The only possible way to describe the fifth round of the FIA GT Championship is ‘action packed’. With temperatures high and the sun shining, the cars and drivers gave the 20,000 spectators lining the Donington Park circuit a thrilling show, with a breathtaking three-hour sequence of changes of lead, nose-to-tail battles, daring overtaking manoeuvres and assorted racing incidents. Although both Force One Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars and the nr 14 Lister Storm led the race, and the Konrad Saleen and other Lister Storms looked strong, an assortment of mechanical problems and racing incidents meant that the race result was identical to Brno, with BMS Scuderia Italia and Freisinger Motorsport finishing on top of the podium.

Further to the technical scrutineering, the nr 18 Zwaan’s Racing Chrysler Viper, originally classified second, was excluded from the results by a decision from the Stewards of the Meeting. Therefore the results of the race remain provisional, pending the appeal by Zwaan’s Racing to the exclusion, and engine checks on both the winning nr 23 Ferrari and the nr 18 Chrysler Viper GTS-R.

FIFTH WIN FOR BOBBI AND BIAGI

The two Italian drivers, in their first season of GT racing, continue to dominate the FIA GT Championship, with their seemingly invulnerable Ferrari 550 Maranello.  Despite 100 kg penalty weight, and the undoubted speed of the Lister Storm and Saleen S7-R cars, Bobbi and Biagi put in a fine performance to take their fifth win of the season. With a perfect score of 50 points, they have a massive lead of 26 points over their nearest rivals, Care Racing drivers Bryner, Calderari and Livio. Their team, BMS Scuderia Italia, is well ahead of its nearest rivals in the Teams Classification, with Lister Racing trailing by 34 points. 

FREISINGER TAKE N-GT TEAMS LEAD 

Just like in 2002, Stéphane Ortelli’s fortunes appear to have changed in the Czech Republic. Last year, his Brno win heralded a series of victories that took him to the N-GT Drivers title, and after winning at the Czech track last month, the driver from Monaco continued the sequence with a win in Great Britain. With the second Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS of Longin and Gardel finishing in a fine third place, the team has moved into the lead of the N-GT Teams classification, while Ortelli and Lieb have 28 points, two behind the leaders Mullen and Davies, and just one behind De Simone and Ortelli. With six drivers within three points of each other, the class is closer than ever, and the upcoming Proximus 24 Hours of Spa should be fascinating.

THIRD FOR FORCE ONE AFTER ZWAAN’S RACING EXCLUDED

The surprise result of the fifth round had to be the second-place finish of Dutch team Zwaan’s Racing, with its Chrysler Viper GTS-R – the first Viper to finish on the podium this season.  However, the car was later excluded from the results due to a breach of the technical regulations, further to a modification made after initial scrutineering. The team has lodged an appeal and the results therefore remain provisional. This elevates the Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello of Enzo Calderari, Lilian Bryner and Stefano Livio to second.  Despite a number of misfire and power-steering problems, the trio managed to keep the car going and took their third third-place finish of the season. Care Racing, despite only having one car, is lying third in the Teams Classification.  Third place went to the Force One Festina Chrysler Viper of pole-sitter Alliot, Hallyday and Zacchia, which had looked strong for much of the race, but lost time with two mid-race spins. 

The Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen S7-R of Erdos and Newton was provisionally fourth, ahead of the Creation Autosportif Lister Storm, which had run strongly until a long pit stop due to starter problems.  The Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7-R finished a provisional sixth in class, after looking certain to finish on the podium until late in the race, with the Roos-Optima Chrysler Viper dropping back from fifth as Magnus Wallinder struggled on worn tyres. The car inherited seventh place after the exclusion of the nr 18 Zwaans’ Racing Chrysler Viper, meaning that the nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari took the final point for eighth.

BEST RESULT OF 2003 FOR RWS-YUKOS

German team RWS-Yukos had its best weekend of the 2003 season today, when a strong performance from Stéphane Daoudi and Johnny Mowlem saw their nr 99 Porsche 996 GT3-RS take second place in the N-GT category, giving an all-Porsche podium for the first time this season. The Team Eurotech Porsche of David and Godfrey Jones was fourth, ahead of the nr 88 TMC Ferrari 360 Modena and the nr 80 Veloqx car of Smith and Kirkaldy. The second RWS-Yukos car of Vasiliev and Fomenko finished in seventh place, with the nr 53 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena of Kutemann and Gosse scoring the final point.

