FIA GT Championship

Nogaro qualifying - FIA GT

© FIA-GT

For the penultimate round of the 2007 season, the FIA GT Championship is in Nogaro, in the south of France. The 3.636 km circuit provided an exciting and incredibly close qualifying session, with the top three drivers in GT1 qualifying within 29 thousandths of a second - and the top nine within eight tenths of a second !^However, pole position went to Thomas Biagi - his second pole of the year - in the nr 1 Vitaphone Maserati MC 12. The 2003 Champion, joint leader in the points classification with Bertolini and Piccini, set a time of 1:23.763 - exactly the same time as that set by Robert Lechner in the nr 36 Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 ! However, as Biagi set his time first, he is the one who will start from pole.

Third, 0.029 behind the first two, was Karl Wendlinger in the nr 33 Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9. Wendlinger, like Biagi fighting for the title, set his time right at the end of the session, demoting fellow title contender Christian Montanari, in the nr 2 Vitaphone Maserati MC 12, to fourth. Fifth went to Babini in the nr 23 Aston Martin Racing BMS DBR9. They were followed by the two Scuderia Playteam Sarafree Maserati cars, with Kumpen eighth with the PK Carsport Corvette C5, while Bouchut, in the All Inkl Lamborghini, was ninth, less than 8 tenths behind pole. Nine cars, eight tenths of a second and four makes represented !

As for GT2, Gianmaria Bruni set an excellent time of 1:27.028 in the nr 51 AF Corse Motorola Ferrari 430 GT2, with Dirk Müller five tenths behind to give AF Corse Motorola another one-two in qualifying. Third was the Advanced Engineering Ferrari, in the hands of Rui Aguas, and the leading Porsche just a tenth behind in fourth position. The nr 63 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari was fifth, driven by Andrew Kirkaldy. The session was briefly red-flagged while the nr 62 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 GT2 was removed from the gravel.

The Citation Cup was led by Stéphane Daoudi in the nr 16 JMB Racing Maserati MC 12, while the nr 101 Belgian Racing Gillet Vertigo led G2, with Renaud Kuppens at the wheel.

Tomorrow’s race starts at 13:15, for two hours of racing. Both the GT1 and GT2 titles are undecided. In GT1, 11 drivers are fighting for the crown, while six are in contention in GT2. It could be a very interesting race !

The results remain provisional pending technical scrutineering.

1 1 GT1 Biagi/Bartels Maserati MC12 GT1 1:23.763
2 36 GT1 Lechner/Lichtner-Hoyer Aston Martin DBR9 1:23.763
3 33 GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp Aston Martin DBR9 1:23.792
4 2 GT1 Montanari/Ramos Maserati MC12 GT1 1:23.883
5 23 GT1 Babini/Davies Aston Martin DBR9 1:23.996
6 12 GT1 Pier Guidi/Giannoccaro Maserati MC12 GT1 1:24.095
7 11 GT1 Bertolini/Piccini Maserati MC12 GT1 1:24.101
8 4 GT1 Kumpen/Longin Corvette C5R 1:24.288
9 7 GT1 Bouchut/Mucke Lamborghini Murcielago 1:24.547
10 5 GT1 Hezemans/Deletraz Corvette C6R 1:25.036
11 22 GT1 Monfardini/Gounon Aston Martin DBR9 1:25.682
12 16 GT1 Daoudi/Aucott Maserati MC12 GT1 1:26.060
13 6 GT1 Dumas/Adam Ferrari 550 Maranello 1:26.249
14 51 GT2 Bruni/Ortelli Ferrari 430 GT2 1:27.028
15 14 GT1 Zacchia/Jakubowski Ferrari 550 Maranello 1:27.201
16 50 GT2 Muller/Vilander Ferrari 430 GT2 1:27.594
17 18 GT1 Merafina/Lebon Corvette C5R 1:27.712
18 59 GT2 Aguas/Peter Ferrari 430 GT2 1:28.099
19 97 GT2 Collard/Malucelli Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:28.193
20 63 GT2 Kirkaldy/Bell Ferrari 430 GT2 1:28.376
21 15 GT1 Kutemann/Gosse Maserati MC12 GT1 1:28.656
22 52 GT2 Ruberti/Mediani Ferrari 430 GT2 1:28.691
23 74 GT2 Pompidou/Zani Porsche 997 GT3 RSR 1:28.733
24 62 GT2 Turner/Mullen Ferrari 430 GT2 1:28.824
25 53 GT2 Cressoni/Rugolo Ferrari 430 GT2 1:29.537
26 101 G2 Kuppens/Leinders Gillet Vertigo 1:29.780
27 102 G2 Carcone/Prignaud/Avenel Chrysler Viper GTSR 1:33.582

Credit: SRO- FIA-GT