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The Ferrari
F430 GT claimed an impressive clean sweep of both
podiums during the third round of the 2008 International GT Open
Championship's double-header at the weekend, as the series made its
first visit to the famous Belgian Spa-Francorchamps circuit.
Victory in Race 1 went to the Scuderia Trottet Racing
"reserve" team, made up of Marcel Fassler and the 2007
GT3 champions Henri Moser, standing in for
Pompidou-Alexander, who were taking part in qualifying
for the Le Mans 24 hours. Second, with a big lead in the
general classification, was the Ferrari 430 entered by
the Scuderia Playteam Sarafree crewed by Andrea
Montermini-Michele Maceratesi, hampered by several
seconds at the pit stop. On the third step of the podium
was the duo of Lorenzo Bontempelli and Matteo Cressoni
(Racing Team EdilCris).
Race 2 saw two of the Scuderia Advanced Engineering
Ferrari 430 GT2 in the top two slots, after an
electrifying last minute battle, even colliding at the
last corner, with Maurizio Mediani and Michele Rugolo
eventually getting the better of Alessandro Bonetti and
Damien Pasini. Third went to the Portuguese duo of
Manuel Giao - Pedro Couceiro (Playteam). Ferrari thus
maintains its lead in the Constructors' Cup, ahead of
the German marque.
Race 1
It took only five races to
Swiss team Trottet Racing to clinch its first victory in the
International GT Open, in Saturday's Pro-Am race in the
magnificent Spa-Francorchamps circuit, that the series was
visiting for the first time. The ‘replacement driver
line-up' of Trottet, composed of former DTM-star Marcel
Fässler and current Euro GT3 champion Henri Moser, who were
subbing for Alexander and Pompidou (busy in Le Mans) had no
trouble in achieving a flag-to-flag win from the pole,
finishing ahead of championship leaders
Montermini-Maceratesi (Playteam Ferrari F430), who were out
of contention for victory because of their 25" handicap but
reinforced their position in the overall standings. Third
and again on the podium was one of the EdilCris Ferraris,
with Cressoni-Bontempelli.
In GTS, it was a fourth
victory in five races for the Lamborghini Gallardo, but this
time it was Mik Corse clinching a deserved maiden victory,
with Giacomo Piccini and Enrico Moncada, after a superb
race, which saw the car running as high as fourth overall in
the initial laps.
Shortly before the start,
rain appeared in the Ardennes and everybody prepared for a
wet race but on the grid, dry weather was back and most of
the teams changed again to slicks, with the notable
exceptions of Mediani, Pasini (Advanced Ferrari) and Aicart
(sunRed), who stopped immediately to change tires, losing
all chances of a good result.
At the start, poleman Fässler
had no trouble in taking the lead, keeping Montermini,
Monfardini, Sundberg, Mediani, Piccini, Caffi and
Bontempelli behind him. The first laps saw a very inspired
Piccini, with the Lambo Mik Corse, climbing up to fourth
overall with a GTS car, and Bontempelli taking fourth
position after battling with Caffi and Sundberg, who spun in
the chicane.
The gap between Fässler and
Montermini reduced to a couple of seconds shortly before the
pit-stop, but the 25" of handicap to be served by the
Playteam Ferrari gave an ample security margin to the
Trottet F430, with young Henri Moser keeping complete
control of events until the chequered flag. Second part of
the race saw a new "charge" of Richard Lietz with the
Autorlando Porsche, the Austrian climbing ten positions to
finish fourth in between the two Edil Cris of Cressoni and
Frezza. The second Playteam of Gião-Couceiro took sixth,
ahead of the Drivex Porsche of De Castro-Chacón, also
authors of a nice race from last place in the grid.
In GTS, the Mik Corse Lambo
slid progressively in the rankings but never lost the class
lead, with the Twentwytwo Corvette taking second after that
the Roger Ferrari of young Julià-Pampló was stranded with no
fuel left in last lap. The Villois Aston Martin of
Romanini-Petrini finished third, after a lively race which
saw also a contact with the sister car of the squad, which
obliged Wiser-Ricci to retire. The Villois Aston Martin #57
(Wiser-Ricci) suffered a broken engine in free practice 2
and missed Qualifying 1. Advanced Engineering Ferrari F430
#12 had to be withdrawn after Peter Bamford damaged it
severely in an accident in Qualifying 1.
Race 2
Advanced Engineering took a
resounding double victory in Sunday's race, with Michele
Rugolo and Maurizio Mediani imposing their F430 ahead of
sister car of team-mates Alessandro Bonetti and Damien
Pasini, in a thrilling finale which saw contact between the
two cars in the last corner. The third car of the Italian
team (Maletic-Aguas) finished third. Third place went to the
Playteam Ferrari of Portuguese pair Gião-Couceiro.
The race,
celebrated in perfect weather conditions, was marked by a
3-lap safety car period shortly before the driver changes,
because of oil spilled over the track. Montermini-Maceratesi
(81 points) kept leadership in the Dunlop-supported
championship, and are now followed by Rugolo (61),
Gião-Couceiro (60) and Bonetti-Pasini (56).
The battle in GTS ended with
the first seasonal success of the Aston Martin DBRS9 and of
the Villois Racing, thanks to Max Wiser and GP2 driver
Giacomo Ricci, who preceded the Mik Lambo of Piccini-Moncada
and the Roger Ferrari of Pampló-Julià.
At the start, poleman Lietz (Autorlando
Porsche) could not keep for long the advantage, and
Maceratesi took the lead in the Playteam Ferrari, while also
Bonetti passed the Porsche for a short while. Couceiro,
Frezza, Romero, Chacón, Cressoni and Moser followed.
On
lap 6, the RB Lambo of Visconti broke the engine, leaving
oil in one of the corners in the upper part of the track.
Petrini, Frezza and even the leader, Maceratesi, could not
avoid spinning, whic led to the intervention of the safety
car during three laps. After the yellow period, almost
everybody stopped for the driver change. With minimal gaps
between the cars, that reshaped the race to the advantage of
of the AE Ferraris of Mediani and Pasini, with Roda in
third.
The Porsche was soon passed
by Giao, Sundberg (who had to stop for a drive-through
because of an earlier contact of Romero with Moser), while
battle was fierce between Monfardini, Bontempelli, Merino
and Aguas. This aggressive group soon catched up and passed
Roda, and Aguas won the final sprint for fourth, after
Merino (excellent in the GPC Ferrari) was hit by Roda.
In GTS, the initial
domination of Cioci in the Twentytwo Corvette ended in lap 6
when the car stopped with a technical problem, leaving the
lead to yesterday's winners, the Mik Lambo of
Piccini-Moncada and later to the Roger Ferrari of ‘babies'
Julià-Pampló, but after the yellow period and the driver
change, it was the Villois Aston of Wiser-Ricci.
The GT Open
World Championship will be back in action at Portugal's
Estoril circuit over the weekend of 12-13 July.
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