Ferrari quickest in wet, Corvette in dry practice sessions

PREVIEW, HANDICAP CHANGES

For the first time in its three-year history the FIA GT3 European Championship visits the picturesque Nogaro circuit, in the Gers department of France. The track packs a remarkable 14 turns into its 3.6 kilometres, and has only one long straight, but it is generally considered to be almost as technical and tricky as Brno, site of the previous round. Following the two Brno races the Ford GT has been given an extra 10kg ballast, taking it up to 50kg, while the AutoGT team has been authorised to change the ratio of the final drive on the Morgan Aero 8 GT3; the Ferrari teams have been allowed to use a different tyre on the rear wheels.

 

On their first visit to Nogaro the competitors found out just how fickle the French weather can be. Bright blue skies, sunshine, clouds, rain and wind – in almost every possible combination – were seen during Friday’s two one-hour practice sessions. At the end of the first hour it was the No.13 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 of Petit and Lunardi was quickest, with the No.20 Matech GT Racing Ford GT of Championship leaders Khan and Mutsch second ahead of the No.5 Kessel Racing Ferrari of Balbiani and Ricci; the track was wet for the whole of the first session. In the dry second session it was Peyroles and Ruffier, in the No.1 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3, who were fastest, with two Aston Martin DBRS9 cars completing the top three – the No.17 Brixia Racing car of Ciro and Zani second, with Lagniez and Makowiecki in the No.10 Hexis Racing entry third.

 

FIRST FREE PRACTICE: RAIN MAKES TIMES MEANINGLESS

With good weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday, the heavy rain shower which swept across the circuit just as the first 60-minute session began was an unwelcome visitor. Despite the cars being on dry-weather settings, there were remarkably few incidents; the run-off areas at Nogaro are fairly small, and the concrete walls which line the track seemed to help the drivers take a cautious approach. Within ten minutes the No.5 Kessel Ferrari was quickest with a lap in 1:46.549 – but that was dramatically eclipsed by the No.20 Matech Ford GT only a minute later, which put in successive laps on 1:44.587 and 1:43.951.Four minutes later the No.13 JMB Racing Ferrari went top with a lap of 1:43.746.

 

Just before the 20-minute mark the session was red-flagged, to allow the No.28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette of Sourd and Vannelet to be extracted from a gravel trap – and ten minutes later the red flags again flew when the No.4 Kessel Racing Ferrari came to a halt on the track at the Ecole corner.

 

Almost half an hour remained when the green flag was shown, yet no-one challenged the times set earlier in the session, despite the sun coming out with 20 minutes left. Once again the drivers seemed to feel that discretion was the better part of valour – the only yellow flag in the final part came when the No.11 JMB Racing Ferrari spun on the exit of the Aviation corner.

 

SECOND FREE PRACTICE: CORVETTE HEADS OFF STRONG ASTON MARTIN CHALLENGE

While there were clouds around the rain stayed away for the second session, allowing teams to concentrate on getting the cars set up for the weekend’s two one-hour races. As soon as the first flying laps were completed, the cars were over 10 seconds quicker than in the earlier session, with the No.6 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S and the No.29 AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero 8 GT3 putting in laps of around 1:31.5. Then the No.1 Martini Callaway Corvette went top with a 1:31.150.

 

Less than two minutes later the lead changed three times in less than ten seconds; first the No.5 Kessel Ferrari lapped in 1:30.962, then the No.17 Brixia Aston Martin went top on a 1:30.168 only to be demoted to second when the No.1 Corvette improved to 1:30.036. After a brief pit-stop the No.1 Corvette came out and improved their time to 1:30.023, which remained quickest for the remaining 40 minutes of the session.

 

After that flurry of activity the only change in the top times came when the No.10 Hexis Aston Martin put in a couple of quick laps, culminating in a 1:30.197 to push the No.5 Hexis Ferrari down to fourth. Most cars put in as many laps as possible, trying to learn as much as they could about the Nogaro track; both the No.36 Prospeed Competition Porsche and the No.38 MM-Racing Corvette managed to complete 31 laps of the track, while eight other cars managed 28 laps or more.

 

The session was red-flagged just after the halfway point when the No.5 Kessel Ferrari spun off on the exit of the tricky Claude Storez double-left and had to be hauled out of the gravel trap; and it ended with red flags when the No.29 and No.30 AutoGT Morgan cars conspired to hit each other at the end of the Caupenne double-left at the beginning of the lap – with less than four minutes remaining, the session was not restarted.

 

With the No.6 Trackspeed Porsche sixth and the No.29 AutoGT Morgan seventh, there were five different makes of car in the top seven. In the all-important dry second session the No.20 Matech Ford GT of Championship leaders Khan and Mutsch was languishing down in 12th place, some 1.6 seconds slower than the leading car – not good news for them, as Peyroles and Ruffier, who set the fastest time, are just two points behind them in the Drivers’ table.

2008-10-03
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