KLAUS LUDWIG ON THE PACE

 For the first time, the FIA GT3 European Championship is racing in Brno, a technical and tricky track, where it is quite hard to find the good line. The local heroes, Erik Janis and Jaromir Jirik, in nr 15 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, set the fastest time of the day, and are ready to fight on their home track. With nine cars within the same second during the second free practice session, both races are going to be, once again, very close.

 WEATHER
The weather was sunny, with very good track conditions
 
PADDOCK RUNDOWN

Four Czech drivers are racing at their home track. In nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, Erik Janis, recently selected to defend the Czech Republic team in the A1 GP, raced with his usual team mate, Jaromir Jirik. Setting a good pace since the beginning of the season, Janis and Jirik will do their best to win in front of their supporters. Jiri Skula and Martin Matzke are back in the nr 17 Martini Callaway Racing Team Corvette Z06R GT3, on a track where they both have a nice feeling.
Both cars were on display during the Breakfast Show on CTV1, live from Brno track.

38 cars are in Brno, for the fourth round of the season.
Since Monza, some changes have occurred in the driver line ups :
- only two Porsches are entered by 2006 FIA GT3 European team Champion, Tech 9 Motorsport. Phil Quaife will race in the nr 1 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup with Dimitris Deverikos, who has not raced since Silverstone this year. Phil Keen and Peter Snowdon are in the second car
- Three new drivers arrived in Trackspeed Racing Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. Menno Kuss, from Nederland, will discover this Championship, with David Ashburn in nr 4 Porsche. In nr 5 and nr 6, Tom Cloet, who previously raced this year in an Aston Martin DBRS9, and Jon Barnes, usually in an Ascari, will discover the Porsche in Brno.
- In nr 8 RPM Dodge Viper Competition Coupe Bradley Ellis will race with Jonathan Lang, who leaves the Porsche for the Dodge Viper. Two French drivers, Kevin Morel and Olivier Pernaut, will discover the FIA GT3 European Championship in nr 9 RPM Dodge Viper.
- First Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 are there with four new drivers : Marius Ritskes and Christopher Haase in nr 10, and Martin Rich and Andrew Thompson in nr 11
- Only two BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 cars are in Brno, as the third one could not be repaired since the last race. So Francesco Maggi and Gian Marino Zenere are together in the nr 22, and as usual, Diego Alessi and Alex Frassinetti are in the nr 23.
- In nr 27 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, Ron Marchal is now racing with Portuguese driver Miguel Freitas.
- British drivers Robin Ward and Wesley Fongenie are together for the first time in nr 29 Damax Ascari KZ1 R
- Howard Spooner is back in the nr 31 Team Berlanga Ascari with Michael Greenhalgh
-  German driver Marco Seefried, is going to race for the first time in the FIA GT3 European Championship with Freddy Kremer, in nr 37 Kessel Racing Ferrari.
- For the first time, three Ford GT cars are on the grid. As per usual the Swiss Martin Bartek and the German Thomas Mutsch will share the nr 43 Matech Concept Ford GT, but for the other two cars there are some new faces. Romain Bera will share the nr 44 with Maxime Dubrulle, seen this season on a Lamborghini then a Dodge, and Mikael Forsten and Maxime Soulet will be on nr 45. Forsten had driven a Dodge previously, whereas Maxime Soulet is currently third in the GT4 European Cup

HANDICAP WEIGHTS
Ascari KZ1R GT3 : +120 kg of ballast; hard compound tyres; raised height of the chassis from the ground to 7mm at the front and to 7mm at the rear
Corvette Z06R : +40kg; only hard compound tyres; addition of one restrictor of 75.00mm maximum diameter
Dodge Viper Competition Coupe : +40 kg; only hard compound tyres; raised chassis height of the chassis from the ground to 89mm at the front and to 114,5mm at the rear; addition of two restrictors of 48.56mm maximum diameter each
Ford GT : +20kg. The FIA GT Bureau reserves the right to adjust the minimum weight of the car by means of ballast at any time during the Brno event.
Porsche : a new Evolution is authorised for this car. But the Porsche 997 GT3 Cup are authorised to participate with or without the Evolution n°02-01 Evo.

 
FIRST FREE PRACTICE: Local Heroes on top

The first ever official FIA GT3 European Championship session at the Brno circuit took place in perfect driving conditions. The nr 21 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 was the first car to set the fastest time with a lap of 2.18.017. But of course, all the drivers' times were later to improve, and the fastest time changed often. The nr 32 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3 improved to 2.14.681, then the nr 19 Riverside Corvette Z06R GT3 took the lead, and improved the fastest time several times. After 10 minutes, the nr 19 Riverside Corvette was leading, ahead of the nr 51 AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero, the nr 32 Team Berlanga Ascari, the nr 34 JMB Racing Ferrari and the nr 17 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette.
After 15 minutes, the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo GT3, driven by local heroes Erik Janis and Jaromir Jirik, set the fastest time with a lap of 2.06.377. After 30 minutes, the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini was leading, ahead of nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, nr 19 Riverside Corvette, nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari, nr 16 Martini Callaway Racing, nr 51 AutoGT Racing Morgan, nr 14 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini, nr 44 Matech Concepts Ford GT, and the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia.
15 minutes before the chequered flag, the nr 34 JMB Racing Ferrari 430 GT3, driven by Stephane Daoudi and Ian Khan, went off at turn 9 with engine problems, and just afterwards, at the same corner, the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari went out on the gravel, probably due to oil on the track.
The positions at the top stayed the same, so the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo started the week-end the best way it could, with the fastest time of the first free practice session. Four different makes were in the top 4, with the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 second, the nr 19 Riverside Corvette third and the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari fourth.

 
SECOND FREE PRACTICE : Klaus Ludwig fastest of the second session
 
Since the beginning of the season, Klaus Ludwig has been very strong during the free practice sessions. This afternoon, the former FIA GT Champion set the fastest time, once again, in the nr 16 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z06R GT3, with a lap of 2.06.563, slower than the first free practice session time. During this second session, most of the drivers chose to do long runs, in order to test the car in race conditions. Just before the middle of the session, the nr 11 First Racing Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 set the second best time, in front of nr 37 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430, nr 19 Riverside Corvette and the nr 34 JMB Racing Ferrari. The positions in this hard-working session stayed the same until the end, with nine cars in the same second.

2007-09-21
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