KLAUSS LUDWIG ON THE GOOD RYTHM

For the first time, the FIA GT3 European Championship is racing in Monza, the fastest track of the season, where the top speed is really important. During both free practice sessions, the protagonists of the FIA GT3 European Championship were working on their cars’ setup for the race and the qualifying, which will take place at the end of the day. In both free practice sessions, Klaus Ludwig was fastest. So as expected, the Corvettes are fast here, but as usual all the times are incredibly close, and several different cars could win.

WEATHER
The weather was hot and dry all day, which makes for very good racing conditions.

PADDOCK RUNDOWN
As in Bucharest, 41 cars are at Monza, even if one Riverside Corvette, and one Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3 could not be here, after trouble at Bucharest. First Racing had to withdraw for this round, so only three Lamborghinis are here. But for the first time, three Morgan Aeros were ready for this round.
Some changes have occurred in the driver line-ups:
- In the nr 5 Trackspeed Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, Canadian Driver Darryl O’Young will race with Richard Williams, as James Pickford could not be there.
- As expected, Edward Morris is back in the RPM Dodge Viper Competition Coupe nr 8. He will race with Bradley Ellis. Usually driving in the nr 10 First Racing Lamborghini Gallardo, Maxime Dubrulle will race in Monza in the nr 9 RPM Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, with Georges Cabannes.
- Czech driver Jan Danis will participate for the first time in the FIA GT3 European Championship with Vadim Kuzminykh in the nr 14 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo.
- Jiri Skula and Martin Matzke are back in their usual car, the nr 17 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette.
- In the nr 25 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, Julien Rodrigues will race with his usual co-driver in the French FFSA GT3 Championship, Manuel Rodrigues. Manuel is Julien’s uncle.  After missing Bucharest,  Ron Marchal and Willem Coekelbergs are back in the nr 27 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9,
- Mikael Forsten switches from the Dodge to the Ascari, and will now race in the nr 30 Damax Ascari KZ1R GT3 with Richard Stanton.
- One more driver from Switzerland is on the grid : Konstantin Ioannidis, in the nr 37 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 with Freddy Kremer. With 5 drivers on the grid, Switzerland is one of the most represented countries in the FIA GT3 European Championship!
- After good results in GT4, Belgian driver Eric de Doncker and American driver Gunnar Jeannette are driving the nr 40 Topseed Racing Ford Mustang FR500 GT. Gunnar Jeannette, ex official Panoz driver, will participate in this Championship for the first time.
- Two young drivers are discovering the FIA GT3 European Championship in the AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero. Johan-Boris Scheier, winner of the 2006 French Clio Cup will race with Jean-François le Roch in the nr 51 Morgan Aero. Margot Laffite, the only girl on the grid, will also race for the first time here, with George-Alexandre Strurdza, in the nr 50 Morgan Aero.

HANDICAP WEIGHTS
Ascari KZ1R GT3 : +120 kg of ballast; hard compound tyres; raised chassis height of the chassis from the ground to 7mm at the front and to 7mm at the rear
Corvette Z06R : +40kg; only hard compound tyres; addition of 1 restrictor of 75.00mm maximum diameter
Dodge Viper Competition Coupe : +40 kg; only hard compound tyres; raised chassis height of the chassis from the ground to 89mm at the front and to 114,5mm at the rear; addition of 2 restrictors of 48.56mm maximum diameter each
Ford GT : +20kg

FIRST FREE PRACTICE : Klaus Ludwig gets off to a good
The nr 28 Damax Ascari KZ1R GT3 was the first car to set a significant time, in front of the nr 25 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 and the nr 31 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R. But of course, the times improved a lot during the session. The Ascaris were the fastest of the first part of this session, and the nr 28 Damax Ascari was leading the session when the red flag came out, because of the nr 24 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9, which was stuck on the track with a gear box problem.
At the restart, Klaus Ludwig, in the nr 16 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z06R set the fastest time with a lap of 1.54.976. The nr 28 Damax Ascari, the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini Gallardo and the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 each occupied second position for a while. With a lap of 1.55.6, the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari finally finished the session in second position ahead of the nr 32 Team Berlanga Ascari, and nr 15 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini. However, in this first free practice session, nobody was able to beat Klaus Ludwig's time.
Several cars had problems during this session. The nr 17 Martini Callaway Raing went out into the gravel, as did the nr 25 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9. The nr 32 Team Berlanga Ascari, the nr 5 Trackspeed Racing Porsche, the nr 43 Matech Racing Ford GT and the nr 14 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini Gallardo all stopped on the track with different problems. Both Riverside Corvettes had gearbox problems during this session.
All the teams will work to improve their times during the second session.

SECOND FREE PRACTICE : Klaus Ludwig still the fastest
The second session was once again dominated by Klaus Ludwig. At the beginning of the session most of the fastest drivers went on the track with old tyres on. Klaus Ludwig immediately set the fastest time, with a lap of 1.54.688, faster than in the morning's session. The nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 set the second fastest time, proving that once again the Championship Leaders have a good pace. On the fastest track of the season, the Dodge Viper Competition Coupe did well, the nr 8 RPM was third, the nr 9 was sixth and the nr 7 eighth. All RPM drivers are very motivated to get a good result here.
Despite the lack of top speed, the nr 24 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 set the fourth time. Once again, four different makes were in the top 4, and nine cars were in the same second, with the nr 9 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R in 9th position.
A few cars have had quite a difficult session, with technical problems, such as the nr 34 JMB Racing Ferrari 430 (electrical problems).
On new tyres for the qualifying session, the times will be better, and once Klaus Ludwig has finished his flying laps, we will certainly have a good reference time.

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