FIA GT1 Championship

Corvette and Maserati weather conditions on day 1

© Planetlemans – Brecht Decancq

With the traditional unpredictable Spa weather playing its part the Free Practice and Pre Qualifying sessions for Round 5 of the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship the teams and drivers had to time their runs to perfection to get the best out of their cars.

FREE PRACTICE

With the nr14 Phoenix Racing / Carsport rejoining the grid for the first time since the fire at Silverstone a full grid of 24 cars took part in the first session of the Spa weekend for the FIA GT1 World Championship. In wet conditions Enrique Bernoldi set the fastest time in the 80-minute session in the nr2 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12, with a best lap of 2:21.028. The second best lap was set by Seiji Ara in the nr4 Swiss Racing Team Nissan GT-R, with a best time o f 2:22.954. Third fastest in the morning session was set by Oliver Gavin the nr12 Mad-Croc Racing Corvette Z06, with a time 2:23.043.

CLICK HERE to see the results from Free Practice

PRE QUALIFYING SESSION

Jos Menten was the fastest driver in the 80-minute session in the nr11 Mad-Croc Racing Corvette Z06, with a best lap of 2:37.054. In the nr34 Triple H Team Hegersport Maserati MC12, Nico Verdonck set the second best time with a lap of 2:37.519. The third fastest time was set by Frank Kechele in the nr25 Reiter Lamborghini Muriclago 670 R-SV.

With the heavy rain and the persistently wet track, the conditions were very changeable but the final standings featured six different makes in the top seven, with two Reiter Lamborghinis making in into the top seven in 3rd and 4th place.

CLICK HERE to see the results from Pre Qualifying

Xavier Maassen, Mad-Croc Racing Corvette No.11

“It was a good session and we were consistently in the top three throughout the session. The weather is being like typical Spa but to get the fastest lap we timed it just right – as the track was drying out and afterwards it remained heavily so nobody could improve their times.

“We then tried out some fresh wet tyres to figure out how well they run in complete wet conditions and they worked really well. We are looking good in both dry and wet conditions so this weekend should be promising. Ultimately at Spa though, you never know what is going to happen. So far so good.”

Bert Longin, Triple H Team Hegersport Maserati No.34

“For us pre-qualifying went well because we were second quickest. The car worked well for both Nico (Verdonck) and me so that gives us confidence heading into the rest of the weekend. We know the Spa circuit very well so I think this will give us a good advantage.

“I would like to drive the Maserati in the dry because this is a great circuit and I want to drive the car to the limit here. It is a real race car so you can push it to its limits in the dry. This aim this weekend is to go for the top three in the Championship Race.

Christopher Haase, Reiter Lamborghini No.24

“We did a very good lap time and made some good progress on the set-up of the car. We were quick all around the lap – I set some good sector times so overall we are in good shape. I like racing in both dry and wet conditions so today in the mixed weather I had a lot of fun. Either weather conditions will be good for us this weekend.”

Ricardo Zonta, Reiter Lamborghini No.25

“Today was a little bit confusing because we had some issues in this morning’s practice session so I didn’t get much running at all. This afternoon’s Pre-Qualifying the track was changing so much so we couldn’t really achieve some consistent progress. Spa is always great to drive in the dry so I would prefer this condition for the rest of the weekend. A podium would be good.”