GT RACE 

The Konrad Saleen failed to pull away from the start of the warm-up lap, meaning that Gounon had to start from the back. Hezemans got the better of his team-mate Alliot at the start, and led for the early stages, with Bobbi jumping up from sixth to third, overtaking Alliot and attacking Hezemans for the lead. On lap 15, Bobbi pushed past the Force One Viper and took the lead, but dropped back on the next lap after Hezemans spun, putting Alliot back in the lead. The Konrad Saleen had reached the top runners by this point, but was awarded a drive-through penalty after a collision with Gollin’s nr 22 Ferrari.  

For the rest of the first hour, the leading cars were involved in a nose-to tail battle, with the top eight cars separated by under 6 seconds on lap 21. Campbell-Walter, in the Lister, had by then climbed up after the grid and took the lead ahead of the nr 4 Viper, with the nr 23 BMS Ferrari following him up into second. Campbell-Walter led for the rest of his stint, handing over to Kinch. But the 21-year old was faced with a charging Biagi, who took the lead on lap 42 and began to pull away. Kinch reacted with some very fast laps, but then came into the pits unexpectedly, retiring with broken steering. This left the nr 23 Ferrari with a significant lead over the nr 15 Lister Storm of Piccini and Deletraz, while the Konrad Saleen, with Seiler at the wheel, moved up to third. The nr 4 Viper had two spins in close succession, dropping behind the Zwaans’ Viper. The Saleen moved up to second place, while the nr 15 Lister had problems with a broken break pipe, dropping out of contention. 

However, just 15 laps from the end, the nr 2 Saleen spun off after a racing incident with the nr 15 Lister, landing in the gravel and dropping down to an eventual 7th place. This left the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello to cross the line with a lead of over a lap from the nr 18 Zwaan’s Racing Chrysler Viper, with the Care Racing Ferrari third.

N-GT RACE

The nr 89 Team Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 360 Modena led from pole, but was shortly overtaken by the nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS. The nr 50 Freisinger Porsche also moved ahead of the leading Ferrari. By lap 30, Emmanuel Collard had a lead of 7.4 seconds over Ortelli, with the nr 89 TMC Ferrari a further 6 seconds behind. After the first pit-stops, Lieb was in the lead, while the nr 88 TMC Ferrari lost a rear wheel at the Old Hairpin. By lap 62, Lieb had pulled out a lead of 25 seconds over Sugden. The nr 61 Porsche then had a long pit-stop due to a transmission problem. This brought the nr 99 RWS-Yukos Porsche into second place, with the nr 80 Veloqx Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena third. However, vibration problems with the gearbox meant that the Veloqx car made two pit-stops in quick succession, dropping back to sixth, and promoting the nr 51 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche to third, for an all-Porsche podium.

> CLASSIFIED RESULT FROM DONINGTON PARK

Race Start : 11:10
Total distance : 125   laps = 502.87 km or 3 hours 
Starting Grid :  4 – 2- 14 – 5 – 7 – 23 – 15 – 22 – 6 – 8 – 18 – 21 – 10 – 9 – 16 – 11 – 89 – 50 – 61 – 88 – 52 – 80 – 74 – 51 – 99 – 75 – 77 – 69 - 53

