The new Ferrari F430GT claimed its first international race win yesterday when Luca Drudi, Gabrio Rosa and Fabrizio De Simone drove a GPC Sport-entered example to victory in the shortened LMS 1000kms of Istanbul.

Following the rapid pace that Risi Competizione showed with the new F430GT at the 12 Hours of Sebring on the occasion of its competitive debut and then its success during the opening round of the Italian GT Championship last month, the new F430GT is quickly shaping up to be a blisteringly fast race car, and one that could well be set to turn the tide in the traditionally Porsche-dominated GT2 class.

The 2006 edition of the Le Mans Series (LMS) kicked off over the weekend in Istanbul, Turkey, and a trio of the Ferrari F430GT racers lined up in the GT2 class to take on its crack rivals: the numerically-superior Porsche 911 GT3 RSR and Panoz Esperante GTLM. Adding diversity to GT2 was the presence of a pair of the rapidly-improving factory-entered Spyker C8 Spyder GT2Rs.

However, first blood on track went to the Ferrari F430GT, and it was a new team to go with the new car that were able to secure pole position at their first attempt: debuts don’t come much better than that. Team boss Jesus Die Vollarroel carried out driving duties during the recent test at Paul Ricard with the F430GT, the team named Icer Brakes after his sponsor (a brake specialist company), and so in Istanbul he let his young Swedish co-driver Peter Sundberg undertake qualifying. Pole position was the reward, a full half-second quicker than the Team LNT Panoz Esperante which had led the pace until the last few moments of qualifying.

“It was difficult psychologically because it was raining a bit and the wipers were going, but I still had grip,” said Sundberg. “I wasn’t sure how hard I could push but then a Porsche ahead of me locked a wheel under braking, and made a cloud of smoke, so I thought it was OK and really pushed for a fast lap.” His time of 1m 55.774s stood clear of a number of cars in the 56’s, the Panoz Esperante of Richard Dean, the Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430GT driven by Tim Sugden, the similar car of GPC Sport, driven by Fabrizio de Simone, and in fifth place, the leading Porsche runner, that of LMES GT2 champion Marc Lieb, who is now in the Autorlando 911 GT3 RSR.

The 1,000 km race was held under the threat of rain, but as it turned out on a dry track. The first round of Le Mans Series 2006 season took place however as a 4-hours race, due to a local shortage of fuel, Promoter Patrick Peter announcing that the Turkish season opener would be shortened from 1,000 km to four hours due to a shortage of fuel which left the teams with insufficient supplies for the full distance.

Is the reign of the all-conquering Porsche 911 GT3 RSR finally coming to an end, that was the question being asked in the GT2 class as four hours of racing came to an end with the waving of the chequered flag in Istanbul. The first big win of the Le Mans Series 2006 was in the GT2 class and it was claimed by the GPC Sport Ferrari F430GT driven by Fabrizio de Simone, Gabrio Rosa and Luca Drudi.

The scarlet Ferrari finished 7.6 seconds ahead of the Autorlando Sport Porsche GT3 RSR of Joel Camathias and Marc Lieb, who were poised for victory until the car needed a late ‘splash and dash’, the Italian team’s tactics affected by the shortening of the event. The Dutch Spykers started the race on slick tyres and after a steady start, came through to lead GT2 briefly, and run second and third at the completion of the first hour. They eventually finished fourth and sixth in class, Jeroen Bleekemolen surrendering the final podium position to Lawrence Tomlinson and Richard Dean’s Panoz Esperante when the Dutchman needed a final splash and dash for fuel. The Virgo Motorsport Ferrari F430GT in the hands of Dan Eagling, Tim Sugden and Ian Khan came home 8th in GT2, three laps down, while the pole-winning Team Icer Brake F430GT dropped out of the race after just 23 laps.