Monza Free Practice: Dry Morning, Wet Afternoon

RUNDOWN

43 cars are due to take part in this weekend’s third and fourth rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship. The No.2 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3 will make its first appearance of the year, with Alois Meir and Sascha Bert sharing the driving. One significant driver change is that Stéphane Lemeret has switched teams from the No.44 Gravity Racing Ascari KZ1R GT3; he will partner David Loix in the No.36 Prospeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S which took two podium places at Silverstone.

 

WEATHER

The weather in Monza is warm but wet – there were afternoon showers on Friday, with heavy rain forecast for both Saturday and Sunday.

 

HANDICAP WEIGHTS AND RESTRICTIONS

Ascari KZ1R GT3: +80 Kg; Corvette Z.06R GT3: +60Kg; Ford GT: +40Kg; Lamborghini Gallardo GT3: +20Kg; Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S: +20Kg.

All other restrictions remain unchanged, with the exception of the Ford GT, where the two air restrictors must now be 52mm in diameter, down from 53mm.

 

LAST SEASON

On the first visit of the FIA GT3 European Championship to Monza, Pirri and Von Gartzen, racing for the Callaway Corvette team took the win in the first race, and also crossed the line first in the second race – but they were excluded from the second race after running out of fuel and not having the mandatory 2kg remaining in the tank. That handed victory to the Ferrari F430 of eventual champions Moser and Vannelet, ahead of the Martini Callaway Corvette of Peyroles and Ruffier, and the RPM Dodge Viper of Morris and Ellis; the RPM duo had already claimed second in the opening race, ahead of the BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 of Alessi and Frassinetti.

 

FIRST FREE PRACTICE : MARTINI CALLAWAY IN THE LEAD AS CORVETTE AND VIPER DOMINATE

The forecast rain showers stayed away for the first free practice session, although the weather was warm and humid. As usual the opening laps were relatively slow and steady as teams and drivers checked their cars over; it wasn’t until seven minutes into the one-hour session that the 2-minute barrier was broken when the No.46 Tech 9 Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 put in a lap of 1:58.875.

Several cars found the Parabolica curve to be tricky. The No.28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette ran wide and onto the gravel, but the driver managed to save it and headed towards the pits. The No.17 Brixia Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 wasn’t so fortunate, going backwards into the tyre barriers and damaging the right rear corner, while the No.9 Hexis Racing Aston Martin also went off but came to a halt without hitting anything.

The session came to a premature end when the No.46 Tech 9 Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 spun into the barriers on the approach to the first chicane. It slid to a halt on the inside of the track and the session was red-flagged with five minutes remaining; however the car had dropped oil on the circuit after the first hit, and the session wasn’t restarted.

The top four places were taken by two Corvettes and two Dodge Vipers; the No.2 Martini Callaway Corvette was quickest, ahead of the No.43 and No.41 La Torre Motorsport Dodge Viper Competition Coupes. The No.28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette was fourth. The next five places went to five different makes of car – the No.6 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S was fifth, ahead of the No.44 Gravity Racing Ascari KZ1R GT3, the No.32 Apex Motorsport Jaguar XKR, the Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 and the Matech GT Racing Ford GT; the No.1 Martini Callaway Corvette rounded out the top ten. Quickest Ferrari F430 was the No.11 JMB Racing entry, just ahead of the No.29 AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero 8 GT3. The No.46 Tech 9 Motorsport was 23^rd, making it the fastest Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, while the No.22 Matech Mustang Racing Ford Mustang FR500 GT was down in 32^nd.

 

SECOND FREE PRACTICE : RAIN AND INCIDENTS RESULT IN FERRARI FASTEST

The forecast rain arrived half an hour before the second session began; a torrential shower swept across the Monza circuit. It had just about stopped raining by the time the cars took to the track, but the circuit was still soaking. The result was that the first quick times were more than 15 seconds slower than the pace set in the first session, and stayed that way for over half the session.

 

The difficult conditions saw many cars spinning, most without damage. The first chicane caught several drivers out, some of whom opted to go straight on. Two or three drivers also went straight on at the second chicane, which saved them some time – the No.41 La Torre Dodge Viper took the opportunity to set a lap of 2:07.291 by doing this.

 

After 25 minutes the No.7 Trackspeed Porsche stopped on the entry to the Curva del Serraglio, between the Lesmo and Ascari corners – that brought out the red flags, to allow the car to be recovered. When the session resumed, the times started to come down, while the number of cars spinning and cutting the chicanes increased! With just over ten minutes remaining the No.12 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 spun at the first chicane and took a minute or so to resume, which brought out a full-course yellow.

 

By this time, the track had dried enough for cars to go back out on slicks, and the times soon started to tumble – at one stage the fastest lap changed five times in just over a minute. The first sub-2-minute time was set by the No.6 Trackspeed Porsche, with a 1:57.554, but that was beaten just seconds later when the No.5 Kessel Racing Ferrari lapped in 1:57.220. But then the No.32 APEX Motorsport Jaguar spun on the entry to the Ascari chicane; the car was badly damaged when it hit the wall, although the driver was unhurt. Waved yellow flags were shown, so when the No.2 Martini Callaway Corvette set a new best time of 1:55.616, the stewards disallowed it.

The final times may not mean much, with the yellow flags preventing drivers from setting a good time just as the circuit was almost dry – but the result was five different makes of car in the top six. Behind the No.5 Kessel Racing Ferrari was the No.10 Hexis Racing Aston Martin, with the No.6 Trackspeed Porsche third fastest. The No.45 Gravity Racing Ascari was fourth quickest, ahead of the No.36 Prospeed Competition Porsche and the No.14 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini. The No.33 APEX Motorsport Jaguar was eleventh, while the No.28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette was sixteenth – a dramatic turn-around from the first session, where Corvettes claimed first and fourth. Just behind the Corvette was the No.19 Matech GT Racing Ford GT, with the No. 29 AutoGT Morgan in 24^th. Only one Dodge Viper took to the circuit for the second session – the No.41 La Torre car was 26^th. Similarly just one Ford Mustang FR500 GT went out, the No.22 Matech Mustang car being 31^st.

 

2008-05-16
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