Quotes

Luca Pirri – No.19 Matech GT Racing Ford GT, 1st: “I got a very good start; it was very chaotic, because too many cars thought they could overtake into the first corner, and they didn’t make it. I was fortunate to avoid contact with anyone. Our main aim was to get some points, so we were going to play it safe, but once I was up to second I pushed hard, trying to get a gap. The car felt really good – I have to thank my mechanics for an awesome job repairing the car, because we weren’t even sure we would be able to race today. To begin with, I lost a few seconds to the Aston Martin, but then the gap stabilised. We were having a few problems with the brakes, so I was mostly managing the gap to the cars behind.”

 

Jürgen von Gartzen – No.19 Matech GT Racing Ford GT, 1st: “Everything was fantastic – Luca did all the hard work behind this victory, so I didn’t have too much to do! We had a perfect pit-stop, and I could manage the problem with the brakes, so I managed to overtake him. After that, I was just monitoring the lap times. In qualifying, we were happy that the car was ready, because it looked awful after yesterday’s accident. We never imagined that we could win.”

 

Thomas Accary – No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, 2nd: “I made a good start; at the first corner, I was amazed to find that I was leading. It was a really difficult race because it was very hot inside the car. Apart from the heat, I had no problems with the car - I have to thank Hexis Racing and Aston Martin.

 

Pierre-Brice Mena – No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, 2nd: “It was very hot inside the car, so it was difficult to keep concentrating. I took over the car from Thomas, but I couldn’t hold off the Ford GT. Thanks to Hexis and Aston Martin.”

 

Martin Rich – No.26 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3, 3rd: “I was very unhappy after qualifying, so I’m extremely happy to have finished third. The team has done a lot of work on the car to improve it over the past few weeks, which has made it easier to drive. I felt I’d let the team down after I qualified 18th, so this is excellent. I got a good run into the first corner, where it was utter chaos – I haven’t a clue what happened, and just tried to avoid everyone else. After that I just kept my head down – it was a bit frustrating because I was caught up with a couple of Corvettes and Lamborghinis; the Ascari was much better through the corners, but they were better on the brakes, so it was tough to get past them. But I just concentrated on staying with them, and we had a very good pit-stop.”

 

Andrew Thompson – No.26 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3, 3rd: “I had a fairly uneventful run – when I got in the car, I didn’t have much traffic around me. I overtook one or two cars, but most of the gains were achieved during the pit-stop. The car was very well balanced – the team has done a lot of work on reliability, which paid off. It’s nice to finally get a good result with the car – a win would really seal it for everyone involved on the project.”

 

Christopher Haase – No.47 Tech 9 Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, 4th: “My race was awful – really bad. At the first corner I braked at the normal point, and everyone hit me – that ruined the race for me. The car was really bad after that – the suspension was damaged when someone hit me.”

 

Albert von Thurn und Taxis – No.47 Tech 9 Motorsport Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, 4th: “My race wasn’t too nice – the tyres had really gone off, so the car felt completely different to how it was in qualifying. I tried to hold off the Ascari, but I couldn’t it was just too quick – so rather than risk the position, I concentrated on bringing the car home.”

 

Martin Matzke – No.38 MM-Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3, 6th: “The first corner was very difficult – there were a lot of cars. I managed to avoid everyone, but it put us further back, which gave us a tough race. But Jiri brought the car home sixth, which is excellent.”

 

Jiri Skula – No.38 MM-Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3, 6th: “My race was very tough – the radio wasn’t working, so I couldn’t talk to the guys on the pit wall. That meant I didn’t know whether I was racing the cars around me, or whether they were a lap down. But the race finished well, and we were the first Corvette.”

 

Dino Lunardi – No.43 La Torre Motorsport Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, 8th: “Our race was very difficult. Gilles made a really impressive start – he went from sixteenth to third on the first lap. But then the car didn’t have the speed of our competitors, so we dropped back.”

 

Bruce Lorgeré-Roux – No.11 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT3, 9th: “Pascal did a good stint, he handed the car over to me in 19th or 20th place. We had a good race - our objective was to stay on the track and finish. In my stint, I tried my best to gain some more places, but the Ferrari’s performance isn’t as good as some of the other cars. We finished 9th, which is still good, and we set the third fastest lap time in the race. And I’m glad that Pascal and I are up on the podium in Europe – that’s cool.”

 

Tim Bergmeister – No.40 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S, 11th: “It was a bit difficult at the start – everyone in front braked, so I braked and altered my line, but I still got a drive-through penalty. I can’t complain – those are the rules. It’s not a bad result after doing a drive-through – we are the best Porsche. But we still have the same problem; the car is good under braking and has good traction for acceleration, but the straight-line speed isn’t there.”

 

Robert Hissom – No.32 APEX Motorsport Jaguar XKR, 24th: “We can’t believe we did it – we started a lap down, from the pit lane. The team did a great job to put the car back together; we had a good race, and on to tomorrow.”

 

Ben Clucas – No.32 APEX Motorsport Jaguar XKR, 24th: “Once we had started a lap down, we decided to use the race as an extended test session, to get more laps in the car for myself and Rob. This was only our third race of the year – the team put in a lot of hard work to get the car going in time.”

 

2008-07-05
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