On to Round Two

After the undeniable success of the inaugural meeting of the FIA GT3 European Championship, the teams and drivers are now heading to Germany, and to the Motorsport Arena Oschersleben.  A much shorter circuit, and very different from Silverstone - tight and twisty, technical and quite challenging, the track is 3.667 km long, which should make for a great show with the planned 45 cars.

Although there has been a break of nearly two months between the meetings, the teams and cars have not been idle.  As well as working and testing, the cars have also been racing. Barwell entered its Aston Martin DBRS9 cars in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship, winning the GT3 class at Donington Park, while Riverside, Racing Logistic and Pouchelon raced in the GT Masters at Pau, where Pouchelon claimed five of the six overall podium positions !  However, this event also saw one of the Racing Logistic Vipers come to grief, and the car will miss Oschersleben.

After the first two thrilling races, JMB Racing Ferrari has taken a slender lead while their drivers,  Simonsen and Lester, with one win and one second place, lead the Drivers Classification.  Second  in the classification is Italian team Racing Box, whose  Dodge Viper Coupe of Stefano Livio and Andrea Ceccato, won the second race. 

The Championship’s innovative Cup of Cups concept means that only the leading car from each brand comes to the podium at the end of each race, so that all manufacturers are represented.  Moreover, where there are at least six cars competing, points are also awarded in a separate Cup classification.    In the Porsche Cup, Tech 9 drivers Dimitri Deverikos, Sean Edwards, James Murphy and Paul van Splunteren are in the lead.  Stefano Zonca, Marco Cioci, Andrea Ceccato and Stefano Livio, all driving for Racing Box, lead the Dodge Cup, while Martin Rich and Piers Johnson, for Barwell, have a two-point lead over BMS’s Mugelli and Zani in the Aston Martin classification.

With a planned grid of 45 cars, eight different cars represented, and a grand total of 90 drivers, the second meeting of the FIA GT3 European Championship should make a magnificent sight on the Oschersleben start-finish line.  And hopefully the sun will shine, after the two wet races in Silverstone !  If the races are even half as thrilling, the Oschersleben crowds are in for a real treat !

JMB FERRARI RACING : PROUD TO BE FIRST WINNER
Having won the first race in Silverstone with Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen’s Ferrari 430 GT3 Challenge, the team is looking forward to the second meeting in Oschersleben. Team manager Christophe Pizzoglio explained : “JMB Racing Ferrari hopes to continue its good performances in Oschersleben and will do everything possible to finish once more on the podium for this second round, which looks like being extremely close.”  Simonsen was equally enthusiastic :  “I don’t know the track, but I don’t have any problems with new tracks. My team mate Hector Lester, however, has raced there so that’s a great start. I am really looking forward to the race, the first race at Silverstone was fantastic.. The show that SRO put on blew everyone away;  to see so many cars, teams and drivers was just fantastic.I believe we will be right on the pace again at Oshersleben my teammate Hector Lester our team JMB, and my race engineer John Buchan were outstanding at Silverstone so I say bring on Germany we are ready !”

POUCHELON TRIUMPHANT IN PAU
After making an excellent start in Silverstone with its Dodge Viper Competition Coupe cars, Pouchelon Racing competed in the FFSA French GT Cup at Dijon and Pau, with two fine wins at Dijon and a magnificent one-two-three at the spectacular Pau street circuit.
Since then, the team managed by Alexandre Pouchelon, Gilles Gaignault and Christophe Alary has been very busy.  The cars have been totally dismantled and checked before the second FIA GT3 meeting in Oschersleben.  The team also had a full day’s testing on the French circuit of Lurcy Levis, where they tested some talented young French drivers, who have come up through the Peugeot junior formulae : Kevin Morel and Maxime Dubrulle.  They also tested two young female drivers, Lucy Brecht, who usually drives a Porsche, and Corentine Quiniou, who has driven a Mitsubishi on the Dakar.  Two of them should make their FIA GT3 debut alongside Anthony Reid, Gilles Duqueine and Luc de Winter.  Furthermore, experienced German racer Wido Roessler had just signed for the team, and is looking forward to driving the Viper in his home race.

TECH 9 KEEN TO CAPITALISE
With Deverikos and Edwards finishing second overall in the first-ever FIA GT3 race, the British team, reigning British GTC Champions, are lying third overall in the Teams classification and have placed their drivers in the top six places in the Porche Cup !
‘Tech 9 head off to northern Germany in anticipation of round 2 of the FIA GT3 Championship. I expect another strong team performance in Germany that follows on from our success at Silverstone after a fantastic duel in race 1 between our No.9 Porsche 997 GT3 of Deverikos and Edwards, and the Ferrari 430 of Simonsen and Lester,” team boss Phil Hindley explained. “The No.7 car of Bryant and Dumarey was unfortunately punted out of a top five finish on the last lap, so will be looking to challenge for another strong finish, whilst the No.8 car of Murphy and Van Splunteren mastered the tricky conditions of race 2 to finish at the head of the Porsche manufacturers Cup, and will be keen to capitalise on their Silverstone points haul “

