|
 The
final European round of the 2004 FIA GT Championship started off on a damp but
drying track, ensuring an exciting start to an action-packed race round the
tight and twisting Oschersleben circuit.
Three hours later, in front of 25,000 spectators, Maserati's Mika Salo took the
chequered flag, while the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello took
maximum points, allowing Cappellari and Gollin to win the 2004 GT Drivers'
title.
Maassen and Luhr were victorious after a close N-GT battle, but with their two
cars finishing in the top four, Freisinger Yukos Motorsport have now moved
beyond reach of their competitors in the N-GT Teams Classification.
The race was
strategically difficult, between those who opted for intermediate tyres on the
damp track and those who dared to go for slicks. Two safety car periods closed
up the field, which resulted in a thrilling race, full of change for the lead.
The Saleen cars dominated the early stages, with first Walter Lechner Jr in the
Konrad car and then the Vitaphone Racing Saleen in the lead, while the Graham
Nash Motorsport car was a frontrunner until the final stint. However, a starter
engine failure on the nr 4, suspension problems with the nr 5 and electrical
problems on the nr 28 took them out of contention.
The Maserati cars took over, first the nr 34 and then finally the nr 33,
building up a one-lap lead to win their first race, ahead of the ever-present
BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello.
The N-GT cars, excelling as usual in the damp conditions, rose to as high as
third overall, and a close battle for the lead between the nr 99 and nr 50
Porsches and the nr 62 Ferrari eventually went to the home team of Maassen and
Luhr.
The results are final, pending the fuel analysis of cars 2, 8, 33, 99 and 62.
Rain in the morning left the track damp but drying at the start; it was
officially declared a wet race. During the race, it remained overcast but dry.
Having joined the Championship at the previous round, with special permission
from the FIA on a non-homologated basis, the Maserati MC 12 took its first win
today, putting in a fine performance in difficult conditions, avoiding all the
collisions and potential traps. Despite radio problems, Mika Salo and Andrea
Bertolini crossed the line with a lead of more than one lap, having lapped
consistently and risen up the field as their rivals ran into problems.
"For Mika and me, this has been a very hard race," Andrea Bertolini explained.
"The strategy turned out to be very important. We started the race on
intermediate tyres, which was difficult on the first three or four laps when the
track was still wet. I have to thank Pirelli and the team, who did unbelievable
work with the pitstop."
Andrea was also victorious here last year, when he won the N-GT category. The nr
33 MC 12 will be on the maximum 100kg for the next round in Dubai. The second
car, with Johnny Herbert and Fabrizio De Simone at the wheel, crossed the line
in eighth place, after two extra pit stops, one to adjust a wheel and a final
splash and dash.
When they won the first round in Monza, Cappellari said his aim was to still be
ahead in Zhuhai. As it turned out, two rounds before the end of the season, the
Italian and his team-mate, Fabrizio Gollin, claimed the 2004 GT Drivers' title,
with full points in Oschersleben putting them beyond the reach of their nearest
rivals, their team-mates Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel.
Crossing the line in second place behind the non-scoring Maserati today, despite
their 100kg ballast, they have maintained their 100% points record, which has
seen them on the podium in eight out of nine races so far this season. "It was
incredible! Today was just a dream day! The team did fantastic work. Luca and I
didn't make many mistakes during the whole season, and it paid off. Eight
podiums in one season is unbelievable. I'm lost for words."
Second in the points was the nr 8 RML Saleen S7, with the British team scoring
by far its best result of the season for Chris Goodwin and newcomer José Pablo
Fontes. "It was the ideal race to have a rally driver as a team-mate," Goodwin
commented afterwards. The team had been fourth across the line, third in the
points, but moved up a spot after the nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 GTC received
a drive-through penalty for causing an avoidable accident, which was translated
into a 50 second penalty. This saw Wendlinger and his new Brazilian team-mate
Tarso Marques drop down to 4th overall, third in the points.
Bobbi and Gardel, in the nr 1 BMS car, were the other party in that accident;
they needed to finish second behind Gollin and Cappellari to keep their
Championship hopes alive. However, crossing the line fifth and taking the points
for fourth, they are now in a comfortable second place, ahead of Karl Wendlinger,
who moved ahead of Babini and Peter.
