Second win for Bouvy and Bornhauser

Two wins for Racing Logistic and their nr 10 Dodge Viper in Spa, giving reigning French GT Champion Patrick Bornhauser and Belgian driver Frédéric Bouvy a perfect start to the weekend - both drivers will now compete in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa in a PSI Corvette C6R.  Rain and sunshine accompanied two hectic and action-packed races at the beautiful and challenging Spa circuit.

WEATHER
After Saturday's race, Sunday dawned foggy and grey, but by the time the GT3 cars took to the track, the skies had cleared, leaving conditions hot and dry.

DOUBLE WIN FOR BORNHAUSER AND BOUVY
Come rain or shine, it made no difference to Patrick Bornhauser and Frédéric Bouvy; the duo made it two wins in two days for the nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper Competition Coupe. Winning the second race vaults Bornhauser to the top of the Drivers' Championship as the leaders after Oschersleben, Stefano Livio and Andrea Ceccato failed to score in the nr 27 Racing Box Dodge Viper.  This means there have been different Championship leaders after each two-race meeting.
Second place went to Dimitris Deverikos and Sean Edwards, the nr 9 Tech 9 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup pair repeating their result from the previous day; the points scored put them in a tie with Livio and Ceccato, two points behind Bornhauser. They snatched second on the final lap, a frantic dash to the flag after a lengthy safety car period. The intervention was necessary because of a huge accident involving the nr 26 Racing Box Dodge Viper of Cioci and Zonca and the nr 46 Damax Ascari KZ1R of Ward and Adams.
Third place went to the sister nr 11 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper of Olivier Dupard and Steve Zacchia, who had been involved in a race-long battle over the position; they finished narrowly ahead of the nr 24 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 of Franco Groppi and Toni Seiler, making it three different makes in the top four places.

RACE RUNDOWN
Under sunny skies and on a dry track, the second race of the FIA GT3 European Championship in Spa started at midday. After incidents in the first race, a number of cars could not be repaired for this second race of the weekend, including the nr 22 Barwell Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9, nr 29 Pouchelon Racing Dodge Viper Coupe Competition, nr 45 and nr 47 Damax Ascari KZ1R.
In the nr 19 Riverside Corvette Z06 GT3, James Ruffier made the best start and overtook poleman Fred Bouvy. Sean Edwards, in the nr 9 Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, was third. In fourth, Steve Zacchia (nr 11 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper) was battling with Stefano Livio (nr 27 Racing Box Dodge Viper). It was very close in the "Bus Stop" chicane between Zacchia, Cioci, Livio, Zani and Corradi. Zacchia managed to hold 4th, Ciocci 5th, Zani 6th, Corradi 7th.
Running in close company, Ruffier and Bouvy had a fierce battle for first position, and Bouvy managed to take the lead at the "La Source" hairpin on lap 4. Sean Edwards was 3.5 seconds behind in third, with Zacchia a further 4sec behind, still battling with Cioci, nr 26 Racing Box Dodge Viper, and Zani, nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9.
On lap 9, after several attempts, Marcello Zani managed to overtake Marco Cioci for 5th position. On the next lap Zani turned up the heat and passed Zacchia to go fourth; at this stage, he was quickly reeling in Edwards, in the nr 9 Tech 9 Porsche.
Starting back on the 9th row, Klaus Ludwig, in the nr 16 Team Carsport Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3 and Marc Sourd, in the nr 20 Riverside Corvette Z06 GT3, were into the top 10 after 10 laps.
On lap 11, both the nr 17 and nr 18 Team Carsport Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3 cars had a "coming together" on the downhill run into "Eau Rouge"; the nr 18 clipped the wall, but continued with light damage to the bodywork.
After 32 minutes, the nr 11 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper was the first of the leaders to go to the pits, Zacchia handing over to Olivier Dupard. A lap later, on lap 14, almost all the leaders pitted; Ruffier stayed out and resumed the race lead, and Sean Edwards (nr 9 Porche), Marco Cioci (nr 16 Dodge), Klaus Ludwig (nr 16 Corvette), Bruno Corradi (nr 28 Dodge) and Fred Makowiecki (nr 12 Dodge) all chose to stay on track until the last possible moment.
Once all the pit-stops were over, the nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper, now driven by Patrick Bornhauser, was back in the lead, ahead of nr 19 Riverside Corvette Z06 GT3 of François Xavier Terny, and the nr 9 Tech 9 Porsche of Deverikos.
21 minutes before the chequered flag, nr 26 Racing Box Dodge Viper of Stefano Zonca and nr 46 Damax Ascari KZ1 R of Nick Adams had a major accident at Kemmel. The Safety Car came out on lap 15, to allow the wreckage to be removed and the debris to be cleared from the track.
Behind the Safety Car, the top ten was: nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper, nr 19 Riverside Corvette, nr 9 Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche, nr 11 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper, nr 28 Racing Box Dodge Viper, nr 6 Autosport Promotion Porsche, nr 24 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin, nr 44 Barwell Motorsport Aston Martin, nr 20 Riverside Corvette and nr 8 Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche.
With just three minutes of the one-hour race remaining, the green flag was out, and the final furious lap got under way. In the nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper, Patrick Bornhauser managed to hold on to first position, for the second win of the week-end for himself and Bouvy. Behind him there was a five-car battle; when the chequered flag fell, Deverikos took second in the nr 9 Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche, Dupard went up to third position, and nr 24 BMS Scuderai Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 of Franco Groppi took the fourth place, first of the Aston Martin, just before the "Bus Stop" chicane. Falling from second to sixth on the last lap, the nr 19 Riverside Corvette Z06 GT3 of François-Xavier Terny and James Ruffier was the first of the Corvettes. The nr 76 AF Corse finished first of the Maserati GranSport Light cars, the nr 13 Reiter Engineering was the first Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 and the nr 33 JMB Racing finished first of the Ferrari cars.

