Aston Martin and Corvette dominate Brno race 1

All through the free practice sessions at Brno, the Aston Martin DBRS9 looked like the car to beat; so it proved in round 7 of the FIA GT3 European Championship, when the No 17 Brixia Racing Aston Martin of Diego Alessi and Marcello Zani led home Jean-Claude Lagniez and Fred Makowiecki in the No.10 Hexis Racing Aston Martin; third place went to the Czech pair of Martin Matzke and Jiri Skula, in the No.38 MM-Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3. The No.17 car was in contention right from the beginning, having started in second place, but the success of the other two podium finishers was founded on avoiding several first-lap incidents.

 

Order shuffled by first-lap mayhem

Once again there was chaos on the first lap; into the first corner the No.5 Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT, which had started from pole, spun in front of the pack, triggering frantic avoidance efforts. Just a couple of hundred yards later the No.45 Gravity Racing Ascari KZ1R GT3 lost control under braking, punting the No.21 Matech GT Racing Ford GT into the gravel and out of the race. After those incidents the No.17 Brixia car led from the No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin, and these two quickly pulled out a 5-second gap over the field. It was clear the No.8 car was quicker, its lights flashing in pursuit.

 

On the fourth lap the No.8 car was through into the lead – but at the same time the No.3 and No.4 Kessel Racing Ferraris had a coming-together on the exit of turn 15, putting them both out of the race from the lower reaches of the top 10; the No.4 car was heavily damaged when it hit the barrier, and the safety car was sent out to allow the cars to be removed. The safety car stayed out for three laps; when it came in, there were 40 minutes remaining.

 

Penalty decides the race outcome

Once the race restarted the No.8 car immediately pulled out a lead, but just two laps later the pit-stop window opened and the No.17 Aston Martin opted to change drivers as early as possible, as did a number of other cars. The No.8 squad took the opposite tactic, leaving their change until the last possible moment – and when they came out, it was less than a second ahead of the No.17 car. However, their joy was short-lived – the car was given a 1-second stop-go penalty for their pit-stop being that one agonising second too short.

 

From there to the end of the race the No.17 Brixia car enjoyed a comfortable lead, coming home over 12 seconds clear. Second place went to the No.10 Hexis Racing Aston Martin car – a remarkable result given that it had been eighteenth on the grid, and outside the top fifteen when the pit-stops began. With six laps remaining, they overtook the No.38 MM-Racing Corvette for third; behind those three, a furious battle raged over the remaining points positions. With four laps remaining, fourth to eleventh positions were covered by just 5 seconds, and there were continual overtaking moves and blocking manoeuvres.

 

When the chequered flag fell it was Championship leaders Peyroles and Ruffier, in the No.1 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette, who had climbed to fourth, ahead of the No.37 MM-Racing Corvette of Vojtech and Lacko. The No.2 Martini Callaway car of Bert and Meir was sixth, ahead of Julien and Manuel Rodrigues in the No.9 Hexis Racing Aston Martin, while the final point went to the No.6 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S of Ashburn and Williams, who also had the honour of being the first car home which wasn’t an Aston Martin or a Corvette!

 

“There was some chaos on the opening lap – but it was all behind me,” said Alessi. “The Brixia car is very consistent and easy to drive, which made my job easier.” Zani agreed, saying: “The car is fast in race set-up, and I kept pushing right to the end of the race, even though I had no cars near me, because you never know what might happen. As driver and team manager, this is doubly satisfying for me, and I’m grateful to all the guys in the team who have worked hard for this.”

 

The result extends the lead of Peyroles and Ruffier in the Drivers’ Championship to eight points; their nearest rivals, Khan and Mutsch, finished a disappointed 10th in the No.20 Matech GT Racing Ford GT. Third place for Matzke and Skula moved the pair up to fifth overall, just three points away from third place; while Mutsch will start tomorrow’s race from pole position, the Czech pair must be hoping to make further progress on their ‘home’ track.

2008-09-13
Subscribe:   Subscribe with small images:   Subscribe with medium images: