italiaspeed.com

The second season of the Brazilian GT3 Championship kicked off at the Curitiba circuit and the prestige Italian sports car brands, Ferrari and Lamborghini, had a very strong weekend, emerging from the double header meeting firmly in control at the top of the manufacturers' standings. Following the success of the inaugural championship last year, top GT3 sports cars including Ferrari, Lamborghini, Porsche and Dodge were back on the grid, with the new Ford GT expected to be a dark horse.

On a rainy day, the pole sitting Ford GT with Walter Salles behind the wheel started well and quickly opening up a decent distance over the second starter on the front row of the grid, Andreas Mattheis in a Dodge Viper. On the second row, at the green light Antonio Bonifacio in a Lamborghini Gallardo got the jump on Wagner Ebrahim, also in a Dodge Viper, quickly moving into third position at the beginning of the race.

The opening part of the race saw several on track accidents; and on the fourth time around the Curitiba track, Marcelo Hahn in his Ferrari F430 slid off as he left the pitlane, coming back into the pits after collecting the Porsche GT3 Cup S of Valdeno Brito. The two cars were out of the race which was then slowed after the intervention of the Safety Car for the next three laps.

The strategy adopted by the team Action Power with Alceu Feldmann at the wheel, was not to change tyres for the second half part of the race, which proved to be the right decision to make. His team mate Thiago Marques, assumed the wheel of the Lamborghini Gallardo during the pit stop window, when the pit was opened for pilot’s to be changed according to the rules of the championship. Besides keeping its slick tyres in a rainy race, the Lamborghini dominated the second half of the race, overcoming the leader, the Ford GT, now being driven by the ex-Formula 1 pilot Ricardo Rosset, and the Italian machine crossed the line in the first place.

“It was a bold victory, the car arrived one week before the race and we didn't have enough time to prepare it properly for the opening of the championship. I thank God for this win. It was him that ordered that rain," said a delighted Feldmann. It was the sixth victory of Lamborghini Gallardo in the Brazilian GT3 since the launch of the category last year in the country, a record amongst the brands involved.

In the second round, disputed on the Sunday, the winners of the opening race on Saturday, Feldmann and Marques, had several problems during the race, which ended any chance of the crew making it two wins out of two races. In the pit stop sequence, the two mechanic rule foreseen by the regulations was not obeyed by the team, and besides this, Marques failed to obey the stewards’ order to come into the pits for a stop and go as punishment. As a result he was disqualified.

Until the pitstops, Feldmann had struggled for third position against Cláudio Ricci, of the team CRT. The dispute between Ricci’s Ferrari and Feldmann's Lamborghini was intense, but Ricci, after two bold attempts, overcame Feldmann, assuming the position which he kept until the end of the race.

"After a great Saturday we had a disastrous Sunday, with problems in the gearbox, tyres and a punishment that I consider unjust," said Thiago of Action Power team. However there was better luck to be had by the CRT team, “The team did a great job giving me a perfect car for the race. With the improvements that we will have during the year, I believe that the first victory of the Ferrari is close," foresees Ricci.

by Claudio Perlini

2008 Brazilian GT3 Championship, Curitiba, Rd 1 - Result:

1. Alceu Feldmann/Thiago Marques: Lamborghini Gallardo
2. Walter Salles/Ricardo Rosset: Ford GT
3. Paulo Bonifácio/Ingo Hoffmann: Lamborghini Gallardo
4. Rafael Derani/Cláudio Ricci: Ferrari F430
5. Walter Derani/Giuliano Losacco: Ferrari F430
6. Wagner Ebrahim/Fábio Ebrahim: Dodge Viper
7. Abramo Mazzochi/Matheus Stumpf: Dodge Viper
8. Renato Cattalini/Antônio Jorge Neto: Ferrari F430
9. Leonardo Burti/Elias Nascimento: Dodge Viper
10. Carlos Crespo/Amilcar Collares: Ferrari F430
11. Xandy Negrão/Andreas Mattheis: Dodge Viper
12. Alan Hellmeister/Fábio Casagrande: Dodge Viper
13. Marcelo Hahn/Allam Khodair: Ferrari F430
14. Antônio Hermann/Valdeno Brito: Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S

2008 Brazilian GT3 Championship, Curitiba, Rd 2 - Result:

1. Walter Salles/Ricardo Rosset: Ford GT
2. Xandy Negrão/Andreas Mattheis: Dodge Viper
3. Rafael Derani/Cláudio Ricci: Ferrari F430
4. Wagner Ebrahim/Fábio Ebrahim: Dodge Viper
5. Paulo Bonifácio/Ingo Hoffmann: Lamborghini Gallardo
6. Renato Cattalini/Antônio Jorge Neto: Ferrari F430
7. Walter Derani/Giuliano Losacco: Ferrari F430
8. Antônio Hermann/Valdeno Brito: Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S
9. Carlos Crespo/Amilcar Collares: Ferrari F430
10. Abramo Mazzochi/Matheus Stumpf: Dodge Viper
11. Leonardo Burti/Elias Nascimento: Dodge Viper
12. Alceu Feldmann/Thiago Marques: Lamborghini Gallardo

2008 Brazilian GT3 Drivers Championship (after 2 rounds):

1. Ricardo Rosset/Walter Salles: 18 points
2. Rafael Derani/Cláudio Ricci: 11
3. Thiago Marques/Alceu Feldmann: 10
= Ingo Hoffmann/Paulo Bonifácio: 10
5. Fábio Ebrahim/Wagner Ebrahim: 8
= Andreas Mattheis/Xandy Negrão: 8
7. Giuliano Losacco/Walter Derani: 6
8. Antonio Jorge Neto/Renato Catalini: 4
9. Matheus Stumpf/Abramo Mazzochi: 2
10. Antonio Hermann/Valdeno Brito: 1

2008 Brazilian GT3 Teams Championship (after 2 rounds):

1. W2 Racing: 18
2. CRT: 17
3. Action Power: 10
= Boni Sports: 10
5. Full Time: 8
= WA Mattheis: 8
7. Grecco: 4
8. Scuderia Occhi: 2
9. Konrad Motorsports: 1

2008 Brazilian GT3 Manufacturers Championship (after 2 rounds):

1. Ferrari: 21
2. Lamborghini: 20
3. Ford: 18
= Dodge: 18
5. Porsche: 1