BMS ANNOUNCE DRIVER CHANGE
Italian team BMS Scuderia Italia, entering three Aston Martin DBRS9 cars in the inaugural season of the FIA GT3 European Championship, has announced that Lilian Bryner and Enzo Calderari have decided not to continue in the Championship.  “This decision, due to some personal problems, follows five intense and productive seasons with the Italian crew,” the team stated in a press release.  BMS is now looking for two drivers to take part in the Oschersleben race.
Bryner and Calderari have competed with BMS in the FIA GT Championship in previous seasons, culminating with victory in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa in 2004.   The other cars are shared by Massimiliano Mugelli and Marcello Zani, and by Toni Seiler and Franco Groppi

DAMAX LOOK FORWARD TO OSCHERSLEBEN
After an excellent first round in Silverstone, with Collins and Scott finishing third in the first race, and Pirri /Turvey in the points in race two, the team is looking forward to the second round.
 “Damax are looking forward to Oschersleben after a promising first round at Silverstone.  The Championship is looking very good and we are confident that the Ascari’s will be competitive in Germany. Thanks to all at SRO,” the team stated beforehand.
 
 ZACCHIA AIMS FOR GOOD RESULT IN OSCHERSLEBEN
Steve Zacchia, who has raced in the FIA GT Championship for Larbre, and won the Le Mans Endurance Series with them in 2004, claimed a best result of third in the first round of the FIA GT3 European Championship.  “I’ll be back behind the wheel of the Racing Logistic Dodge Viper Competition Coupe for Oschersleben, and for the rest of the season” the young Swiss driver explained.
“My first aim is to come back to Switzerland with plenty of points, as our main aim this year, for myself and my team-mate Olivier Dupard, is to claim as many podiums as possible this year, and hopefully the title.  We’ve seen that competition is fierce this year, and to hope to score points, you have to fight until the very last second ! 
We have quite a handicap in the Dodge, as we have a lot of handicap weight and restrictors, which makes the car difficult to driive.  But we are confident, and we’ll fight to score points for us, but also for Racing Logistic and Jack Leconte.
As far as the circuit is concerned, I must admit that I don’t know it - I’ve never driven there.  But I hope it’ll bring us luck, and let us

BARWELL MOTORSPORT GOES INTERNATIONAL
British team Barwell Motorsport is looking forward to taking its Aston Martin DBRS9 cars across to Germany, after racing at Silverstone and then in Donington in the Avon Tyres British GT Championship.
“We are looking forward to our first ‘international’ GT3 event, and are hoping that some improvements to our Aston Martin DBRS9s will mean that we can fight for overall top three finishes,” Chris Needell explained. “Just like our country’s football team, Barwell will be hoping for English success in Germany!”

SOFREV- AUTO SPORT PROMOTION
Next stop for SOFREV - Autosport Promotion team boss Jérôme Policand, who recently finished 7th overall and third in LM-GT1 in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is Oschersleben, for the second FIA GT3 meeting. The team, which took pole position for the second race, will be entering its three Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars once again. “In Silverstone we were surprised to be the fastest car in qualifying with Morgan Moullin Traffort,” Policand explained. “Even if Oschersleben should suit to the Porsche, our drivers will drive for the first time on this track. So, a podium will be a great result for Traffort/Cattaneo. Concerning Balthazard/Savary and Chatelain/Beaubelique the goal is to finish in the top ten””

RETERA TO CONCENTRATE ON FIA GT3
It has been announced  that Dutch teenager Dennis Retera would no longer be racing for T-Sport in the Lloyds TSB Insurance British F3 International Series, but would concentrate on racing the Lamborghini Gallardo in the FIA GT3.  He will share the Reiter Engineering car with Marius Ritskes.

FULL COMPLEMENT OF CORVETTES FOR R2
There should be six Corvette Z06 cars on the grid for the second meeting of the Championship, with three entered by Team Carsport Callaway and three from French team Riverside.  This would mean that the drivers will become eligible to score points towards the Corvette Cup

ANOTHER BUSY WEEKEND FOR AF CORSE
Like BMS Scuderia Italia and JMB Racing, AF Corse is competing in both the FIA GT  and the FIA GT3 European Championships, making for a busy race weekend !  The Italian team, which is leading the GT2 category with its Ferrari 430 GT2 cars, races Maserati GranSport Light cars in the GT3 class.  Team boss Amato Ferrari explained :
”We  are approaching Oschersleben hoping to get more satisfaction than Silverstone. We hope to be quite competitive even if we know very well the difficulties faced by our cars with the current performance balancing.  Our cars are in the same Silverstone configuration.”   The all-Italian sextet for the three AF Corse cars are Roberto Sperati / Andrea Palma in the nr 76, Alberto Cerrai and Diego Alessi in the nr 77, and Lorenzo Casè and Benedetto Marti in the nr 78.

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