Weather : sunny and warm, with a light breeze, track dry, 32.5°

The nr 80 Ferrari is starting from the pit lane

Start Gounon stalls on the grid for the warm-up lap  and rejoins at the back.  At the start, Hezemans takes the lead ahead of his team-mate, with the nr 23 leaping up to third with Bobbi at the wheel.  In N-GT, the EMKA car makes a good start and gains a place, while the nr 2 Konrad starts to climb up from the back. 
Lap 1 GT :  5 – 4- 23 – 7 – 14 – 22 – 22 – 15 –1 8
 N-GT :  89 – 61 – 50 – 88 – 52 – 99
Lap 2 Porsche nr 74 to the pits, pushed into the pits, problem with rear right tyre problem, with the mountings twisted
 Hezemans has a lead of 1.645 over Alliot 
Lap 3 Jamie Campbell-Walter on the tail of Erdos for fourth,  fails to pass, and is passed by Gollin at the Esses and then by Piccini
 GT : 5 – 4 – 23 – 7 – 22 – 15 – 14 
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89 – 88 – 52 – 99
Lap 4 Gollin overtakes Erdos for fourth place.  The Listers are nose to tail behind the Saleen.  Hezemans has a lead of 3.344 in the nr 5 Hezemans
Lap 5 GT : 5 – 4- 23 –22 – 15 – 14 – 7 – 6
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89
Lap 6 Ferrari nr 16 seen smoking on the circuit
 N-GT is led by Collard in the nr 61 EMKA Racing car.  Gounon is making good progress, passing two cars at one go to up to 9th.
Lap 7 Matteo Bobbi is 0.6 seconds behind Alliot in the nr 4 Viper in the fight for second place
 Porsche nr 74 rejoins the race
Lap 8 Ferrari nr 16 to the pits, oil pressure problem 
 Battle for second place coming out of Goddard, into Redgate side by side, 
 Porsche nr 74 to the pits, problem with the par
Lap 9 Bobbi passed Alliot going into the Melbourne hairpin
Lap 10 Saleen nr 7 to the pits, fuel, tyre, fixed the bonnet
Lap 11 GT : 5 – 23 – 4 – 22 – 15 – 14 – 2 – 6 – 18
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89 – 88 – 52 - 99
Lap 13 Bobbi is right behind the race leader Hezemans in a tremendous battle for the lead of the race.  Behind them, Gollin in fourth is followed by Piccini and Campbell-Walter in the Listers, with Gounon now in 7th
 In N-GT, Collard has a 2.4 second lead over Ortelli in the nr 50 Viper, with Burt third in the nr 89 Ferrari.
Lap 14 Bobbi pulls alongside Hezemans, but Hezemans keeps the advantage. They are nose to tail into Melbourne. He tries again on the entrance to the pit straight, but Hezemans still maintains the lead.  Gounon is now right behind the two Lister Storms of Piccini and Campbell-Walter
Lap 15 Porsche nr 74 rejoins the race
 Fantastic battle at the lead with Hezemans retaining his slight advantage.  Bobbi moves alongside into Melbourne again, but once more Hezemans survives.  Into Goddards, Bobbi pushes past and takes the lead.  Bobbi is shown a black and white flag 
Lap 16 The nr 5 Viper loses its rear bumper.  Hezemans then spins, and the nr 4 Force One takes the lead ahead of the nr 23 Ferrari
 GT : 4 – 22 – 15 – 14 – 2 – 23 – 5 – 6
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89 – 88 – 52 – 99
Lap 17 Five cars nose to tail, with the top five within 1.7 seconds.
Lap 18 Piccini passed Gollin into the Esses.  Gounon tries to overtake and knocked Gollin in the nr 22 Ferrari
 GT : 4 – 15 – 14 – 2 – 22 – 23 – 5 – 6
 N-GT : 61 –50 – 89 – 88 – 52
Lap 19 Konrad nr 2 is awarded a drive through penalty
 Piccini spins at Coppice and rejoins
 JMB nr 10 in the pits, will not restart due to transmission problem
Lap 20 GT : 4 – 14 – 2 – 23 – 22 – 15 – 5 – 6 –
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89 – 88 – 52 
Lap 21  Jamie Campbell-Walter in the nr 14 Lister overtakes Alliot in the nr 4 Viper to take the lead for the first time in the race
 The top eight cars are within 5.7 seconds
 Gounon overtakes Alliot to take second place
Lap 22 Konrad nr 2 comes in for its penalty
 GT : 14 – 23 – 4 – 22 – 15 – 2 – 6 – 5
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89 – 88 – 52
 The nr 14 Lister has a lead of 5.9 seconds over the nr 23 Ferrari, after the Konrad made its stop
Lap 23 Ferrari nr 22 to the pits, fuel, tyres and bonnet removed, driver to Cappellari
Lap 25 The nr 5 Viper overtakes the nr 4 Viper for fifth place
 Ferrari nr 16 rejoins the race after solving its oil pressure problem
