Another Ford GT win as Khan and Mutsch take Championship lead

After a two-race break the Ford GT returned to its winning ways in the second race at Brno; victory for the No.20 Matech GT Racing pair of Ian Khan and Thomas Mutsch mean the Ford has won five of the eight races in this year’s FIA GT3 European Championship. Second place went to the No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 of Pierre-Brice Mena and Thomas Accary – some consolation for the duo being denied a podium finish on Saturday by a stop-go penalty – while Sascha Bert and Alois Meir claimed third in the No.2 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3.

 

First corner catches them out again

A rolling start for the race meant almost 40 cars arriving at the first corner at full speed, jostling for position. Incidents are almost ineviteable, and so it proved here – a Corvette and an Aston Martin tangled near the front of the pack, the Aston Martin spun, and cars were trying to find any way they could through the corner. When the dust settled, the true drama of the incident became clear – the No.1 Martini Callaway Corvette of Championship leaders Peyroles and Ruffier was parked just off the track, to the outside of the corner. In addition, a Jaguar was stranded right on the apex of the corner, so the safety car was sent out while the cars were removed. And the No.17 Brixia Racing Aston Martin of Alessi and Zani, who had won the previous day’s race, was also out.

 

Thomas Mutsch, in the Ford, had started from pole but was pushed wide in the first corner, dropping back to fourth on the dirty part of the track; once the safety car pulled in he set about regaining the race lead. He put in a storming performance, lapping a second faster than anyone else and only a few tenths off his qualifying time. He finally regained the lead on lap 13, outbraking Bert in the No.2 Corvette into the downhill turn 10.

 

Ford leads as lower positions change

At this point the No.38 MM-Racing Corvette of Matzke and Skula, who had finished third a day earlier, was in third place, but was quickly demoted by the No.10 Hexis Racing Aston Martin of Lagniez and Makowiecki. Once the compulsory pit-stops had been taken the top four positions remained the same, but it only took four laps for the No.38 car to reclaim third, and it climbed to second only two laps later. But the race was to end in heartbreak for the Czech duo of Matzke and Skula; three laps from the end of the race the car pulled off the circuit, steam pouring from the front of the car.

 

Still the order continued to change; the No.10 Hexis car slid backwards down the standings as the sister No.8 car went in the opposite direction, climbing from seventh after the pit-stops to take second with two laps remaining. In the lead of the race, Ian Khan had an untroubled stint in the Ford GT, extending the lead to 10 seconds before easing up over the closing laps.

 

The No.29 AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero 8 GT3 of Lesoudier and Scheier took a fine fifth place behind the No.10 Aston Martin, while Balbiani and Ricci finished eighth, first Ferrari home in the No.5 Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT. Dino Lunardi and reigning Champion Gilles Vannelet were eleventh in the No.43 La Torre Motorsport Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, less than half a second ahead of the No.25 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3 of Greenhalgh and Lang; first Porsche home was the No.6 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S of Ashburn and Williams.

 

With Khan and Mutsch taking the win while Peyroles and Ruffier failed to score, the Ford GT pair have retaken the lead in the Drivers’ Championship, although they are only two points ahead. Bradley Ellis and Alex Mortimer remain in third and fourth places respectively after finishing seventh., while their second place moves Mena and Accary up to fifth.

 

The next races in the FIA GT3 European Championship take place on 4th and 5th October at Nogaro, which will present a rather different challenge to the teams; the French circuit packs more turns than the sweeping Brno track, into a shorter distance. Braking and acceleration will be at a premium rather than handling in fast corners, so the balance may swing away from the Aston Martin and Corvette.

2008-09-14
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