GT1 World, Portimao - Qualifying Race Report

Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock gave Mercedes-Benz its first victory in the FIA GT1 World Championship this afternoon at the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve. The #38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 started from the second row in the Qualifying Race and - unlike its rivals - stayed out of trouble.

Filip Salaquarda and Francesco Castellacci started from the front row and the two AF Corse Ferrari drivers were able to maintain their positions in the opening laps. On lap three Winkelhock was the first of the Mercedes drivers to pass Castellacci and not much later Jäger passed the #4 Ferrari as well.

Castellacci was then caught by Peter Kox (Lamborghini), Milos Pavlovic (Ford) and Alvaro Parente (McLaren). The four cars didn’t lose too much time to the three race leaders, as the battle for the lead between the two Mercedes and the Ferrari meant they put in some slower lap times. After nine laps the gap between first and third was just half a second and the complete top eight was within five seconds of each other.

Just before the pit window opened Peter Kox was hit by Alvaro Parente and the Dutchman was forced to retire his Lamborghini Gallardo with a broken steering. Unfortunately the Lamborghini came to a stop on a dangerous position and the safety car was deployed. It stayed until the pit window opened after 25 minutes. The gaps between the cars were reduced to almost nothing and it was almost as if a new race was about to start.

First in were the two AF Corse Ferrari’s, while the two Mercedes stayed out. Winkelhock came into the pit one lap later and he rejoined ahead of the AF Corse Ferrari of Toni Vilander. A starter motor problem had delayed Vilander and resulted in him losing around 30 seconds and the lead of the race. Both WRT and Vita4One kept their cars out when the safety car came in and both teams took full advantage of the safety car, they rejoined in second, third and fourth. They were some five seconds behind the race leading All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Mercedes.

Basseng managed to pull away at the front, but behind him the fight for the remaining podium positions was on. An impressive stint by Yelmer Buurman saw him pass his teammate Mathias Lauda first and then, a couple of laps later, at the end of the start-finish straight the BMW passed the WRT Audi of Frank Stippler. It was, however, too late for the Dutch driver to go after Basseng. The gap between the two cars was ten seconds and both cars were lapping the circuit on the same pace.

After 32 laps Basseng was the first to cross the line, securing All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport’s first win of the season and Mercedes’ first ever win in the FIA GT1 World Championship. Buurman finished eight seconds behind Basseng in second place, with Stippler finishing third for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.