 GT :  14 – 23 – 15 – 6 – 5 – 4 – 18 – 2 – 9
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89 – 88 – 52 – 99
Lap 27 Amazing battle between Piccini and Verdon-Roe, with Bobby Verdon Roe in the nr 6 Lister overtaking Piccini, Piccini tried to take the place back, but Verdon-Roe got it back again. The battle continues until Piccini went wide  and Verdon-Roe retains third.
 Ferrari nr 10 out of the pits, added fuel
 Hezemans in the nr 5 Viper stops at Melbourne on the grass, out of the race
Lap 28 GT : 14 – 23 – 6 – 15 – 4 – 18 – 2-  9
Lap 29 Ferrari nr 22 rejoins the race
 Porsche nr 69 to the pits
Lap 30 In N-GT, Collard has a lead of 7.4 seconds over Ortelli in the nr 50 Porsche, with the nr 89 TMC Ferrari a further 6 seconds behind
Lap 30 Lister nr 15 to the pits, fuel, driver to Deletraz
 Porsche nr 74 to the pits, fuel, tyre and driver to Godfrey Jones
Lap 31 Ferrari nr 10 pushed into the garage
Lap 32 GT : 14 – 23 – 6 – 4 – 2 – 18 – 8
 N-GT : 61 – 50 – 89 – 88 – 52 - 99
 Ferrari 21 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Bryner
 Ferrari nr 16 to the pits
Lap 35 Viper nr 4 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Hallyday
Lap 36 Lister nr 6 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Zadra, but has problems starting
 Viper nr 18 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Abbelen
 Ferrari nr 9 to the pits, fails to restart
Lap 37 Second placed Ferrari nr 23 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Biagi
Lap 38 Viper nr 11 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Roos
Lap 39 Lister nr 14 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Kinch
 Saleen nr 2 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Seiler
 Ferrari nr 89 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Turner
 Porsche nr 99 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Daoudi
Lap 40 Ferrari nr 89 pushed into the pits
 Porsche nr 50 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Lieb
 Gt :  14 – 23 – 15 – 4 – 7 
 N-GT : 61 – 88 – 52 – 51 - 50
 N-GT leader Collard is up in fourth place
Lap 41 Biagi is closing on Kinch for the lead of the race.
 Porsche nr 77 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Fomenko
Lap 42 Biagi overtakes Kinch coming into Redgate to take the lead in the nr 23 Ferrari
 Ferrari nr 80 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Smith
Lap 43  Porsche nr 50 goes wide over the grass in Melbourne but rejoins (currently 5th in N-GT)
 Ferrari nr 89 retires with gear linkage problems
Lap 43 GT : 23 – 14 – 15 – 4 – 7 – 18 – 2
 N-GT : 61 – 88 – 52 – 51 – 50 – 99 - 80
 Collard has a moment at the old hairpin but carries on, having lost some time
Lap 45 Porsche nr 61 to the pits, fuel tyres and driver to Sugden
 Biagi has a lead of 6.530 over Kinch, with Deletraz a massive 35 seconds 
 Ferrari nr 52 to the pits,  fuel, tyres and driver to De Simone
Lap 47 Porsche nr 51 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Longin
Lap 48 Ferrari nr 88 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Davies
 Ferrari nr 10 comes out of the garage
 Ferrari nr 53 to the pits, fuel only
Lap 48 GT : 23 – 14 – 15 – 4 – 7 – 2- 18
 Kinch is 8 seconds behind Biagi, but is lapping quicker than the Italian driver
Lap 49 Lister nr 14 to the pits after just 10 laps, fuel and tyres
 Saleen nr 7 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Newton
Lap 50 Kinch is going slowly on the track, returns to the pits again, bonnet removed, pushed into the garage with a steering problem
Lap 52 GT : 23 – 15 – 4 – 2 – 18 – 21 – 11
 N-GT : 50 – 61 – 52 – 88 – 99 – 80
Lap  54 Ferrari nr 88 has lost a left rear wheel at the Old Hairpin. Continues slowly back to the pits
 Porsche nr 69  to the pits
 Porsche nr 74 going slowly
Lap 57 Biagi has a lead of 1:16.494 over the nr 15 Lister, and has lapped all the cars up to the fourth-placed Konrad Saleen
 GT : 23 – 15 – 4 – 2- 18 – 21 – 11
 N-GT : 50 – 61 – 52 – 99 – 80 – 51
Lap 59 The nr 2 Konrad overtakes the nr 4 Viper for third place
Lap 60 GT : 23 – 15 – 2 – 4 – 18 – 21- 11
 N-GT : 50 – 61 – 52 – 99 – 80 – 51 – 75
Lap 62 Lieb leads N-GT with a lead of 25 seconds over Sugden in the nr 61 EMKA Porsche, with the nr 52 JMB Ferrari in third place and the nr 99 RWS-