RACE TWO QUOTES
Patrick Bornhauser, nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, 1st: "With these two wins we are doing a good job in the Championship, but as I used to do in the French FFSA GT Championship, I never think about our Championship position before the last race. We had some problems at the beginning of the season, but now it is ok, and we will see what is going to happen during the next races. We have to be consistent, score points, and do our best. Now we have to concentrate on the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa, where I'm racing with Fred Bouvy on the PSI Experience Corvette C6R… and it is a good experience for us, with an incredible car."

Frédéric Bouvy, nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, 1st: "It is great to win both races in this Championship.  Now we have a longer race ahead of us, it is going to be hard to have a third victory this weekend, but you never know. This race was interesting; I made a cautious start as I'm a guest driver this weekend and I don't want to break the car. Two cars overtook me, but I quickly re-passed one. Then I was behind Ruffier, I studied his way of driving, and I managed to pass him."

Sean Edwards, nr 9 Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, 2nd: "In Oschersleben we were expecting to win, but we failed. This weekend it was also very close in both races. At the start I did my best, I tried to pass the Corvette and the Dodge, but I put a wheel on the grass, so I stayed in 3rd position. I held my position during the race, but at the end an Aston Martin caught me up, but it was time to head for the pits. Dimitris spent most of his time behind the Safety Car, and he did a wonderful last lap. It is a good result for the Championship. All the team did a huge job this week end."

Dimitris Deverikos, nr 9 Tech 9 Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, 2nd: "In fact I only did one fast lap after the Safety Car, so the last lap was very important… I'm happy because I managed to take second place. Sean did a fantastic job, and the whole team was perfect during the entire weekend."

Franco Groppi, nr 24 BMS Scuderai Italia Aston Martin DBRS9, 4th: "The end of the race was incredible. The car was very quick, and when the Safety Car pulled in, I decided to do an "all or nothing lap"! I passed several cars, it was great. Now we are looking forward to the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa…"

Toni Seiler, nr 24 BMS Scuderai Italia Aston Martin DBRS9, 4th: "The start was not too bad… even if at the beginning it was crazy… with many cars everywhere. A few drivers just can't wait! It is a great series, very interesting, with lots of fighting for position. Yesterday that wasn't good for us, we had an accident with another car, but today we were lucky. I'm happy to also race in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa, every time I have had a good race, so we will see. We are using another Aston Martin DBRS9 car, with a special engine, and I hope it is going to be good."

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