After an action-packed weekend in Spain, Brackley-based Team Maranello Concessionaires secured second and third places in N/GT with cars number 88 (Jamie Davies/Tim Mullen) and number 89 (Kelvin Burt/Darren Turner) respectively during the opening round of the closely-contested FIA GT Championship.  

After a brace of drama-filled qualifying sessions yesterday (Saturday 5 April), which saw car number 89 of Burt/Turner achieve provisional pole position only to be relegated to the back of the grid due to an on-track incident, Kelvin Burt (starting) fought his way through the pack during his stint in the car.  Darren Turner took over and drove through to the lead in the N/GT class.  Unfortunately, a puncture to the right rear tyre caused an unscheduled pit stop but, due to some careful fuel load planning by the team, the car continued with the minimum loss of time to finish third in class.

Car number 88 of Davies/Mullen, starting third on the grid, had a consistent race with one exception (see Jamie Davies’ comments) to finish in a strong second place.

Kelvin Burt: “We have had a real roller-coaster of a weekend.  We qualified in first place, started at the back, lead the race and finished third due to the puncture.  Overall, I’m very happy considering but the one thing that has impressed me more than anything is how hard the team has worked to ensure this result.  It’s thanks to them that Darren and I are on the podium.”

Jamie Davies:  “I had a good solid race today but with one scary moment when three of us span together on some oil in turn six.  Thankfully, we all came out unscathed.  We have some more learning to do to improve our race pace but we will get there soon, I’m sure.”

Tim Mullen: “I was suffering from inconsistent grip towards the end of my stint and we had one problem with the gearbox.  I got stuck in third gear for three quarters of a lap but clipping a kerb relieved the problem for the rest of the race.  Overall, I’m very happy with the result considering that this is my first race in the Championship.”

Darren Turner: “This is a great result considering the ups and downs of the weekend.  The car was running really well and I’m sure we could have carried the pace through to the end if we had not been baulked by the puncture.  Our qualifying speed is a good measure of what we can achieve and I’m now really looking forward to Magny Cours.”

“A good result for the team, for sure, as we now lead the Championship,” said Rod Benoist, TMC’s Team Manager.  “We know where we need to improve and we will travel to Magny Cours in a couple of weeks time with a good deal of knowledge inherited from Barcelona.  The team has made a monumental effort this weekend and 14 points is a satisfying reward.”

Ferraris owned by Care Racing, managed by BMS Scuderia Italia, and built by British-based Prodrive filled all three of the top podium spots today after an exciting and closely-fought opening round of the FIA GT Championship.

BMS Scuderia Italia newcomers Thomas Biagi and Matteo Bobbi claimed the victors’ laurels in their first ever sportscar race.  They beat Luca Cappellari and Fabrizio Gollin into second by 15 seconds, and were followed home in 3rd by the Care Racing entry of Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderari and Stefano Livio.

The first 30 laps of the race featured very close competition between the pole-sitting Lister Storm of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Nathan Kinch and the two BMS cars.  On lap 27 Fabrizio Gollin made his move and took the lead, only to come across an abandoned piece of bodywork [later confirmed to be a splitter from the no.4 Viper] which inflicted slight damage to the Ferrari and severe damage to the Lister, removing its roof and breaking the windscreen.

This was the only major incident to befall any of the Care Racing and BMS Ferrari 550 Maranellos during the race.

Matteo Bobbi (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 23:  “It’s unbelievable!  The whole team did very, very good work, especially Thomas and I, and we didn’t make any mistakes during the whole race.  I could never have imagined this result before we started.  Now we are looking towards the next race and the Championship.  I think we had a lot of luck today, and the Lister was not so lucky, and for sure the competition will be strong again in the next race which is good for the Championship.”

Thomas Biagi (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 23:  “This result is very important for me.  I pushed 120% for the team because they did a really fantastic job and I wanted to repay the confidence they have shown in me and Matteo.  The car, the engine, the Michelin tyres, were all perfect so this is the only result they deserve.   The only thing I was a bit worried about was the rolling start – because it was the first time for me – but I was confident that all the drivers in the Championship were professionals so everything was okay.”

Luca Cappellari (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 22: “I had a great fight with Matteo and the car was running very well with the tyres perfect right to the end of each stint.  I am very happy.”  

Fabrizio Gollin (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 22:  “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to give Luca a perfect car at the end of the first stint.  After running over the splitter, which nearly “killed” Jamie Campbell-Walter (!), it did a little damage to the front of our car and so the car was not 100% after that.

Lilian Bryner (CH), Care Racing no. 21:  “I’m really pleased for the team as we were a little worried at the beginning about three cars being under their control.  They did a really great job though.  We only had a few small problems, one with a long brake pedal and then when we lost a bit of time with our last pit stop, but 3rd place is a good start for the season.” 

Enzo Calderari (CH), Care Racing no. 21:  “Michelin did a great job with the tyres which were really consistent throughout the race.  I never would have believed before the race that we would be filling all three podium places.  We are all very happy.”

Stefano Livio (I), Care Racing no. 21:  “It’s a great day for us.  It was a very good first race and I was lucky.  I had to do regular, consistent times and bring the car to the finish – it was my first time at Barcelona so I am very pleased.”

Frédéric Dor, founder of Care Racing Development:  “There couldn’t be a better start to the season, and I think it’s fantastic especially with new drivers and new organisation in the team to cover the management of three cars.  BMS have done very well - I had confidence in them but until you see it happening you don’t really know.  The performance of our Ferraris, the Listers and the Larbre Viper is very close so I think it will be a hard fight with them in the coming races.”