 Ferrari nr 53 to the pits, driver to Gosse, fuel and four tyres
Lap 64 The nr 61 EMKA Porsche is going very slowly on the track
 The nr 4 Viper has gone over the gravel and grass at Coppice, but manages to avoid all the barriers, losing fourth place to the nr 18 Zwaans’ Racing Viper
Lap 65 Porsche nr 61 to the pits,  transmission problem
 Ferrari nr 80 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Kirkaldy
 Ferrari nr 22 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Gollin
Lap 67 GT : 23 – 15 – 2 – 18 – 4 – 21 – 11 – 7
 N-GT : 50 – 52 – 99 – 51 – 75 - 80
 Seiler in the nr 2 Saleen is catching Deletraz in the nr 15 Lister
Lap 69 Spin for the nr 4 Viper, has problems 
 Ferrari nr 9 receives a 10 seconds stop and go penalty for not starting the car along
 The nr 2 Saleen overtakes the nr 15 Lister for second
Lap 70 Porsche nr 77 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Mowlem
Lap 73 Ferrari nr 21 to the pits , fuel, tyres and driver to Calderari
 Porsche nr 51 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Gardel
 Lister nr 15 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Piccini
Lap 74 Ferrari nr 9 to the pits for its stop and go
 Viper nr 18 to the pits, fuel
Lap  75 Piccini crosses the gravel in the nr 15 Lister
 Porsche nr 61 rejoins after changing the transmission
 Viper nr 4 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Zacchia
Lap 76 Lister nr 15 loses a right front wheel
 Ferrari nr 23 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Bobbi
Lap 77 Lister nr 15 comes into the pits, long stop … 
 Viper nr 11 to the pits, fuel and driver to Wallinder, no tyre change
 Saleen nr 2 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Konrad
 Lister nr 6 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Verdon-Roe
Lap 77 Ferrari nr 52 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Bertolini, blocked in the pits
Lap 77 GT : 23 – 2- 18 – 4 – 21 – 11 – 7 – 15
 N-GT : 50 – 99 – 75 – 80 - 51
 Ferrari nr 9 to the pits, driver to Babini, fuel and tyres, won’t start
 Porsche nr 75 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Sumpter
 Saleen nr 7 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Erdos
Lap 80 Porsche nr 50 to the pits: fuel, tyres and driver to Ortelli 
 10 sec stop and go penalty for pushing the Ferrari nr 9 to start 
 Lister nr 15 leaves the pits again after solving brake liquid leak 
Lap 82 GT : 23 – 2 – 18 – 4 – 21 – 11 – 7 – 22
 N-GT : 50 – 99 – 80 – 51 – 75 – 88 – 77 – 53
Lap 84 Race leader nr 23 to the pits after just 8 laps, checking gearbox
 The Saleen is now only about 20 seconds behind the leading Ferrari, with 40 minutes remaining
 N-GT leader Ortelli is lying 7th overall
Lap 86 Calderari, in the nr 21 Ferrari, is closing in on Steve Zacchia  in the nr 4, fighting for 4th
 Bobbi sets his fastest lap of the race, with a time of 1:31.841
Lap 88 The nr 21 Ferrari overtakes the nr 4 Viper
Lap 90 GT : 23 – 2 – 18 – 21 – 4 – 11 – 7
 N-GT : 50 – 99 – 80 – 51 – 75 – 88
Lap 93 Saleen nr 2 in the gravel at the Old Hairpin, heavily buried in the 
 Ferrari nr 22 to the pits due to engine overheating, cooled down with a ventilator and rejoined
Lap 95 GT : 23 – 18 – 2 – 21 – 4 – 11
 Konrad nr 2 rejoins the race having been pulled out of the gravel having dropped down the field
Lap 97 Konrad nr 2 to the pits, tyres and out
Lap 99 Ferrari nr 16 to the pits. 
Lap 100 GT : 23 – 18 – 21 – 4 – 7 – 11 – 6- 2
 N-GT : 50 – 99 – 80  - 51 – 75 – 77 – 53
Lap 104 Verdon-Roe passes Wallinder for 6th place 
Lap 105 Ferrari 88 to the pits, fuel only
 Wallinder apparently has a problem in the nr 11 Viper; sets a lap of 1:44 and is overtaken by Ortelli
Lap 106 Ferrari nr 80 to the pits, fuel and the left-side tyres
 Verdon-Roe is now chasing the nr 7 Saleen, for 5th place.  He is 9 seconds behind with 8 minutes remaining
Lap 108 Third place Ferrari nr 21 to the pits, fuel only
Lap 109 Ferrari nr 80 back to the pits
Lap 110 Zacchia is now just 15 seconds behind third-placed Calderari, butbut with only 3 minutes to go
 Ferrari nr 16 to the pits, rejoins
Lap 111 Bobbi starts last lap
Lap 112 Bobbi and Biagi win round 5, their fifth win of the season 

