Henri Moser and Gilles Vannelet gave the Ferrari F430 GT3 a perfect start in the 2007 FIA GT3 European Championship as they won both races at Silverstone last Sunday, the first round of the year. But they had to wait until the last second to win the second race, as the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini Gallardo, driven by Erik Janis, was pushing really hard at the end of the race. With two wins in a row, Moser and Vannelet are now leading the FIA GT3 European Championship after both Silverstone races.

Under cloudy but dry skies, the first free practice session of the year, which took place last Friday, was quite close. Most of the cars took to the track immediately, and most of the drivers spent as much time as possible behind the wheel, in order to find a good set-up for the first race of the season. After a few laps, when the tyres and the breaks were warmed up, the BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 nr 23 set the fastest time with a lap of 1.55.918, ahead of the Tech 9 Porsche 997 GT3 Cup and the Damax Ascari KZ1R GT3 nr 28. The times improved and after about 30 minutes, the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 set the fastest time with 1.54.163.

So half way through the session, two Aston Martins were leading ahead of two Ferraris and two Ascaris, with the Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 nr 26 ahead of the BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9. The nr 34 JMB Racing Ferrari 430 was third and nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 was fourth. Respectively sixth and seventh, the nr 33 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3 was ahead of the nr 30 Damax Ascari KZ1R.

During the second part of the session, a few of the cars improved and the hierarchy was very different after the chequered flag. A  few minutes before the end of the session, the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 set the fastest time with a lap of 1.53.706, and the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari went up to third position. So three different cars finished the session in the top 3: the nr 15 S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini, ahead of the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin and the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari. First of the Ascari, the nr 28 Damax was 5th, and the first Corvette Z06R GT3, the Riverside nr 19, was 7th. A sixth different make was in the top 10 as the nr 5 Trackspeed Racing Porsche 997 Cup was 10th - once more proving the homogeneity of the cars of the FIA GT3 European Championship. The Ford GT was on good pace for its first session on this track, with the nr 43 Matech Racing Ford GT finishing in 14th position. Three cars did 23 laps, the nr 28 Damax Ascari, the nr 25 Hexis Racing Aston Martin and the nr 29 Damax Ascari.

The rivalry of the first session carried on during the second free practice session on Saturday. From the very beginning, the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 was leading ahead of nr 15 S-Berg Racing Lamborghini Gallardo and the nr 4 Trackspeed Porsche 997 GT3 Cup. But the nr 15 Lamborghini raised the pace, and set the fastest time with a lap of 1.53.343, faster than its morning best laps. The opposition for the second position was very close between the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 and the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9. The nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin managed to gain the second position, but near the end of the session, the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 Challenge GT3, with a lap of 1.54.222, finally won the battle for second position. With the nr 1 Tech9 Motorsport Porsche 997 GT3 Cup in 5th position, four different cars were in the top 5. During this session, the Spectrum Topspeed Racing Ford GT went off in the gravel, but the car is not damaged. The nr 17 Martini Callaway racing Corvette Z06R GT3 broke its differential, so the rest of the week-end is quite compromised for this car.

The two qualifying sessions on Saturday afternoon were very close, and with more than 40 cars on the track, the traffic was a significant factor. During the first session, qualifying the cars for race one, Romain Bera was the quickest.
 

Bera thus claimed the first pole position for him in the FIA GT3 European Championship, and pole position for the Ford GT for its first ever race. Frederic Makowiecki set pole position in the second qualifying session, in the Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, only 7 thousandths ahead of Thomas Mutsch in the Ford GT

For its first ever qualifying session, the Matech Racing Ford GT set the pole position, when Romain Bera managed to beat Erik Janis’ (S-Berg Racing Team Lamborghini Gallardo) time. “It is quite a surprise for us, we had an electrical problem during the first day, but I really did my best during this session” declared Romain Bera. The Ford GT is still under development, and so far the Matech Racing have never raced with this car for an hour, so the race is going to be interesting for this team. Anyway, the Ford GT proves that this car has started off well, and is efficient over a lap. “Now we know that our laps are fast, after the race we will see how consistent the car is” analysed Bera.

Erik Janis and Diego Alessi (BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9) were respectively second and third. Three different makes were in the Top 3, and seven different cars in the Top10. Racing last year in a Dodge Viper Competition Coupe, Frederic Makowiecki is now in the Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9. The Frenchman set his first pole position in the FIA GT3 European Championship during the second qualifying session. Makowiecki had a huge fight with the nr 43 Matech Racing Ford GT driven by Thomas Mutsch, but by seven thousandths, Makowiecki was the quickest. Newcomer team, Hexis Racing, is learning very fast. “The team works very well, since the beginning of the week-end our car is good, and we improved a lot during each session” declared Makowiecki. “We could do something good during the second race; it is a great advantage to be on the first row, as with so many cars, the start could be dangerous!”

With Stephane Daoudi’s nr 34 JMB Racing Ferrari 430 in 3rd position, the nr 10 First Racing Lamborghini Gallardo driven by Maxime Dubrulle in 4th position and Jon Barnes’ nr 30 Damax Ascari KZ1R GT3 in 5th, five different cars are in the top 5, and this time sixteen drivers were only 2 seconds apart.

Come race day and Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser made an incredible start to the 2007 season with two victories. But to win the second race, Gilles Vannelet had to fight hard in order to contain the flying Lamborghinis which were coming back on him. During the first part of the race, Frederic Makowiecki in the nr 26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9 and Ben Collins in the nr 33 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R GT3 were the quickest and nobody could keep up with them. But both cars had trouble: a transmission problem for the Aston Martin and a spin for the Ascari. So after the pit stop, the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 was leading by more than 15 seconds but the Lamborghini was pushing really hard. “One more lap and both Lamborghinis would have passed me!” declared Gilles Vannelet, “Our car was not consistent; it was really hard to drive at the end.”

Behind the leader, Erik Janis and Nicolas Navarro tried as hard as they could. Both young drivers did their best, and Janis finally managed to overtake Navarro. “It was the best race of my career” declared Erik Janis. Despite of this incredible finish, Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser won the second race. After the Silverstone round, they are leading the FIA GT3 European Championship with 20 points, and Luca Pirri, Jürgen von Gartzen, Erik Janis and Jaromir Jirik are behind them with 8 points each.