FIA GT Championship, Silverstone – Race Report
Two Hours Of High Drama
And Excellent Racing Ryan Sharp and Karl Wendlinger took the opening race of the 2008 Championship, in the #33 Jetalliance Aston Martin, but with less than half an hour to go, the race was beautifully poised, and punters might have gone for a winner from any one of up to seven entries. This was a marvelous GT race – in fact a marvelous, sprint GT race, because over the two hours it was a flat out sprint, so not really an endurance event at all. GT2 was much more clear-cut throughout, and very straightforward. AF Corse’s Vilander and Bruni beat CR Scuderia’s Kirkaldy and Bell by a lap, and the Porsches were never in the hunt. The race morning visibility wasn’t as bad as the warm up shots suggested, but it was completely overcast, it was damp, it was fairly breezy – but in came a vey significant crowd! This was much, much bigger (25,000) than ever witnessed at Silverstone in post Group C events, and they were rewarded with a cracker. Part of the reason for the quality of the show was the moistness of the tarmac – but how moist was it, and which tyres should be fitted? How quickly would the track dry out? That was the conundrum for the teams – and to our surprise, most fitted wets. One significant GT1 entry didn’t though… The way the track slowly dried provided us with several distinct phases of the race. Phase 1
Fassler against Bouchut was always likely to be a tough old scrap, and so it proved, these two battling into Copse, through Copse, and out the other side – and then again at Stowe. By the time they got to the entrance of Club, Wendlinger had passed both Corvettes. This was already looking like a thriller: oh how we like tricky conditions to improve the spectacle. Alex Muller in the other Jetalliance Aston Martin was up into fourth on that opening lap, from Sean Edwards, Mike Hezemans, Xandy Negrao, GT2 leader Toni Vilander, Andrea Bertolini in the second Vitaphone MC12 – and Allan Simonsen, down to tenth, from sixth on the grid. The Dane was on intermediates, you see, the rest on wets, and the heavily treaded tyres were definitely the ones to have, for now. The opening laps saw Wendlinger pull out a gap on Fassler, who dropped Bouchut’s similar C6.R, the Frenchman in a race now with Muller’s DBR9. Hezemans led the pair of Maseratis – and Simonsen slipped behind Kox’s Lamborghini to 11th, but already by lap 6, the Dane was recovering – up to eighth (below) as his inters warmed up. Fassler then homed in on Wendlinger, and applied a lot of pressure – and Wendlinger spun exiting Luffield, as he was about to complete lap 9. Fassler was through and away, and 10 laps elapsed saw him almost that many seconds ahead of Bouchut – then Hezemans made it a Corvette 1-2-3, because Muller had spun (down to fifth, behind team-mate and fellow spinner Wendlinger), after nudging the AT Racing C5-R up the back in a clumsy move at Vale. Simonsen was 24 seconds behind Fassler – and some of the wet-shod cars were moving off line to find some damper tarmac…. Phase 2
There wasn’t a clear–cut transition into phase 3, but in due course, Simonsen would be the fastest man on the track. But from lap 10 to lap 20, our phase 2, wets and inters seemed to be just about perfectly matched. Simonsen began this 10 lap phase 24 seconds behind Fassler, and ended it at the same interval - but in this period, he passed both Vitaphone Maseratis, and was sixth by lap 16. Fassler still had a good lead on Bouchut, Hezemans was right on the SRT car’s tail, then it was still the two Jetalliance cars – then Simonsen in the Gigawave Aston Martin. Three C6s led three DBR9s. And two MC12s. Peter Kox and Vincent Vosse completed the top ten, in Lamborghini and Saleen respectively, but none of the Saleens excelled on this day – and Longin and Kumpen were having a totally miserable time in the Peka car, which just didn’t want to work in the conditions – wet or dry. Phase 3
