GT3 in the Temple of Speed

For the second race of the season the FIA GT3 European Championship visits ‘the Cathedral of Speed’, the Autodromo Nazionale Monza – one of the most historic racing circuits in the world. The super-fast nature of the circuit tends to favour cars with large engines, so everyone will have their work cut out to catch the championship leaders, Ian Khan and Thomas Mutsch – their Matech GT Racing Ford GT has a 5.4-litre V8.

The flip side is that large engines have heavier fuel consumption; with no refuelling allowed during each of the one-hour races, some teams may need to balance speed against fuel consumption. Last year the Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z06R GT3 of Luca Pirri and Jürgen Von Gartzen won the first race, and were also first to take the chequered flag in the second race; but they ran out of fuel on the way back to the pits. The regulations require a car to have at least 2kg of fuel remaining in the tank for checking – so Pirri and Von Gartzen were disqualified. That gave victory to the Ferrari F430 of Henri Moser and Gilles Vannelet, who went on to take the 2007 Drivers’ title.

The first two races of the season, at Silverstone, produced a feast of racing. The weather had a part to play, with the first race being declared a wet race as showers fell with only minutes to go. With everyone searching for grip the result was action all through the field; Khan and Mutsch fought past their opponents from a lowly twelfth on the grid to take the win. Remarkably the top nine places were taken by nine different makes of car.

That variety came close to being repeated in the second race, where the top six places went to different makes. The end result was the same – victory for Khan and Mutsch, and the championship lead. Mikael Forsten and David Loix, in the Prospeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S, are six points back having claimed two podium finishes, while Arnaud Peyroles and James Ruffier lie third after finishing seventh and second in the No.1 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3.

So everyone will be striving to catch the flying Ford GT – and the results at Silverstone will have given everyone hope that they will succeed. Besides the Ford, points were scored by Porsche, Corvette, Aston Martin, Ferrari, Jaguar, Lamborghini, Dodge and Morgan entries.

“Thomas and I will be doing our best to reproduce our Silverstone form – but everyone has had a chance to do some testing now, so we certainly don’t expect it to be easy for us,” Ian Khan said. “The Porsche and Corvette were very quick there during the pre-season test, and the Jaguar had some of the highest top speeds at Silverstone, so we’re facing some tough competition.

The first hour-long race will be held on Saturday, with the second race on Sunday. With more than forty cars on the circuit, the two 20-minute qualifying sessions on Saturday morning will be particularly hectic as everyone tries to find a clear lap – or tries to get a helpful draft down the long straights.

Ian KHAN – No.20 Matech GT Racing Ford GT: “Monza is a fast circuit that favours powerful cars. The Corvettes went very well there last year, and I don’t think they’ve got any slower. I love Monza – I live in Monaco, and I consider it to be my ‘home’ circuit. I enjoy going there, the atmosphere is great, it has a tremendous history – and the food is great, too!”

James RUFFIER – No.1 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3: “We went very well at Monza last year, and finished second – we could have won, except for a small problem during our pit-stop. I’m sure that we will be able to go better than we have at Silverstone, because we’re going to have a test session to set the car up, and try different things. Monza is a good track for our car – but I think other cars will be strong, such as the Ford GT and Porsche.”

Sascha BERT, No.2 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3: “I am really looking forward to making my debut in the FIA GT3 European Championship; I was working with the Martini Callaway team before the season began, and now I’m happy to get the opportunity to race with them. We went very well at Monza in the pre-season test, where we were quickest on the first day – I think the Corvette is good enough to qualify in the top three or four spots. I like Monza a lot – it’s a very quick circuit, and I’ve had some good races there in the past.”

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