Quotes

Alex Mortimer – No.21 Matech GT Racing Ford GT, 1st: “I only did 12 laps in the car in the dry yesterday, so going out on slicks in damp conditions was interesting. The car was fantastic; I started off fairly gently, just to be sure I didn’t make any mistakes. I caught the Porsche for second place, and then there was the incident involving the Porsche and our sister car. That brought out the safety car, and that was pretty much the end of my race – I brought it in and handed over to Bradley. It’s great to be back – we didn’t think we would be able to do this year, but thanks to the help of Matech and the sponsors, we get to drive the Ford GT – it’s excellent.”

 

Bradley Ellis – No.21 Matech GT Racing Ford GT, 1st: “I managed to catch the Corvette as he came out of the pits; I sat behind him, as I could see he was pushing hard, so I could pick the right place to overtake him. As soon as I was past, I got a little gap and controlled the race from there; if he got too close, I speeded up a bit. Comparing the Ford GT to the Dodge Viper we drove last year, they are both easy cars to drive, although we struggled a bit for pace with the Viper last year. I’m really glad we secured the deal to race the Ford GT.

 

Johan Charpilienne – No.28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3: “I had a good race; it was unfortunate that the safety car meant we lost the gap we had pulled out. We did a good job – I wasn’t supposed to be here this weekend, until Marc got me into the car. I’m very happy with how my first race with Marc has turned out – but we will try to do better tomorrow.” [Note: Johan spoke before the decision to exclude the car was announced.]

 

Marc Sourd – No.28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3: “I had a very good driver with me! I’m very happy, because this was only the second race for the team. Without the safety car, I think we would have had a great chance of winning the race. We’re hoping for better conditions tomorrow – and better luck.” [Note:Marc spoke before the decision to exclude the car was announced.]

 

Dimitris Deverikos – No.47 Tech 9 Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, 2nd: “I enjoyed my debut in the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship – the car is perfect in the wet. In the dry, it’s not so fast compared to the competition, especially the Ford GT. I want to say thank you to the Tech 9 team – they did a great job on the car – and to Christopher. We had a great race. I’m just hoping for a wet race tomorrow” [Note: Dimitris spoke before the decision to exclude the No.28 car moved them up to second was announced.]

 

Christopher Haase – No.47 Tech 9 Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, 2nd: “The car was very good, very consistent – I was able to do consistent lap times. Thanks to the good work of the Tech 9 team we had a good pit-stop, and managed to hold on to third place. In the last six laps I had a problem with brake pressure, so I had to back off – that allowed the Corvette to catch up, but I held on to third to the chequered flag.” [Note: Christopher spoke before the decision to exclude the No.28 car moved them up to second was announced.]

 

Gaël Lesoudier – No.29 AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero 8 GT3, 4th: “We made a mistake with our tyre choice, so we had to start the race from the pit-lane, after everyone had gone past. It was very difficult at the beginning of the race, on new tyres, but we pushed hard and finished fifth. It’s a surprising result, having started dead last – but we have a good car, the set-up was good, and if it’s a dry race tomorrow, I think it will be good for us. Who knows – perhaps if we had got the tyres right, we might have been on the podium.”

 

Pierre-Brice Mena – No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, 5th: “We qualified down in 29th, so it was always going to be a difficult race. I made a good start, and then Thomas had a great second stint, so we are very happy with how it went. The track was a bit wet at the start, so it was difficult at the start – I just want to say thank you to the team.”

 

Mark Thomas – No.39 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S, 13th: “That was an interesting race! There was a lot of chaos in front of us – we started well down the pack, so I could see it all happening. I had a good view of everything; there were a lot of spinning cars, people trying to make up too many places on the first lap. Overall, it was good – the track was good, the car was good on slicks, it was fun.”

 

Ray Bellm – No.33 APEX Motorsport Jaguar XKR, 14th: “That was hard work. We gradually got it up to speed – by the end of the race we were lapping in the 1:55 bracket, which was up with the second group of cars, so that wasn’t too bad.”

 

 

2008-05-17
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