FIA GT MAGNY-COURS
MAGNY-COURS
April 29 - May 1
Weather:
After wet weather for the first two days, Tuesday dawned bright and clear, although the track was still damp when the cars took to the track for the morning warm-up. It was still dry and bright when the race started, although the sky had clouded over.
Warm-up:
The Lister Storms were fastest in the 15-minute warm-up, followed by the two Rafanelli Ferrari 550 Maranello cars. The Paul Belmondo Racing team were running in new engines in the no.10 and no.12 Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars, the team having worked until 5 am. The no.64 Coca Cola Racing Team Porsche, with a broken engine, and the no.14 Redolfi Orlando Porsche 911 GT2, damaged in qualifying, will not start the race.
Second 2001 win for Lister Storm Racing:
Jamie Campbell-Walter and Tom Coronel took a dominant win in today's third round of the FIA GT Championship, regaining the Championship lead for Lister Storm Racing in the Teams Classification, while Jamie leads the Drivers points. "It was a really nice race, considering the little time we had in the dry," Jamie said. "We used a variation on last year's set-up and chose a hard tyre. Actually, if we'd worked for six hours on the set-up, we'd have most probably ended up with the one we had today ! There were no real difficulties, although I was unlucky with traffic at the start, and lost some time. But although Hezemans and Bouchut pulled away, and I couldn't match their fastest times, their softer tyres seemed to go off, and I was able to catch them and stay at the same pace throughout." Coronel did the middle stint. "The first three laps were very difficult, finding the breaking points and find which corner was in which gear, because it was my first time here in the Lister in the dry. I just saved my tyres and did a good stint. We managed a consistent pace, and it gave us a nice win. I've never been off the podium at Magny Cours - for me, we could race every round here!"
JMB Competition take first N-GT win:
Christian Pescatori and David Terrien confirmed the promise shown in Brno by taking their first N-GT win at the wheel of the no.62 JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena. "The race was OK," French driver David Terrien said afterwards. "I did not have a lot to do because Christian did a fantastic job in the beginning in the race, so when he left me the drive I only had to stay in front. The team told me to slow down to conserve fuel, so that we could finish the race without a second stop." Pescatori found the most difficult part watching Terrien's stint. "I much prefer to drive than to watch and worry," the Italian driver said. The JMB Competition drivers are now closing on RWS in the points classification.
GT Race Story:
Bouchut, in the no.7 Larbre Competition Chéreau Chrysler Viper GTS-R, made a good start from pole, but he was overhauled by Hezemans in the no.3 Carsport Holland Viper on the first lap. Hezemans proceeded to set the fastest lap of the race, pulling away from Bouchut and the two Listers. But the Listers were improving steadily, and Bailey took the lead on lap 14, followed closely by Jamie Campbell-Walter in the no.1, who took the lead on lap 31. A brief fight between two Listers ended with the first round of pit-stops, and with Tom Coronel at the wheel, the no.1 Lister began to pull away, eventually giving the British team their second win. Behind the no.1 Lister Storm, the fight for second continued between the no.7, no.3 and no.12 Chrysler Vipers. When the no.3 Carsport Holland retired due to fuel pressure problems, the Larbre Viper was the only car on the same lap as the leaders. Campbell-Walter crossed the line after completing 107 laps of the 4.25 km circuit in the three hours allotted, 1minute and 13 seconds ahead of the Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper GTS-R. Third went to Paul Belmondo Racing's no.12 Chrysler Viper GTS-R of Vosse and Derichebourg, with the no.5 Team Rafanelli fourth, the Bailey/Springer Lister Storm fifth and the second Carsport Holland car
taking the final point.
The N-GT race:
Luca Riccitelli made an excellent start in the no.77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R to take the class lead on the first lap, followed by Sebastien Dumez in the no.50 Larbre Competition Chereau Porsche 996 GT3-R. The two continued to set the pace for the first part of the race, closely followed by Christian Pescatori in the no.62 JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena, while Stephane Ortelli, who started from the back of the grid, made rapid progress up the field. Tomas Enge, in the no.65 Coca Cola Racing, came up to third before spinning and losing time. As the leaders pitted, Pescatori, on a one-stop strategy, moved into the lead, and from that point onwards the Ferrari 360 Modena controlled the race. It crossed the line 15 seconds ahead of the no.77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R, with the no.65 Coca Cola Racing Porsche third, having recovered from Enge's spin. Ortelli and Kaufmann finished fourth in the no.57 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R, with the no.50 Larbre Competition car and the second RWS Porsche taking the final points positions.
