Five out of five - can anyone beat the Ford GT?

Before the FIA GT3 European Championship arrived at Oschersleben for the third event of the year, the GT Bureau decided to add 100kg of ballast to the Ford GT, making a massive 140kg. That wasn’t enough to stop Luca Pirri and Jürgen von Gartzen from taking their first win of the season in the No.19 Matech GT Racing Ford GT – the team has now won all five races this year. The win was founded on avoiding the first-corner mayhem, and then having just enough pace to see off their nearest challenger, the No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 of Thomas Accary and Pierre-Brice Mena. Third went to the No.26 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3 of Martin Rich and Andrew Thompson, the first podium finish for an Ascari this season.

 

First-lap incidents take their toll

‘To finish first, first you have to finish’ – that’s the old saying about racing. When the race got under way, it seemed that some drivers haven’t heard it – far too many tried to dive into the first corner. The No.47 Tech 9 Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 of Haase and von Thurn und Taxis had started from pole, and looked to be staying well clear to the outside – but then the No.21 Matech GT Racing Ford GT of Alex Mortimer and Bradley Ellis came hurtling down the inside, forcing both cars off the track and through the tyre barriers. Several other cars managed to hit each other; remarkably the No.19 Ford GT, starting from 11th, came through unscathed in second place, behind the No.8 Aston Martin. The No.21 car failed to complete the lap; neither did the No.20 Ford GT of Championship leaders Ian Khan and Thomas Mutsch. The No.17 Brixia Racing Aston Martin of Zani and Giraudi was also a first-lap casualty, despite having started second on the grid.

 

At this stage the No.40 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S of Bergmeister and Cloet was third, but soon they were given a drive-through penalty for jumping the start – that dropped them out of the top ten, promoting the No.1 Martini Callaway Corvette Z.06R GT3 of Peyroles and Ruffier into third. On lap 14 they were overtaken by the No.25 Team Berlanga Ascari of Greenhalgh and Zwart, the Ascari particularly well-suited to this circuit.

 

A lap later the pit-stop window opened, and the driver changes began. The No.25 and No.47 cars delayed their pit-stops to the final possible moment, coming in on lap 23; that handed the lead back to the No.8 Aston Martin, with the No.19 Ford GT hunting it down. A lap later the race of Peyroles and Ruffier was ruined when the No.1 Corvette picked up a right rear puncture, forcing them to pit and dropping them out of the points.

 

Ford takes the lead after pit-stops

It took von Gartzen only three more laps to take the lead, diving down the inside of the Aston Martin into the first corner. From there he had an untroubled run to the chequered flag, gradually pulling away from Mena. Behind them the No.26 Ascari was on a charge; having been outside the top ten before the pit-stops began, it climbed rapidly to fifth and then hunted down the cars ahead; Thompson made it onto the podium with seven laps remaining, going past the No.47 Lamborghini in the Hotel corner.

 

For Luca Pirri, the victory was doubly sweet after the car crashed heavily during the previous day’s free practice sessions. “It was very chaotic at the start, 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,” he said. “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.” Von Gartzen echoed those sentiments. “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. Everything was fantastic, and we had a perfect pit-stop.”

 

With the other two Ford GT cars failing to complete a single lap, and the No.1 Corvette finishing out of the points, there have been no significant changes in the Drivers’ Championship. Khan and Mutsch continue to lead, two points ahead of Peyroles and Ruffier, with Bradley Ellis a further two points back. It remains to be seen how many cars can be repaired in time for tomorrow’s race – the mechanics have less time than usual, since the race gets under way at 11am.

2008-07-05
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