FIA GT Championship

Jetalliance Racing: P5 for Karl Wendlinger by FIA-GT in Nogaro

© Planetlemans - Marcel ten Caat

Plenty of drama and excitement today in the ninth and penultimate race of the FIA GT Championship at Nogaro: many battles for the lead and changes of position – Karl Wendlinger and his partner Ryan Sharp in the Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 eventually claimed P5, Robert Lechner and Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer in the sister car just missed out on the points in P9. Victory went to the pairing of Hezemans/Deletraz in a Corvette. The championship battle has now tightened further ahead of the final race – so a great finale on October 21st at Zolder has been seen to!
The race began with a rather confusing start without a green light. While Robert Lechner caught the right moment, jumping into the lead, Karl Wendlinger lost two positions, dropping back to P5. Lechner continued to lead until lap 17, when he had to let pole setter Biagi pass. Wendlinger came to the pits in fifth after just 30 minutes for the first driver change, handing over to Ryan Sharp, who finished his stint in P3, handing the car back to Wendlinger for the final 50 minutes.

Lechner on the other hand came in some minutes later while running second – now it was Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer’s turn, but Ramos drove into the back of his car, sending him into a spin and losing a lot of time. He was still able to defend a top ten position however, handing the car over to Lechner again in ninth place. Jetalliance Racing had now completed both stops.

Forty minutes to go: Wendlinger in 8th, Lechner in 11th – but the top seven would still need to pit once more. Wendlinger put in a very good final stint, but he only advanced slowly on a track that is difficult to overtake on, eventually finishing the race in P5, while Robert Lechner was stuck mid-field, just missing out on a point in ninth.

Karl Wendlinger: “Unfortunately the tyres were degrading too quickly today, and the 70 kilos of penalty weight too made themselves felt. That’s why we weren’t fast enough. There wasn’t much more to be had. I had no chance to get past Babini ahead of me, even though I was driving flat out until the end.”

Robert Lechner: “We would have deserved points today, because it has been my best FIA GT race for sure – leading one for the first time as well. The manoeuvre by Ramos was not really necessary.”

Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer: “Points were possible today. I’m satisfied with my performance as well, I was able to keep the pace during my stint. But there’s not much you can do when you’re hit in such a way. Ramos drove straight into the back of my car, causing me to spin. And it’s exactly the time I lost then which we would have needed in the end.”

_{(Jetalliance Racing)}