FIA GT ZOLDER
ZOLDER
MAY 18 - May 20
Weather:
Although the weather was cold and grey with a chilly wind on Friday, the weather is supposed to improve over the course of the weekend, with more sunshine and higher temperatures forecast.
Rundown:
Thirty five cars should line up on the grid for Sunday's 12:30 start of the fifth round of the FIA GT Championship, 17 running in the GT class and 18 N-GT cars. Among the GT competitors, Belgian team PSI Motorsport is taking part for the first time, with a Porsche 996 GT2 for Belgian drivers Kurt Mollekens and Stephane Cohen. Reiter Engineering is back for the first time this season, with Michael Trunk and Bernhard Müller driving their Lamborghini GT, while the Bernard Winderickx Chrysler Viper GTS-R returns after missing Silverstone due to accident damage. Among the drivers, Paul Belmondo Competition now has Belmondo and Gosselin in the Chrysler Viper, while Anthony Kumpen and Didier Defourny share the #11 Paul Belmondo Racing Viper. In the N-GT class, Gammon Megaspeed, from China, makes its FIA GT debut, with Alex Li at the wheel of a Porsche 996 GT3-R. Stephane Ortelli is back alongside Wolfgang Kaufmann in the #57 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R, while Belgian Tim Verbergt shares the #58 with Yukihiro Hane. Nigel Smith has moved to Haberthur Racing, sharing the #61 Porsche 996 GT3-R with Mauro Casadei. The MAC Racing Porsche is being driven by Frenchmen Stéphane Daoudi and Olivier Porta. The #63 JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena is being driven by team regular Batti Pregliasco and newcomer Iradj Alexander, from Switzerland.
N-GT Championship leader Luca Riccitelli will share the #77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R with former Italian F3 Champion and F3000 graduate Andrea Boldrini.
First Free Practice Session:
Belgian driver Vincent Vosse, driving the #12 Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R, set the fastest time in the first free practice session, with a lap of 1:32.264. He was fastest from the start of the session, and his time remained seven tenths of a second ahead of his nearest rival, the #1 Lister Storm, shared by Jamie Campbell-Walter and Tom Coronel. Team ART put in their best performance of the season, with the #9 Chrysler Viper GTS-R setting the third time, ahead of Marc Duez in the #6 Rafanelli Ferrari 550 Maranello. he N-GT class was led by the Porsches, with the best time of 1:36.121 set by EMKA Racing's Tim Sugden. He was three tenths of a second ahead of the Riccitelli/Boldrini #77 RWS Red Bull Racing car. Fabio Babini was third with the #54 Art Engineering Porsche 996 GT3-R, with the Magny-Cours and Silverstone winning JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena fourth. There were a number of incidents during the session, which had to be red-flagged at one point to allow the retrieval of the #59 Freisinger Porsche 996 GT3-R. Joel Camathias, driving the #69 Redolfi Orlando Porsche 996 GT3-R, twice put the car off at the first corner. The #12 Paul Belmondo Racing car stopped on the circuit shortly after Vosse handed the car over to his team-mate Boris Derichebourg, the Chrysler Viper having simultaneously lost both rear wheels.
Second Free Practice Session:
The #1 Lister Storm set the best time of the day in the second session, with a time of 1:31.432, with the #3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper a tenth of a second behind. Team Rafanelli followed, with the #5 Naspetti/Schiattarella Ferrari 550 Maranello just head of the #6 Duez/Blieninger car. Vosse's best time for from the morning placed him fifth. Silverstone winners Bouchut and Belloc were eighth in their Larbre Competition Chéreau Chrysler Viper GTS-R, still struggling with 100 kg penalty weight.
In the N-GT class, the #77 RWS Red Bull Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R improved on EMKA's time from the morning, but one hour into the session, EMKA went faster again, setting a time of 1:35.166, the best time of the day. EMKA and RWS were followed by the #50 Larbre Competition Chéreau car, driven by Goueslard and Dumez, with newcomers Daoudi and Porta an excellent fourth for Mac Racing. The #62 JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena did not improve in the afternoon, and dropped down to eleventh in the class. The French team's second Ferrari will not take part in the event further to two engine failures.
Bernard Winderickx returns:
With the #25 Chrysler Viper GTS-R repaired after its Magny Cours crash, Belgian team Bernard Winderickx is back in action, with drivers Robert Dierick and Eric de Doncker at the wheel. "There was a lot of work to be done," Eric de Doncker explained. "Mainly bodywork, but it was impossible to finish in time for the previous race. I took the car out this morning to check on the repairs, and everything seems OK. However, after two laps, I became aware of a problem with the brakes, and we spent much of the session working on that." The #25 Chrysler Viper was 25th overall, with a time of 1:39.811. "Here, we have the advantage that we know the track. Our aim is to finish the race in the top ten, but hopefully fifth or sixth. We're still learning about the car, as Brno was our first ever race with it. Until the crash at Magny Cours, we were running well - we're really pleased to see how quickly we've been able to become competitive."
Porta and Daoudi with MAC Racing:
Frenchman Stephane Daoudi, winner of the previous round of the French GT Championship in his Porsche 996 Cup car, is sharing the wheel of the MAC Porsche 996 GT3-R with another Frenchman, Olivier Porta. "I drove for MAC Racing in the French Championship last year," Olivier explained. "Stephane is driving for the team this year. And they decided to enter a car at Zolder for both of us, so we can try going up a step to the international level. But we are also under some pressure, as one of the sponsors is interested in backing us for more races if we manage a good result." The #67 MAC Racing Porsche 996 GT3-R was tenth in the morning session, with a time of 1:39.992. "We had a calm session, getting used to the track and the car," Porta continued. "We have two problems here - we need to learn the track, and to learn the car, which is quite different from the Porsche 996 Cup we are used to. And we need to go fast !"
Duez on home ground:
Versatile Belgian driver Marc Duez, who shares the #6 Team Rafanelli Ferrari 550 Maranello with German Günther Blieninger, was one of the stars of the first hour of the previous round at Silverstone, with a storming drive towards the front of the grid, his progress only halted when the car overheated. "I was having fun - and it was great to see that we could fight with the top cars from the Championship ! I'm the specialist of the start of races," Duez continued. "Finishing them is more difficult." In this morning's free practice session, Marc set the fourth time in his Ferrari. "We weren't pushing to set a fast time - we had a lot of things to do. We have no previous experience of this track, no reference points with the car, compared to most of our rivals. So the time is encouraging. The track has changed a bit since last year, and the new corners are quite interesting. The Ferrari is going well here, and we should have a good chance. Naspetti could win !"
Gammon Megaspeed join the FIA GT:
With Gammon Megaspeed making their FIA GT debut, the Championship now has teams from nine different countries. Based in Hong Kong, China, this venture into the international motorsport field is the dream of main driver Alex Li. "I have spent a whole year preparing for this, looking for sponsorship and everything. So at least we're now on the first step !" The team is running a Porsche 996 GT3-R, and Li is racing with British driver Nigel Albon. Alex's aim is to finish as many laps as possible on Sunday. "I am racing to earn money for a charity for orphans," he explained. "People sponsor me depending on how many laps I do, so the longer I race, the more money I earn for the charity. Every lap counts !"
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