Simonsen on his inters was now catching the Jetalliance DBR9s, and completing lap 20, Karl Wendlinger pitted for intermediates, replacing his steaming wets. Before Alex Muller pitted, Simonsen passed him – and by the end of lap 23, as Muller pitted, Wendlinger and Negrao (who had also stopped for inters) were the fastest men on the track, but Simonsen had got the gap to Fassler down to 22 seconds. Marcel still led Christophe comfortably (10 seconds), with Hezemans another three seconds back down the road, still in third, so C6s still 1-2-3. Fassler and Hezemans pitted on consecutive laps, 24 and 25, for inters, so Bouchut led – but Simonsen was now just six seconds behind. That shrank to almost nothing as Bouchut pitted after 27 laps – so Simonsen led (in his first FIA race in a GT1 car), with the hour mark approaching. All his challengers had stopped for inters, and all the drivers had stayed behind the wheel. The Dane had a 53 second advantage on Fassler, who led Wendlinger (that early stop paid off), Bouchut, Hezemans, Negrao, Muller and Bertolini. Their partners could only watch – and wonder what role they would play in the outcome. We’ll end this phase with Simonsen’s pit stop – which came after 33 laps, or about 68 minutes. Despite worn intermediates, the Dane had kept the gap to Fassler at 52 seconds: this had been a mighty first hour from eight outstanding drivers, seven of whom would carry on with a second stint. Phase 4
Let’s just point out that the Gigawave team, in its second FIA GT event, had made a brave tyre choice at the start, had seen that choice come good as the track became too dry for wets, had led the race – and now they were about to make a second, very brave, tyre choice. They had slicks ready for Philipp Peter. A longish stop and an understandably careful out lap, and Peter was eighth at the end of lap 34 – 40 seconds behind Fassler, leading, who still had Bouchut right up his chuff. Lap 36 and 40 seconds had grown to 50, but slicks were almost the tyre to have. As in the earlier transition from wets to inters, it took a good number of laps for the swing to take place. Rather conveniently, that swing would be complete by the time Fassler, Bouchut and everyone else had to stop – which the regs. stipulated had to be with more than 35 minutes left, because their partners had to be at the wheel for at least this long. Bouchut began the stops, for a driver change and slicks, after 39 laps. Muller did likewise (to Lichtner-Hoyer), Fassler stopped after 40 laps, Wendlinger briefly led (only 38 minutes left, so he’d have to stop on the next lap) – and Philipp Peter began setting fastest sector times. 40 laps and it really was slicks time. Phase 5
So Gigawave’s brave tyre choices, and not a hint of a mistake from either driver, saw the silver Aston Martin leading, at the end of lap 41. There were approximately 36 minutes left. Philipp Peter led Jean-Denis Deletraz by 18 seconds, but the Swiss was four to five seconds slower than the man who was totally accustomed to the conditions / grip levels. Peter needed to extend his lead – because remember, the Gigawave car had its second, mandatory stop to come. Ryan Sharp and GT newcomer Xavier Maassen were homing in on Deletraz for second, while Bartels and Ramos were 40+ seconds behind Peter in fifth and sixth. Gollin, replacing Hezemans, had attacked Kirkaldy’s Ferrari at Stowe, on the Italian’s second lap, on slicks, and both spun. Gollin slipped behind the MC12s. Greg Franchi, in the Larbre Saleen, was the fastest man on the track. Peter was continuing to build his lead – thanks to Deletraz, Maassen and Sharp squabbling over second (see Sharp's comments, below). Could Peter build enough of a lead to allow him to pit and come out still ahead? He lapped in 1:54.5 on lap 44, the chasing group in two minutes. Peter pulled away – while the Maseratis caught up… Peter, Bartels and Ramos were briefly lapping five seconds faster than Deletraz, Maassen and Sharp (or Sharp and Maassen, below). Finally, Maassen and Sharp broke free, lapped as fast as the leader – but were now 38 seconds behind. Bartels and Ramos hadn’t caught Peter by much (gap still just over 40 seconds), but they were suddenly right with Deletraz, who was almost matching Sharp and Maassen’s times. Gollin wasn’t out of it either, and as Bartels passed Deletraz, Gollin passed Ramos. 48 laps completed, 20 minutes left – and Peter still led by 38 seconds. Was that enough? Did the team need to add fuel, or had they added enough to get to the end at the first stop? Phase 6
And then we had a Safety Car period, just to add another twist to the tale. Miro Konopka’s ARC Bratislava S7R lost its left rear wheel, and although the marshals recovered it quickly, the SC had already joined the action. And the blue Corvette joined in just about perfectly for the leader. Peter, with a clear track ahead through the complex, dived into the pits. The chasing group, led by Ryan Sharp, was held up behind one of the G2 Moslers, and obviously couldn’t pass it. Gigawave team manager Steve Hagger admitted later that his team needed a 60 second margin to pit and hold the lead – but the SC had allowed them to stay ahead anyway. Fortune favours the brave? Peter had a splash of fuel added, and hurried out onto the track: he caught the SC at Abbey, and the train formed up over the next couple of laps. Last Phase
