GT3 Europe

Camaro adds spice to Zolder round

The FIA GT3 European Championship travels to Belgium for the second round of the 2012 season at Circuit Zolder.

In the season opener at Nogaro, race honours were shared by the Heico Gravity-Charouz Mercedes of Maxmilian Buhk (DEU) and Dominik Baumann (AUT), the Race Two winners and the French pair Marc Sourd and Gregory Guilvert victors in Race One in the Sainteloc Racing Audi R8 LMS.

Both pairs can expect strong opposition at Zolder from Stefano Gai (ITA) and Michael Lyons (GBR) who were on the podium in both events in the No.51 AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia.
Giuseppe Ciro (ITA), who partnered Gaetano Ardagna Perez (VEN) in the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia No.50 to second place in Race Two, has eyes for the podium in Zolder. “Having both Ferraris on the podium in Nogaro was great for AF Corse. We will chase the podium and more points in Zolder,” he said.

Buhk and Baumann (40 pts) hold a three-point advantage over Sourd and Guilvert heading to the second round.

A formidable addition to the field for Zolder comes in the muscular shape of the Chevrolet Camaro.

The car is entered by Reiter Engineering who have been developing it during pre-season. It turned heads at the recent Balance of Performance test at Paul Ricard. German duo Max Sandritter and Philip Geipel will be tasked with taming the American beast in Zolder.

“It´s a big honor for me to race the Chevrolet Camaro GT in it´s first international race,” Geipel said. “We raced this car already three weeks ago in Germany and since then, worked a lot on the performance and the reliability. I´m almost sure the Belgian fans love the Camaro, as for me with its deep V8 rumble, it´s by far the best sounding GT3-car.

“It will not be an easy weekend for us in Belgium, as the car is still very new and its long wheelbase might not the ideal for a tight and twisty track like Zolder. Personally, I´m very happy to be back in the FIA GT3-European Championship, were I have been successful already in 2010.

“Also my team-mate Max Sandritter is very excited, it´s his first international race and also his first time at Zolder. I´m looking forward to the weekend, racing together with the FIA GT1 World Championship will provide a very good event.”

(image: Sareni United)