing in both GT and GT3 helps me, because I don’t have that much experience, so every time I can get behind the wheel is good.”

 

David Loix – No.36 Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S, second: “This was my first race in the series, and I’m very pleased to be on the podium. The race went well, although conditions were tricky when it tried to rain.”

 

Gianluca Giraudi – No.17 Brixia Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, third: “A few cars had problems in the first two corners, but I managed to avoid getting the car damaged. After that it was fine – I had a good battle. We’re very happy to have finished on the podium.”

 

Marcello Zani – No.17 Brixia Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, third: “I’m part of the management of the team, and that meant I had a lot of things to keep me busy this weekend. That doesn’t make it easy to do the best job you can as a driver, but the team did a good job, which helped a lot. The conditions made it difficult to finish the race, but we came through and got a good result. I enjoy racing in the GT3 Championship – I think it’s an important championship.”

 

Martin Rich – No.26 Berlinga Racing Ascari ZK1R GT3, 9th: “Definitely a mixture between being very happy and disappointed. Having qualified 33rd, to finish ninth and be top Ascari is a great result – but to be just outside the points is very frustrating. The team did a great job, Andy and I managed to avoid the carnage and we showed we have the pace.”

 

James Ruffier – No.1 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3, 7th: “Arnaud had a problem at the beginning of the race when he got hit by another car. The car is fantastic when the track is dry, but when you get a little rain it is pretty difficult to drive. During the race we were really fast when it was dry, but slow each time it rained. So we need to work on the car’s handling in the wet – and hope it doesn’t rain tomorrow!”

 

Phil Quaife – No.33 APEX Motorsport Jaguar XKR, 5th: “We made a great start and took the lead, and it was all going well, the car felt well-balanced. But then another car dropped some oil and I was the first to hit it, and I went wide. That allowed the two cars behind me to close up; the last thing I wanted to do was throw the car off the road, so I was driving cautiously. When it rained, I was also suffering from understeer. We’re happy with where we finished – we’ll be aiming for a podium finish tomorrow.”

 

 

2008-04-19
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