What the Drivers Say.... After Round 3

Nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia - 1st
Federico Leo: “Thank you to everyone. I did a good start. It was my first start from the first row in GT. It was exciting for me. I tried to make as big a gap as possible as we had the 10 second penalty from Portimao. The car was very fast. I need to say thank you to the team. It is the first victory for AF Corse in the FIA GT3, and a new car; it’s been very good work. I’m very sorry for the other AF Corse car. Francesco also did a very good job to keep and increase the gap as well. My team told me to stay out longer as we were increasing the gap.”

Francesco Castellacci: “I was really pleased with the gap I had. I increased it a bit more, and I just tried to keep the same pace until the end of the race, without stressing the tyres too much. The car was really good. Federico gave me a really good car, in very good condition, so I just had to handle it to the end of the race. I would just like to also thank the Michelin for giving us very good tyres, and the team and Michelotto, to give us a very good package and a good car.”

Nr9 Team LMP Motorsport - 2nd
Gael Lesoudier: “I’m very happy to be here. We have a good feeling on this circuit. Two years ago we won here with the Morgan. I did a good start. I decided to race safe, because we knew that we had some trouble at the front at the end of the race. But we made a little mistake during the pitstop, we had some trouble with the seat belt and lost more or less 5 seconds. Maxime did a great job and overtook some cars, as he usually does. We like this layout, it’s quite different, but it’s a track where the Aston is very fast.”

Maxime Martin: “This place is great for the team and for Aston Martin, and we’ll see for the second race, where we’re starting from the first row, so I hope we can do something good. We can make the difference on the quick corners and it’s definitely a track for the Aston. Tomorrow, we’ll push and we will see.”

Nr3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 - 3rd
Philippe Giauque: “When you start in 15th, the trick is to not touch any other car, and to pass the car over to Mike in the best possible position for him to finish the race, and he did it. I was following a Mercedes for my whole run, and as the same Mercedes pushed me out in Portimao, I decided to stay behind and to wait. I just took my time and kept the tyres in a good condition for Mike. I know how good the Ferrari is because I drive one off the track, but the Mercedes is a good car, but they keep on adding weight to us. We are so heavy, which you can see as he made the pole in Portimao, but was only 11th today.”

Mike Parisy: “It was a very good result for the team and for us. The car was perfect after Philippe’s stint. I tried to push and catch up to the leaders. We overtook a lot of cars. It was very difficult, but I had the same rhythm as Maxime, so I managed to pass 3rd in the last lap. It was very intense. It’s been a very good result. We had a difficult qualifying this morning, the car is very heavy now and it’s not very easy for us.”

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