Second place for Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser in the final round of the FIA GT3 Championship in Dubai was enough to secure the Drivers title for the Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 duo.

A hard-won second-place finish from Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser in the final round of the FIA GT3 Championship in Dubai yesterday was enough to secure the Drivers title for the Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 duo, who had led the classifications since the start of the season. A stop-and-go penalty for not respecting the driver change time saw them drop back to eighth, but a last-minute push from Vannelet, after a safety-car period, saw them regain the advantage.

Kessel Racing though surrendered an almost season-long lead in the Teams Championship by the tiniest of margins, with Martini Callaway Racing clinching the title with 72 points to the Ferrari tea's 71 points. BMS Scuderia Italia were a distant third with 48 points.

Qualifying

The first session of the last week weekend of action in the International GT3 Championship in Dubai on Friday was very interesting. Phil Quaife and Jonathan Lang, both driving an Ascari KZ1R, were fastest at the beginning. But soon Gilles Vannelet, in the nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari, and Luca  Pirri, in the nr 18 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z06R, were fighting for the pole position: a psychological war between the drivers lying first and the second in the Championship. Vannelet took the advantage, but he did his fastest lap under yellow flag restrictions, so he went back from pole position to 5th place. A good opportunity for Luca Pirri, as the Italian driver therefore claimed his second pole position of the season, and most importantly, the first race would give the nr 18 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette a real opportunity to close on the Championship leader. “The first race is going to be important. It is good to be on pole position, with the two others cars fighting for the title in 5th and 7th position. But it is going to be hard, and the race is always different from the qualifying session” said Luca Pirri.

On the pace since the beginning of the week end, Diego Alessi set the second-fastest time in the session, in the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9. Alessi and Frassinetti needed a good result to finish the year. The nr 31 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1R, driven by Jonathan Lang finished in 4th position. The Ascari seemed to be really efficient on this track, and Lang and Bertram could think about a podium. Once again, with eight cars within the same second, the FIA GT3 European Championship was incredibly close.

Frederic Makowiecki had the advantage of previous knowledge of this track, and importantly, how to be fast on this track, as he claimed the pole position in Dubai last year, in the FIA GT Championship. After a difficult beginning of the week-end, with gearbox problems, Makowiecki pushed hard during the day’s second session, in order to thank the Hexis Racing mechanics for their hard work during the night. Behind the fastest man of the day, the battle for the title went on. James Ruffier, in nr 19 Riverside Corvette, set the second time, just in front of the other Corvette in the battle, the nr 18 Martini Callaway Racing of Jürgen von Gartzen. With an exhaust problem Moser, in nr 38 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430, was slightly further back, in 5th position. But the young driver from Switzerland was not disappointed, as this position on the grid would be a good opportunity to control the race, and stay out of trouble from the two others competitors. Once again, the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Aston Martin DBRS9 was on the pace, with Alex Frassinetti setting the 4th time, and the nr 31 Team Berlanga Ascari KZ1 R is again close to the leaders, in 6th position. Those cars can hope for a podium finish on Saturday, during the last race of the season.

The stewards have received a report from the Technical Delegate that a post qualifying checking cars 38 (Vannelet-Moser / Kessel Racing), 19 (Ruffier-Peyroles / Riverside) and 15 (Deletraz-La Marca / S-Berg Racing) were found to have a rear wing which did not comply with the homologation from the vehicle. The Stewards placed those three cars at the back of the gird of race 1.

Race 1

Luca Pirri and Jürgen von Gartez claimed an important win in their nr 18 Martini Callaway Corvette Z06 GT3. Recovering from a first-lap spin, Pirri climbed back up the field to hand over to von Gartzen in second place. The German managed to overtake the leading Ascari of Rory Bertram to take the lead, coming home to take ten points and keep their Championship hopes alive. They were just four points behind Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser, who started from the back after post-qualifying scrutineering, to finish third.  The Team Berlanga Ascari of Lang and Bertram finished second - the best-ever result for an Ascari- with Skula and Matzke fourth in another of the Martini Callaway Corvettes. In 5th position, Lagniez and Makowiecki were first of the Aston Martins, and in 10th position Jean-Denis Deletraz and Lloyd la Marca were first of the Lamborghinis. The first Ford GT, Heyer and von Campenhoudt, was in 13th position, and the first Porche, Pickford and Williams, was 15th. Scott and Ryan finished first of the Jaguar cars, and Jean-Claude Ruffier and Kevin Morel were the first Dodge.

Race 2

What an incredible finish to a fantastic season. Victory in the second Dubai race of the final  meeting of the 2007 season went to BMS Scuderia Italia's Aston Martin DBRS9 of Diego Alessi and Alex Frassineti, finishing the season on a high as they had wanted.  However second-place finish from Gilles Vannelet and Henri Moser was enough to wrap up the Drivers title. A stop-and-go penalty for not respecting the driver change time saw them drop back to eighth, but a last-minute push from Vannelet, after a safety-car period, saw them regain the advantage.

Friday's winners, Luca Pirri and Jürgen Von Gartzen, were provisional champions during the race, but eventually finished fourth in Saturday's race, to take the runner-up spot in the Drivers Classification. But their excellent end of the season saw their team, Martini Callaway Racing, claim the Teams Championship. Bertram and Lang continued Ascari's good weekend with third place. In 5th position Mutsch and Forsten were first of the Fords. The first Lamborghini, of Deletraz and la Marca, was in 11th position. Cunningham and Al-Azhari finished first of the Jaguars, and Williams and Pickford first of the Porsches. The results remain provisional due to engine checks on the nr 38 and nr 18 cars.