FIA GT3, Zandvoort - Race 1 Report

A slightly reduced field for the first FIA GT3 European Championship race of the weekend on Saturday as the #14 Fischer Racing Ford GT was a non-starter after its heavy shunt in qualifying and the #8 Team LMP Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9 suffered a small fire, also in qualifying.

Paul van Splunteren's Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 GT3 R started from pole position and the Dutchman managed to keep Michael Lyons in the Scuderia Vittoria Ferrari 458 Italia behind as the cars went into the Tarzan corner for the first time.

Behind Van Splunteren and Lyons Federico Leo did not have the best of starts and by lap four the championship leader had already dropped from 8th to 10th place. Jan Stovicek returned to the pit on lap 5 with right rear suspension damage after contact with the #33 Audi. Max Nilsson meanwhile parked his Reiter Lamborghini.

Petri Lappalainen spun the #2 Prospeed Competition Porsche into the gravel at the the Kumho corner, causing a double yellow in the final corner. Fortunately for Van Splunteren the safety car was not required and the Dutchman was able to hold on to his lead until he came in for his mandatory stop on lap 15, allowing Michael Lyons to take the lead.

Lyons pitted on lap 18 but the extra laps had not given the Scuderia Vittoria the advantage it had hoped for as Filip Salaquarda returned to the track behind Maxime Soulet. As the cars crossed the line again Soulet was 5 seconds clear of Salaquarda and another 3 seconds ahead of the Reiter Lamborghini of Albert von Thurn und Taxis. The #32 WRT Audi was given a stop-and-go penalty for a pit stop violation.

Out of the pit the two AF Corse Ferrari’s swapped position and when Castellacci then passed Van de Laar the #50 was back in 6th place. Ronald van de Laar would soon come under attack from Nick Catsburg in the Faster Racing by DB Motorsport BMW Z4 GT3. Into Scheivlak Catsburg was all over Van de Laar but the BMW only moved up into 8th a couple of corners later.

Several other cars lined up behind the #46 Porsche after Catsburg had passed Van de Laar. Glynn Geddie was the next one, but the Ferrari driver was unable to clear Van de Laar. Right behind him though Jeroen den Boer passed Abdulaziz Al Faisal for position and then passed Geddie shortly afterwards. Stefan Rosina meanwhile passed Al Faisal as well, resulting in the Faster Racing BMW’s in 8th and 12th and the Schubert BMW’s out of the points in 14th and 15th.

Jeroen den Boer was on a flyer and continued to move up the standings. He too got stuck behind Van de Laar and after a couple of unsuccessful overtaking attempts the BMW Z4 GT3 dove up the inside of the #46 Porsche at the S-corner. Van de Laar spun his car and Den Boer went through to move up into 10th position. Team mate Catsburg meanwhile passed the #50 AF Corse Ferrari of Federico Castellacci and soon after Mike Parisy also passed the Ferrari.

In the remaing laps Soulet managed to keep Salaquarda at six seconds and Von Thurn und Taxis at nine seconds. After 35 laps the #1 Porsche crossed the line to take its second win of the season. The #9 Team LMP Motorsport Aston Martin DBRS9, third in the championship before the start of the race, retired in the final minute and just before taking the chequered flag Ronald van de Laar spun his Porsche out of the S-corner and hit the barrier - damaging the rear of his Porsche.

After 11 out of 12 races Leo and Castellacci lead the FIA GT3 Drivers’ Championship with 99 points. Mike Parisy is second at 12 points and Philippe Giauque is third at 16 points, thanks to the two drivers racing in different cars this weekend.

In the FIA GT3 Teams’ Championship Faster Racing by DB Motorsport reduced the gap by 7 points and is now 11 points behind Need for Speed Team Schubert. Heico Motorsport scored 27 points today and is now in third place at 17 points.

The final race of the 2011 season will start at 1.15 pm on Sunday.