Matteo Bobbi – nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello : “The first stint was very good. I had a big fight with the two Vipers at the start; I touched Alliot at the first hairpin and a lap later he pushed me out.  I went down to sixth place, and tried to catch Gollin.  I pushed very hard and passed four cars, but I could not pass the Lister, as he was very fast. Then Thomas took over and did a very good job.  I took the car back over in first position, and it was quite easy to finish the race in that same position.  I am very happy because this is a Lister track.  We had a little problem with oil towards the end, but it was not a big issue.”

Thomas Biagi – nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello – 1st in GT : “I didn’t have any problems.  Fortunately the team did a very good pit stop, and after Matteo’s good stint, I went out just in front of Kinch, and in five laps I managed to overtake him and then tried to give the car back to Matteo with a good gap, because anything can happen.”

Stefano Livio – nr 21 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello –  : “Today we had a very good set-up but in the first stint we had a big problem with the fuel pump.  It was better after the first pit stop, but we continued to have the same problem throughout the race.  I am therefore very happy to have third place considering the problems we had.”

Enzo Calderari  - nr 21 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : “With the fuel pump problem,  we also had to make a splash and dash at the end as Stefano stopped too early.  I am very happy that we got third; the Michelin tyres were good and constant.  We unfortunately started on 12th position, so it was difficult to come back to third and I think it’s a very good result.”

Lilian Bryner – nr 21 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : “The car was going very well until half tank, and then the misfires started.  It was a very hard race, very hot in the race, and it was hard to do the stint without power steering.”

Florian Hebel – team manager, Wieth Racing : “We had quite a good weekend until the race, when there was a 0.5 mm hole in a hose leading to the power steering pump. We were losing oil, and thought it was the pump. But the car is undriveable without power steering.  We’d had no problems all weekend.  I would love to have a good result for our drivers Wolfgang Kaufmann and Vittorio Zoboli, who help us so much and are so patient.”

Andrew Kirkaldy – nr 80 Veloqx Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena : “We had an issue with the left rear tyre mid-race.  And then we had gearbox problems, with vibrations. We went out again, but it had not been fixed and we had to come back in, losing time.  It had been looking good before then, especially as we had to start from the pit lane, having had a problem getting out on time.  Second place in N-GT looked to be on the cards, but after the problem, we had to calm down just to get to the end.  It was good to be back in the car, and a good practice for Spa.”

Fabrizio Gollin – nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello : ”We had a problem with a wiring fault in the engine, causing a short circuit. It was mended in the pits, and everything was OK.  But 6 laps is too much for anyone to make up.”