Brno – FIA GT3 Championship – Race 2 Report
Another Corvette Affair

There were 34 starters for the second 60 minute GT3 race of the weekend, with four missing after Saturday’s carnage, but the run down to turn one was no less spirited as a result, the Corvettes and Astons looking set to grab the advantage from polesitter Andrew Thompson’s #11 Lamborghini.

It was the Englishman who emerged in the lead though, with a squabbling pack behind made up of the #26 Hexis Racing Aston Martin of Frederic Makowiecki and a Corvette trio of James Ruffier, Jurgen von Gartzen and Klaus Ludwig.

The big loser in the first lap shuffle was championship leader Henri Moser, his Ferrari shuffled rapidly down the order. One place was regained by the Ferrari man when Diego Alessi in the 6th placed #23 BMS Aston Martin spun into the gravel: the car would rejoin but well out of contention.

The leading four cars were soon forming a breakaway: Ruffier had pipped Makowiecki for second on lap 4 and immediately started to look for a way around the leader. von Gartzen meanwhile had also found a way past the Aston for a Corvette 2/3 after 10 minutes.

There was early trouble though for the #43 Matech Ford GT, a puncture ruining Thomas Mutsch’s day

The lead battle was by now in full flow and after a three lap tussle Ruffier finally found momentum, driving up the inside of Thompson to claim the race lead.

Jurgen von Gartzen had seen all of this unfold before him and it was now his turn to take up the chase of the Lamborghini, as Ruffier immediately began to pull away. von Gartzen had clearly been paying full attention and he grabbed second place on the next lap with an identical move to Ruffier’s, pure power clearly the difference – the leader though was already three seconds clear

20 mins and Ludwig was now engaged in a battle with Makiowecki, both of these now closing in on Thompson, whose Gallardo’s tyres seemed to be a little past their best - with all of the leading five cars covered by 7 seconds as half distance approached. At this point in the race Moser was now 15 seconds off the leader, Ruffier consistently a second a lap or more faster than his championship rival.

One runner worth keeping an eye on was Jaromir Jirik: he pitted to hand over the #15 Lamborghini to Erik Janis from eleventh spot: 35 minutes remaining to make an impact, and the local hero began to do just that.

The leading group meanwhile were also now beginning to pit, von Gartzen the first of them to rumble down pitlane from second place, to hand over the #18 car to Luca Pirri.

24 minutes remaining and Ruffier pitted from the lead, the remainder of the leading group following the yellow Corvette in for their routine stops.

As the pit stops wound out the big loser was the #11 Gallardo, Martin Rich falling behind both the Hexis Aston and the #16 Corvette: but Lagniez in the #26 DBRS9 was soon back behind the Lamborghini.

By now Janis was already up into seventh with 22 minutes to go and Martin Rich was the next target. After a brief tussle the local boy was through, the #16 Corvette was next up for a ‘Janising’ and one lap later the pass was made.

15 mins to go and Peyroles led from Pirri, this pair now a full 20 seconds ahead of the chasing pack, but the lead pair was fully engaged in a battle for the win.

10 minutes to go and the Pirri-pedalled ‘Vette was looking for a way by: a tiny error from Peyroles into the last turn was all it took to allow Pirri a better exit onto the start finish straight, the silver C6 out-dragging its yellow cousin to take the lead. Peyroles though was staying right with the new leader.

Janis meanwhile was stalking the Championship leading #38 Ferrari of Gilles Vannelet for third.

The gap for the lead finally began to extend as the race ran into its last few minutes, the Corvettes galloping away as the third place battle raged, the place still in doubt, Vannelet doing a sterling job of fending off the young Czech.

It would come down to the very last lap, Vannelet taking a very wide line through the Esses and allowing Janis a relatively easy passage for third spot, the Ferrari man looking to undo the error but trailing the Gallardo to the line by around a quarter of a second.

A Corvette 1-2 then on what was undoubtedly a power circuit: how will the equalisation pan out for the final double header of the year in Dubai?

Race 2 Result
1 18 Von Gartzen/Pirri Corvette Z06R GT3 1:00:40.342 28
2 19 Ruffier/Peyrolles Corvette Z06R GT3 1:00:46.522 28
3 15 Jirik/Janis Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 1:01:17.754 28
4 38 Moser/Vannelet Ferrari 430 1:01:17.994 28
5 11 Thompson/Rich Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 1:01:36.207 28
6 45 Soulet/Forsten Ford GT 1:01:43.062 28
7 16 Ludwig/Berberich-Martini Corvette Z06R GT3 1:01:46.534 28
8 17 Matzke/Skula Corvette Z06R GT3 1:01:52.164 28
9 26 Makowiecki/Lagniez Aston Martin DBRS9 1:02:01.535 28
10 8 Ellis/Lang Dodge Viper Competition Coupe 1:02:06.343 28
11 37 Seefried/Kremer Ferrari 430 1:02:21.046 28
12 13 Grobl/Knauss Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 1:02:22.807 28
13 25 Rodrigues/Rodrigues Aston Martin DBRS9 1:02:24.358 28
14 32 Greenhalgh/Spooner Ascari KZ1R GT3 1:02:24.494 28
15 10 Haase/Ritskes Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 1:02:31.396 28
16 1 Quaife/Deverikos Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 1:02:32.667 28
17 23 Alessi/Frassineti Aston Martin DBRS9 1:02:41.835 28
18 5 Cloet/Williams Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 1:02:48.712 28
19 34 Daoudi/Khan Ferrari 430 1:00:42.114 27
20 4 Kuss/Ashburn Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 1:01:12.225 27
21 39 Hyman/Warren Ferrari 430 1:01:12.645 27
22 20 Sourd/Lacroix-Wasover Corvette Z06R GT3 1:01:14.173 27
23 22 Zenere/Maggi Aston Martin DBRS9 1:01:18.742 27
24 2 Keen/Snowdon Porsche 997 GT3 Cup 1:01:22.584 27
25 27 Freitas/Marchal Aston Martin DBRS9 1:01:24.246 27
26 9 Morel/Pernaut Dodge Viper Competition Coupe 1:01:55.496 27
27 7 Mortimer/Duqueine Dodge Viper Competition Coupe 1:01:57.173 27
28 36 Rambeaud/Comar Ferrari 430 1:02:13.010 27
29 43 Mutsch/Bartek Ford GT 1:02:16.807 27
30 50 Sturdza/Lafitte Morgan Aero 8 1:02:39.964 27
31 35 Walker/Greasley Ferrari 430 1:02:45.114 27
32 29 Ward/Fongenie Ascari KZ1R GT3 1:01:06.914 26
-- 44 Dubrulle/Bera Ford GT 32:09.279 14
-- 49 Lafitte/O'Neill Morgan Aero 8 22:31.289 10

Vannelet and Moser scored 11 points in Brno, but Pirri and von Gartzen (and Peyroles and Ruffier) managed 18 – so the gap at the top shrinks to just eight, with a pair of races left.

GT3 Driver Points
1 Gilles Vannelet 47
Henri Moser 47
2 Luca Pirri 39
Jürgen von Gartzen 39
3 Arnaud Peyroles 31
James Ruffier 31
4 Diego Alessi 20
Alex Frassinetti 20
5 Erik Janis 19
Jaromir Jirik 19
6 Ian Khan 16
Stephane Daoudi 16
7 Richard Williams 14
Edward Morris 14
Bradley Ellis 14
8 Nicolas Navarro 13
Maxime Dubrulle 13
9 Romain Bera 10
Stefan van Campenhoudt 10
Andrew Thompson 10
Martin Rich 10