Second place for Larbre Competition Chereau:
"It was a good start, but Mike was quicker than me, so he took me on the first lap," Christophe Bouchut said. "When we started we had no ideas on how our set up would be, because it was the first time in the dry on this track. It wasn't perfect, but it was a good job, considering we didn't have information from last year like Lister and Paul Belmondo." Belloc explained that the car had been oversteering, and so he tried to preserve his tyres. "The Lister was too fast for us today, but second place is a good result for us, and the team did a good job. We'll try to win again in Silverstone !"
Third place for Paul Belmondo Racing:
It was a hard day for the three Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Vipers, with only one car finishing the race. However, the third place finish for Vincent Vosse and Boris Derichebourg, in the no.12 car, despite a last-minute splash and dash, maintained the teams' excellent 2001 record. "Yesterday we had an engine problem, so the mechanics had to change it overnight, and we didn't have any drive in the dry, so the set-up was not perfect. But three races and three podiums is not so bad, " said Vincent Vosse. Team owner Paul Belmondo explained the problems with the other cars : "The no.10 car had an engine problem, and stopped after 22 laps. As for me, I slid on a patch of oil and spun off the track, and had to stop due to gravel in the engine. But the no.12 went well, and apart from the Lister, we're really competitive."
Team Rafanelli pleased with their result:
The two Team Rafanelli Ferrari 550 Maranello cars had a good race today, with the no.5 Naspetti /Schiattarella car finishing in 4th position, and the no.6 Duez/Blieninger car just outside the points in seventh. "It was good," Günther Blieninger said afterwards. "We had a little problem with oversteer all the time, but I think that is partially to do with the surface of this track. I had a spin, and Marc had a spin, but it was very easy to spin off today. Marc was closing on the no.4 Carsport Holland car at the end, and if he'd started pushing earlier we might have finished in the points. We tried to save time by not changing tyres, which might not have been the right solution. As for the other car, they did a good job, especially as it was Mimmo's first time in the car this weekend, and he pushed very hard. The Vipers and the Listers were too fast for us today, but the team did a fantastic job, and it was a good result."
One point for Carsport Holland:
Although it was a disappointing result for the no.3 Chrysler Viper, which retired after 76 laps with fuel pressure problems, the no.4 Chrysler Viper held on to sixth place, giving Sebastiaan and Michael Bleekemolen their first points of the season. "It's the first time I've finished a GT race, and it's hard work - the car is very hot, the tyres go bad, so it's a very good feeling to get to the end," Sebastiaan explained. His brother Jeroen, who had kept the no.3 car in the top three before it retired, explained their situation. "We had a fuel pressure problem, and knew we'd have to make an extra stop. And then when I was going to take over again, there was no pressure at all. We could have been third with no problem, even second."
RWS Motorsport maintain 100% podium record:
"It was a beautiful race because it was very fast and very competitive until the end," Luca Riccitelli said after finishing second in the Magny Cours race. "My last stint was like a qualifying session, I was under pressure for one hour, and I did my best to catch the Ferrari. I knew it was not so possible, because they were a long way ahead, but you never know, something can always happen. In three races we have finished three times on the podium, which is good for the Championship and that is our objective this year."
Podium finish for Coca Cola Racing:
F3000 frontrunnersTomas Enge and Justin Wilson, driving the no.65 Coca Cola Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R, finished in third place today, taking their first GT podium in Justin's first attempt at the category. "It's a nice feeling to be on the podium," Wilson said. "It's just a question of getting used to driving the car. It's a bit unusual, but good fun, although it was hard work towards the end. I'd definitely like to try it again : we were quite strong here and next time, who knows ?" Enge, who started the race, had risen to third in class when he spun off the track. "I was trying too much and overheating the rear tyres, and after the second chicane I lost the rear and spun onto the grass, and couldn't get out, and lost about one and a half minutes there. That was why we lost the race. It could have been very close."
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