Ford GT and Corvette take Dubai pole positions

It seems that it makes no difference whether the FIA GT3 European Championship visits a tight, narrow circuit such as Nogaro, scene of the previous event in the series, or a long, wide, sweeping track like the Dubai Autodrome, which stages the final event of the season this weekend. At the end of the two 20-minute qualifying sessions, most drivers get out of the car feeling that traffic had spoiled their best efforts – and so it proved today as 36 cars tried to secure the best grid positions possible for the two 60-minute races. It was the No.21 Matech GT Racing Ford GT of Bradley Ellis which claimed pole for the first of those races, with James Ruffier, in the No.1 Martini Callaway Corvette Z.06R GT3, snatching pole for race 2.

 

FIRST QUALIFYING: FORD GT ON POLE AHEAD OF FERRARI PAIR

When the first qualifying session got under way it was the No.14 S-Berg Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 of Dominik Kraihamer which was first to set a quick lap; it took a few minutes for his time to be beaten, but he put in a 2:04.012 towards the end of the session to qualify an excellent ninth. A whole series of cars then took it in turns to head the timesheets – and then, with seven minutes of the session remaining, Ellis killed off the contest with a lap of 2:01.448, putting him almost half a second clear of his nearest rival. That was the No.3 Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 of Nicki Cadei, and it was the sister No.5 Kessel car of Claudio Ricci which took third.

 

There was a wide spread of times in the first session – the car in seventh was a full two seconds back from the pole time. Reflecting the diversity of the series, there were no fewer than six different makes in the top 10: Ford GT, Ferrari, Aston Martin, Corvette, Lamborghini and Porsche. Three of the four cars remaining in the Drivers’ title race are in the top 10; besides Ellis on pole, Accary and Mena took fourth in the No.8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 and Peyroles and Ruffier in the No.1 Martini Callaway Corvette were eighth. Hampered by an engine problem, the No.20 Matech Ford GT of Khan and Mutsch ended the session down in 19th.

 

SECOND QUALIFYING: CORVETTE OF CHAMPIONSHIP LEADERS ON POLE

As soon as the second session got under way, it became clear that times would be much quicker – the very first flying lap, by the No.29 AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero 8 GT3 of Johan-Boris Scheier, would have claimed fifteenth on the grid for race 1; and within a minute the best time had improved by almost a second. Then Marc Basseng, in the No.40 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S, put in two stunning laps; using all of the circuit and more, he lapped in 2:02.010 and 2:02.008. Either time would have put him third in the earlier session – but such was the pace in second qualifying that he was down in seventh when the chequered flag fell.

 

Over the closing minutes it looked like it would be the No.10 Hexis Aston Martin on pole, Fred Makowiecki’s lap of 2:00.950 appeared to have put him clear of his pursuers. But then, on his only quick lap of the entire session, James Ruffier went just 0.018sec quicker to take the top spot. This is the fourth time that Makowiecki has qualified on the front row, but somehow he has missed out on pole each time. Third went to the No.20 Matech Ford GT of Thomas Mutsch, making the most of team-mate Khan’s earlier efforts to preserve the engine. Once again there were six makes in the top ten – the outstanding performance coming from Maxime Martin in the No.31 AutoGT Morgan, who qualified sixth despite this being his first race at Dubai, and first race in the Morgan.

 

There were quite a few spins as drivers tried to get the maximum from their car; with the circuit remaining dusty off-line, even a relatively small error could send a driver off into the run-off areas. Thanks to those same run-off areas, no cars suffered any damage from the various excursions – good news for the mechanics, as the first race gets under way less than five hours after the end of qualifying.

2008-12-05
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