Completing lap 52, 12 minutes remaining, and they were racing again. This was almost like the end of a Grand-Am race – except that here, cars can overtake. Philipp Peter took advantage of the dawdlers holding up second to sixth (Maassen, Sharp, Bartels, Gollin, Deletraz and Ramos) to grab a three second advantage across the line, with seven laps to go (it transpired). But through Copse, Ramos went for a gap that he didn’t get close to occupying, and hit Deletraz, these two spinning out of the contest for the win – so it was between five: two Corvettes, two Aston Martins and a Maserati. At this stage, bearing in mind his pace on slicks, we felt Bartels was the favourite: we certainly didn’t predict what Ryan Sharp was about to do. Sharp cut that three second margin in half on lap 53, and at the end of the 54th, he was just 0.180s behind the silver DBR9. Bartels, Maassen and Gollin were four to five seconds behind. End of lap 55 and the gap between the two DBR9s was 0.119s – and Bartels was only two seconds behind. He made that up before Club on the 56th, and the three were all over each other for the rest of the lap. Side by side out of Luffield, the order became Sharp, Bartels and Peter. Maassen and Gollin were tied together, two seconds back. “Bartels is favourite to win” said my note. Ryan Sharp disagreed. He led by a second at the end of lap 57, 1.9 at the end of 58 and 3.8 at the end of the 59th and last lap. Maassen defending from Gollin meant that Peter hung onto third, and a thoroughly deserved podium it was too, for the new team. Ryan Sharp: “It was possibly lucky that it got so frantic because it was only in the last two laps that I had chance to look behind me and spot the pitboard saying I only had two laps left. Before that I just kept my head down and kept going. On the way to the lead I had a few passing manoeuvres that didn’t quite go to plan, I passed both Corvettes twice in two laps at Copse but each time I ran onto the slippery parts and they passed me again. Once in the lead I knew I had the pace to stay there. We came here last year and unfortunately didn’t have the pace even to get onto the podium and we really wanted to get a good points finish today but at the end of the race all I could think about was winning. I’m really looking forward to going down to the BRDC room and seeing the trophy there with my name on it.” Karl Wendlinger: “It was wet but there was not too much water on the track. I could get the lead and pull away but maybe I forced the tyres too much because the car became slidy quite early. I had a spin as well, which was a bad mistake. Just at the right time we switched drivers and switched onto slicks and Ryan drove a strong, aggressive race and this win is down to him. Even in Austria, the Tourist Trophy is popular and well known so I am happy that my name is going to be on it.” Andrea Bertolini: ”We had a really bad qualifying, mainly due to tyre choice but at the end of today we have a really good result and take a lot of important points. You can imagine that after yesterday it was not easy for us and we had to pass a lot of GT2 cars.” Michael Bartels: “It was a race that had a lot of great moments and overtaking manoeuvres, especially at the end. It was one of the most difficult races for years as we had to use all of the tyres, from wets to inters and then to slicks. It was not a nice feeling when I first went out on slicks but after a lap the car was performing well and I could catch the cars ahead of me, including Ryan [Sharp]. Suddenly Ryan had much stronger speed than he had before and I couldn’t catch him, it was a very tricky line as well, if you went just one metre off you could spin or go into the gravel and in the end he was so fast I could not get close to him.” Allan Simonsen: “It was obviously a bit of a gamble to start on intermediates and as it turned out they weren’t the tyre to have at the start but when they came in it was a good advantage. I started with full tanks, which is why I could go so far, we just needed five seconds of fuel on our second stop. I