FIA GT Championship

Victory for Sangari Team Brazil at HTTT Paul Ricard

© Planetlemans

The seventh and penultimate round of the 2009 FIA GT Championship saw Sangari Team Brazil’s nr 8 Corvette Z06 of Bernoldi and Streit take their first victory. This was both the first time the Brazilian flag has flown over the podium, and Enrique Bernoldi’s first race win since 2004.

Generally considered to be a Corvette circuit, the Sangari car had been strong throughout the weekend, setting the best time in free practice, pre-qualifying and qualifying. However, Bernoldi started sixth on the grid after a penalty; he recovered strongly and after a fine battle with Alex Müller – a replay of the Algarve – he took the lead on lap 13 and pulled away. A fine performance from Streit maintained the gap, before Bernoldi completed the task, without being seriously threatened. “Roberto did an amazing job; we couldn’t have won here without him,” Bernoldi said afterwards. “As we’ve seen in the last races, if both drivers don’t drive well, you don’t win. Here, everything went perfectly. The team did a good job and the car was good. I’m very happy for the team and for myself; it’s been a while since I’ve won a race, it means a lot to me. The team did a fantastic job and they deserve it. I’m very happy.”

The nr 8 Sangari Team Brazil car also completed two races this weekend in the FFSA French GT Championship, raced by DKR Engineering for Championship contenders Eric Debard and Olivier Panis, meaning an amazing job for Kendy Jenclaes’ team, who had to change the configuration of the car between sessions. Luc Alphand Aventures and SRT were also in the same situation, meaning a busy weekend for the teams.

15 seconds behind the winners, the nr 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC 12 of Müller and Ramos took their second consecutive podium after third in the Algarve – a good result considering that the circuit was not considered to be a Maserati track. Müller led convincingly from pole, and the nr 2 car maintained second behind the Sangari Corvette for the rest of the race. “The race felt really good. We have a strategy where we only change the tyres once, and we knew that was a risk, since tyres are quite critical here. Coming second here feels like winning after fighting the Corvette, because at this circuit, it’s impossible and they’re really flying. I’m really happy.”

Algarve winners SRT, with the nr 3 Corvette Z06 of Longin and Ruffier, finished third, for their second consecutive podium, despite the challenge of running with success weight for the first time. “Things have been going really well since Portimao,” Ruffier said. “It might be a bit close to the end of the season, but it’s still good to get something at this point. The race was really cool and I had a lot of fights with the Maserati cars. Bert did a really good job, the team as well, and we’ve finished third which is a good position. We’re really happy. Zolder’s going to be much more difficult…” Although it is Bert’s home round, and he knows the circuit thoroughly, their Corvette will have 60 kg success ballast which could be difficult around the tight, twisty circuit.

The nr 19 Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette was a fine fourth for Bobbi and Maassen, who were chasing the nr 3 SRT car for the final podium position despite a power steering problem. The fight for third in the Championship between Longin/Ruffier and Xavier Maassen will continue to Zolder.

Bertolini and Bartels, fifth today, go into the final round in Zolder with a 4-point lead in the Drivers Classification, and losing further handicap weight. The nr 33 Vitaphone Racing Team DHL Maserati MC 12 was sixth after an additional pit stop, finishing ahead of the Ferrari 550 Maranello driven by Ange Barde and Olivier Panis. The final point went to Matech GT Racing and the Ford GT of Thomas Mutsch and Henri Moser, making his debut in the car. The nr 40 Marc VDS Racing Ford GT finished ninth, having suffered a two-minute stop and go after their fourth engine of the season.

Today’s big losers, however, were Hezemans and Kumpen; their Pekaracing Corvette Z06 was classified 10th after engine problems. It was a disappointing result, especially as Mike Hezemans had made a fantastic start, climbing to second on the first lap. On equal points with Bertolini and Bartels coming into the round, they head to Zolder with a deficit of four points. But everything is still to play for – and the nr 4 Corvette will lose 40 kg for the season finale.

Second and fifth today, the score of 12 points puts Vitaphone Racing Team out of reach of all the other teams competing in the 2009 FIA GT Championship, giving the team its fifth successive GT1 Teams Title. They first won in 2005, and have been unbeatable since. Over the years, the team has also claimed the Drivers titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008, while Maserati claimed the GT1 Manufacturers Cup twice, and the Citation Cup once.

After seven rounds, Vitaphone leads Pekaracing, with SRT third and Luc Alphand Aventures fourth.