The nr 1 Ferrari finished ahead of the nr 3 Care Racing Ferrari, the nr 7 RML
Saleen and the nr 34 Maserati, delayed with a wheel problem. The nr 11 GPC
Ferrari and the nr 18 JMB Racing took the final points. In the Teams
Classification, Champion BMS is ahead of GPC Giesse, who have a lead of eight
points over JMB Racing.
Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr claimed a fine home win in a close and tricky race
today in Germany, keeping their Championship hopes alive. "It sounds very easy
when you have pole position and win the race, but the race today definitely was
not easy," he said. "The conditions were quite difficult. All of the leading N-GT
cars decided to start the race on slicks, which was the right decision, but it
made things very difficult at the beginning, because there were many accidents.
We were saving fuel right from the start of the race because we knew that we
could get through the race with on stop in the wet, and we did that! I'm very
happy."
They finished ahead of Ortelli and Collard, with Pescatori and Vosse in the GPC
Giesse Squadra Corse third. All seven N-GT cars finished the race, with all the
drivers therefore scoring points. Vasiliev and Fomenko were fourth, ahead of the
extremely consistent Proton Competition car of Ried, Ried and Marcinkiewicz,
with the Jens Petersen and Vonka Racing cars in sixth and seventh.
With the nr 50 and 77 cars finishing the race in second and fourth
places, Freisinger Yukos Motorsport now has a score of 127 points, and cannot be
caught by any of the other teams in the N-GT championship. This is the third
year in a row that the German team has been victorious in N-GT; a record for the
category.
"Freisinger is just the best," a delighted Nicolaj Fomenko said. As for the
Driver's title, that will necessarily go to a Freisinger driver too, as the
title fight continues between Stephane Ortelli and Emmanuel Collard, currently
on 82 points, and the Freisinger Motorsport duo of Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr,
whose victory today brought them up to 75.5 points. The classification in N-GT
remains provisional, however, due to both the pending appeal concerning the
exclusion of the nr 62 from Imola, and the fuel analysis of cars 62 and 99 from
this round.
The start of the race saw Gollin take the lead from second place into the first
corner, but make a mistake saw him run wide, allowing Lechner in the Konrad
Saleen to regain the lead. The nr 33 Maserati moves up to second, with the nr 28
Graham Nash Saleen third. The wet conditions saw a number of changes at the
back, with the nr 77 Porsche taking the lead.
Over the first 15 laps, the track gradually dried and those cars which had
started on intermediates began to come in for slicks. By lap 17, the nr 5 Saleen
had moved up from the back of the grid to take the lead, followed by the nr 17,
also on slicks. The nr 4 had a drive-through for a starting grid infringement.
The N-GT field sorted itself out to its usual leading trio, with the nr 50 car
lying third overall. The safety car came out to remove debris on lap 18, closing
up the field.
By lap 36, both categories swa fascinating fights: Bartels was 2 seconds ahead
of Wendlinger, with Gollin 0.7 behind, while in N-GT, Pescatori was just behind
Ortelli, with Maassen, a further 1.4 behind.
The first round of drive changes started, with the nr 5 and nr 17 making their
first stops. Gollin took the lead. The nr 3 car had a collision with the nr 10
Viper, earning the nr 10 a drive through penalty. The debris brought the safety
car out again.
On lap 50 the nr 5 Saleen spun out, returning to the pits with possible steering
or suspension problems. The leading N-GT cars, on a single-stop strategy, and
which had climbed up to second and third overall, finally made their first
stops. The nr 34 Maserati then took over the lead.
Mika Salo took the lead of the race when the nr 34 car had to make two pit stops
in close succession, due to a wheel problem. A close fight erupted between the
nr 8 RML Saleen, and the two BMS Ferrari cars for second. Meanwhile Salo began
to pull away.
The second round of pit stops saw the nr 33 retain the lead with Salo staying in
the car. By lap 100, he had a lead of over a lap, ahead of Gollin and Wendlinger,
with Bobbi fourth. To keep in the Championship fight alive, Bobbi needed to
finish just behind Gollin. There was contact between the nr 17 and nr 1. The nr
17 was awarded a drive-through, translated into a 50 second penalty, dropping
the car back a place after the finish.
After 118 laps around the 3.667 km circuit, the chequered flag was brought down
on the nr 33 Maserati MC 12, with the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari second
and first in the GT points. In N-GT, Maassen and Luhr crossed the line first, a
lap ahead of Ortelli and Collard. |
