Bouvy fastest in first free practice

For the third round of the season, the FIA GT3 European Championship is racing on challenging track of Spa-Francorchamps. The two one-hour races are going to be exciting, with 41 cars expected on the starting grid. The first race is going to be on Friday afternoon, and the second on Saturday, few hours before the start of the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa, for which a few competitors in the FIA GT3 European Championship will also join the starting grid.

WEATHER
Overcast but hot and humid, there were a few drops of rain in the late afternoon; storms remain a possibility for the weekend.

GT BUREAU : PERFORMANCE EQUALISING
The following decisions are valid for this event :
- Dodge Viper Competition Coupe : hard tyres ; two restrictors of 48.56 mm increased ride height ; +100 kg
- Ascari KZ1R : + 100 kg and hard tyres ; +10 mm to ride height front and rear
- Corvette Z06 : one restrictor of 75 mm ; +100 kg; hard tyres ; + 10 mm to ride height front and rear
- Aston Martin DBRS9 : + 60 kg

THE SEASON SO FAR…
After the first-ever FIA GT3 European Championship race meeting in Silverstone, where Hector Lester and Allan Simonsen in the Ferrari 430 Challenge GT3 won the first race and Livio and Ceccato in the Racing Box Dodge Viper Coupe won the second, all the competitors went on the twisting Oschersleben track.
In the first race, Racing Box led a Dodge Viper one-two, with Andrea Ceccato and Stefano  Livio victorious ahead of the Pouchelon Racing Viper of Anthony Reid and Gilles Duqueine.  In round four, the Aston Martin DBRS9 claimed its first win in the FIA GT3 European Championship, with BMS Scuderia Italia's Marcello Zani and Massimiliano Mugelli finishing ahead of their team-mates Toni Seiler and Franco Groppi.  Third place went to the Riverside Corvette of James Ruffier and Thierry Rabineau.
Livio and Ceccato therefore became the second pair to lead the Championship, with a lead of six points over of Allan Simonsen and Hector Lester.  Zonca and Cioci were third, ahead of Ruffier and Rabineau. In the Teams classification, Racing Box is ahead of  JMB and BMS Scuderia Italia.
  

PADDOCK NEWS
- the grid is made up of nine Porsche 997 GT3 Cup cars, nine Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, six Aston Martin DBRS9, six Corvette Z06, three Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, three Ascari KZ1R and three Ferrari 430 Challenge GT3 cars and two Maserati GranSport Light.
This will be the first GT3 experience for a number of drivers :
- Timothée Ghislain is racing the Larbre Competition Porsche 997 GT3 Cup alongside Gérard Tonelli
- In the nr 5 Autosport Promotion Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, Gilles Chatelain is replaced by Maurice Ricci for this race, alongside Jean-Luc Beaubelique
- Experienced Belgian driver, Frederic Bouvy, will make his FIA GT3 European Championship debut in the nr 10 Racing Logistic Porsche 997 GT3 Cup
- Phil Bastiaans is going to race for the first time in the nr 14 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo
- Prototype driver Alexander Frei is going to drive the nr 15 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo
- Two new drivers are going to race the nr 30 Pouchelon Racing Dodge Viper Competition Coupe : Gael Lesoudier and Benoit Rousselot, a French rally driver for whom this is the second-ever endurance race. In the nr 31 Pouchelon Racing, Stephane Lacroix-Wasover is also making his GT3 debut.
- Two new drivers are going to race in the Damax Ascari KZ1R. Klaas Zwart is going to race with Ben Collins on the nr47, while Damax owner, Robin Ward, is going to race his car for the first time.
- Italian driver Gianni Giudici is sharing the nr 78 AF Corse Maserati Gransport Light  with Lorenzo Casè.
- After missing Oschersleben round, Former FIA GT Champion, Klaus Ludwig, is back in action, at one of his favourite tracks.

Two teams will also go on to compete in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa : Pouchelon Racing, with two Dodge Viper Competition Coupe and BMS Scuderia Italia.  

FIRST FREE PRACTICE : BOUVY FASTEST
The third meeting for the FIA GT3 European Championship got underway in Spa Francorchamps with the first free-practice session, where Belgium driver Frederic Bouvy, in the nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, set the fastest time right at the end of the session, ahead of the winners of round four, Marcello Zani and Massimiliano Mugelli in the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Aston Martin DBRS9.
At the beginning of the session, times were constantly increasing, and the nr14 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo was leading the pace, before going off. Then the nr23 BMS Scuderia Aston Martin DBRS9 set the fastest time with a lap of 2.31.338.
After 30 minutes, the nr23 Aston Martin was leading in front of nr6 Auto Sport Promotion Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, nr9 Tech 9 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and nr28 Racing Box Dodge Viper Competition.
There were few improvements during the second part of the session. However, Belgian driver Frederic Bouvy, new driver on the nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, was constantly increasing, and just at the end of the session he set the fastest time with a lap of 2.30.029. The nr 23 Aston Martin was second and the first Porsche, the nr 9 Tech 9 Motorsport was 3rd. Three different makes were in the top three.

SECOND FREE PRACTICE : ASTON MARTIN DBRS9 AHEAD
As in the first session, no significant times came in the first ten minutes.  The nr 18 Team Carsport Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3 then set the fastest time with a lap of 2.30.504, ahead of the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Aston Martin, the nr 6 and the nr 9 Porsche. However, the session was red-flagged after 30 minutes, when the nr 17 Team Carsport Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3 went off and blocked the track.
When the session restarted, the nr 11 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper improved from 9th to 4th position. The leaders then raised the rhythm. -At the same time, the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Aston Martin set the fastest time with a lap of 2.30.158, and the nr 10 Racing Logistic Porsche 997 Cup was just behind, with a lap of 2.30.257. The nr 18 Team Carsport Callway Corvette was third, with the nr 6 Autosport Promotion Porsche 997 Cup fourth - once again , four different makes in the top four, within the same second.

QUOTES
Frédéric Bouvy, nr 10 Racing Logistic Dodge Viper Competition Coupe : "I did the fastest time in the first session, after only two laps with this car, and during the second session there was a lot of traffic, but I still set the second-fastest time. I found the right rhythm quickly, I had to say that I know this fantastic track perfectly. I'm used to driving a lot of different cars here, and this Dodge Viper GT3 is nice and very interesting to drive. I'm sure that I'll be able to improve my time tomorrow. With the GT3 races and the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa (with the nr 34 PSI Experience Corvette C6R) I have a very busy week-end, but it is always a great pleasure to be here, for this great event."
 
Philippe Charriol, nr 21 Riverside Corvette Z06 GT3 : "I had a brake problem during the second session. I pushed hard, but nothing happened, so I just stopped the car on the track, I was lucky I didn't touch anything"
 
Timothee Ghislain, nr 2 Larbre Competition Porsche 997 GT3 Cup : "I'm used to driving a little Peugeot 206 in the Rencontre Peugeot Sport, on little Peugeot 206. I raced here last week, in a six-hour race, and we finished third. It is my first time with a Porsche 997 GT3 Cup, it is a very good experience for me to drive such a car. More power, more brakes, more pleasure… it is a great to do what I'm used to teaching everyday at work ! (Timothee is a racing instructor). I'm delighted to be here, and I hope that I'll be able to do more races."
 
Jürgen von Gartzen , nr 18 Team Carsport Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3 : "We had clutch problems in the morning, but it was perfect this afternoon. The car was wonderful today, but we'll see what happens during the race. The car is heavy, and it is not so good for our tyres."
 

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