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Fabrizio De
Simone and Johnny Herbert claimed second place in the FIA GT Championship race
run today in the new circuit in Dubai. The contest, that ended in the evening,
was hard fought right to the end.
After having set the first and the fourth fastest times in the warm up, the two
MC12 crewed by De Simone and Salo started well. They maintained their positions
behind the leading car of Bobbi/Gardel, advantaged by having only 5 kg. of
handicap weight on board.
The race was run at a high tempo from the off and the
leading drivers lapped at their qualifying times. On the 20th lap De Simone
moved into top spot after Bobbi pulled into the pits. Salo tracked the leader.
The two Maserati drivers held these places until lap 27 when the n.33 car made
its first pit stop for refuelling and a driver change. The other MC12 pitted on
the successive lap. Unfortunately for Bertolini/Salo, their race ended on lap 42
after suffering mechanical problems.
Herbert performed brilliantly during his drive and headed the race for fifteen
laps before making the second pit stop. De Simone then put up a great fight with
Bobbi/Gardel’s 550 Maranello.
He took the lead on the 73rd lap and hoped to manage the lead until the
chequered flag. Even though dusk was falling, the race went on and just four
laps from the end De Simone had to make a further fuel stop, allowing Gardel to
take the win.
Claudio Berro: "It was an exciting race right until the evening finish. The
result wasn’t what we expected especially as we were leading right up until the
end. Fabrizio and Johnny fought really hard. I feel sorry for Andrea and Mika
who had to pull out because of a mechanical problem."
Andrea Bertolini: "I had to retire because of an engine problem. We decided to
use here the engine we used at Imola and Oschersleben to continue gathering data
on the development of the car for the client teams. The 100 kg handicap weight
really affected our performance as it created oversteer."
Mika Salo: "I had to push hard from the start to keep up with Bobbi and De
Simone as we had decided shortly before the start to take onboard more fuel.
This meant that I had to get the maximum out of the tyres.
"It is a shame about
the retirement though the engine did have a lot of kilometres in it, being the
same one we used in the previous two races; we were going well."
Johnny Herbert: "We worked well over the whole weekend. Everything went okay and
the car was well balanced. The important thing was to stick to a clean racing
line and conserve the tyres and brakes. We had a good tempo. Fabrizio drove
impeccably and we were in the lead until it got dark."
Fabrizio De Simone: "It was a hard-fought race. I pushed hard at the beginning
of my turns in the driver’s seat and I had to be careful of the condition of the
tyres and the fuel levels.
"We could have won: our strategy was to finish the
race in daylight. Unfortunately, this didn’t happen and we had to make a final
pit stop, meaning we slipped one place."
Race: no 34
Johnny Herbert/Fabrizio De Simone 2nd 88 laps at +42.447 chassis no 03/15440, no
33 Andrea Bertolini/Mika Salo DNF chassis no 06/15442, Weather: air temperature
34°C, track 42°C; sunny, dry, Circuit length: 5.394 km
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