was comfortable with the car on intermediates and losing some places because I always knew it would come to me, I just had to keep calm until I had my time. It was a good strategy and a good race, it’s good for us to be on the podium in our first race.” Philipp Peter: “It is a little bit of an up and down feeling, on Friday we would have signed up for third place but after the race it is a bit disappointing. I was the first to go onto slicks and at the end they were past their best and I couldn’t hold Ryan off, he was just too fast.” Citation Cup honours went to Talkanitsa and Kaufmann in the C5-R, on the Russian’s FIA GT debut. Wolfgang Kaufmann: “The position with tyres for us was quite easy, we only have wets and slicks! I stayed on wets when I first went out, but it was more like a drift challenge, so I was glad to get onto slicks.” GT2
If we were expecting a fine GT2 scrap too, then we were going to be disappointed. Toni Vilander started the #50 AF Corse Ferrari, Rob Bell the CR Scuderia car – but the latter was on a hard wet tyre compound, the former on softer wet rubber. Vilander even led Simonsen in the early going. The race was only ever between these two, but the Finn had the advantage in the early going, and the gap between them was about 15 seconds after ten laps, and continued to extend up until the pair of them pitted just before the hour.
“We’ve got different tyres than our rivals and I think that helped at the beginning and helped us to win the race,” explained Vilander. “Even though I usually get on well in the wet, if you don’t have a good car, you can’t do anything. You need the right tyres and the right car to win a race.“ “Our tyre choice at the start wasn’t quite right, but we will learn and grow as a team,” remarked Rob Bell. Andrew Kirkaldy was a lonely fellow for some of the second half of the race – “There were no cars anywhere near me for a while” – but even a second pit stop as the Safety Car pulled off didn’t stop the debut team coming home second. Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen finished fifth in the sister car, the former having an early spin, Mullen fighting up from ninth to a good points finish. So what happened to the ProSpeed Porsches? Rudi Penders suggested that “we were rather conservative when it came down to our tyre choice. We knew that it was dangerous and didn’t want our drivers to get in any sort of trouble.” The Collard / Westbrook and Forsten / Palttala cars finished surprisingly far down in sixth and seventh, but the sixth-placed pair were excluded for a ride height infringement – caused by a minor collision in the race. Ruberti / Malucelli (BMS) and Montanari / Biagi (AF Corse) filled third and fourth places, and CR Scuderia’s #55 430 completed a Ferrari first to fifth whitewash. The Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari didn’t feature, suffering as it was with an electrical glitch, while David Ashburn had several adventures in his new Porsche, but Richard Williams brought it home – and lap times faster than the ProSpeed Porsches pleased the team owner. The Go To One Moslers took a 1-2 in G2, just five seconds apart, so their Sunday was very much better than Friday or Saturday. Toni Vilander: “It’s not been an easy start to the championship with the cold and the rain and the weather always changing. In practice the Porsche looked very strong and we didn’t know what was going to happen in the race. We chose a soft full wet and there wasn’t much water so it was kind of the opposite choice for the conditions but we thought it might work. We planned for me to go for 35 minutes but it worked really well and we were able to go for an hour, which was a surprise for us.” Gianmaria Bruni: “It was a little tricky for the first two laps on intermediates but after a few laps I got used to it and started pulling away. I lost some time to Andrew with the safety car but after the race restarted I pulled away again. Toni did a fantastic start and we did an hour each with no mistakes and a perfect strategy.” Andrew Kirkaldy: “We delayed our second stop because of the Safety Car and we wanted to catch the train before we came in, it didn’t quite work but I don’t think we lost too much because of it.” Matteo Malucelli: ““We had a lot of problems with the car this weekend so I am happy to get a lot of points.” Paolo Ruberti: ““Last year I was second, this year third, but it’s a good result for the team’s first race with the Ferrari.” | 
