FIA GT1 – Nurburgring – Championship Race Report

It was a perfect weekend for Tomas Enge and Darren Turner in the #7 Young Driver Aston Martin at the Nurburgring. In fact it was a strong showing for Aston Martin all round with all four cars in the points.

Enge and Turner took both race wins and pole position in round six of the championship.  Starting from pole, Turner dominated the race before handing over to Enge, who controlled the pace from the front.

Peter Kox and Christopher Haase steered the #24 Reiter Lamborghini to their best finish of the season ahead of the #13 Phoenix Racing/Carsport Corvette  of Marc Hennerici and Alex Margaritis after a race-long battle between the two cars.

At the start it was Turner who held the inside line to maintain his lead from pole, followed by Hennerici in the Corvette and Kox in the Lamborghini. Further back there was a collision between the #33 Triple H Maserati of Altfrid Heger and the #41 Ford GT of Renaud Kuppens with both cars spinning off to the inside of the exit of turn one.

At the end of the opening lap Turner led by 0.6 seconds ahead of Hennerici with Kox holding station behind the leading pair. Hexis Aston Martin's Clivio Piccione caught and passed the #25 Reiter Lamborghini of Ricardo Zonta to take fifth place at the start of the second lap.

Piccione then caught the #5 Matech Competition Ford of Thomas Mutsch, pressurising the German in an effort to move up another place. At the chicane on lap four they touched and Mutsch was forced to cut the corner but retained his fourth place in the process.

Xavier Maassen in the Mad-Croc Corvette was also a spinner at the chicane on the same lap but rejoined further down the field.

Piccione continued to challenge Mutsch for the place and lap seven went down the inside of the Ford on the run into turn one.

Zonta tried to follow but Mutsch turned into the corner and there was a collision that spun the Ford through 180 degrees and delayed the Lamborghini allowing Andrea Bertolini in the #1 Vitaphone Maserati to move ahead of both drivers.  The #12 Mad Croc Racing Corvette of Mika Salo pitted on lap seven with brake problems.

As the pit window approached Turner held a 6.5 second lead over Hennerici and Kox. Hennerici pitted on lap 13, with Turner following a lap later.  The Phoenix Racing Corvette had a slower stop than the Reiter Lamborghini and Haase found himself ahead of the Corvette.

Further back Frederic Makowiecki had moved his Hexis AMR Aston up from 22nd on the grid into the top 10 at the pit stops before coming in to hand over to Yann Clairay on lap 15.

After all the cars had pitted, Enge, now at the wheel of the leading #7 Aston had stretched the lead to 13 seconds from Haase in the Reiter Lamborghini and Alex Margaritis in the Phoenix Racing Corvette.

On lap 21 it looked like the fickle Nurburgring weather might come into play as rain was reported on parts of the circuit and some of teams readied Michelin wets. However in the end the rain held off until after the race.

At the finish Enge who crossed the line to taking the first Championship Race win of the year for Aston Martin, with Christopher Haase and Alex Margaritis claiming the other podium positions.

The #10 Hexis AMR Aston Martin of Jonathan Hirschi finished fourth after a strong performance. The #8 Young Driver Aston of Stefan Mucke was fifth - the first time all four cars have scored Championship points in a single race this season.

Darren Turner, #7 Young Driver Aston Martin

"I wanted to get away from the start in one piece, whatever happened after that was another part of the race. That was the main objective. I was happy with the gap I made over the Corvette."

"I tried to get my head down and not make any mistakes. I tried to push a few times throughout the race to get a bit more of a gap in case we had any trouble at the pit stop. We waited for the Corvette to box and we boxed the following lap. It was nice to get out and do some solid laps."

Tomas Enge, #7 Young Driver Aston Martin 

"I think that we had the fastest car of the weekend but not as fast as it appeared at the end of the race."

"We were very concentrated and we didn't put a foot wrong, we had a fabulous pit stop as well. It was the perfect weekend for us. I'm very happy that we have closed the gap at the top of the table of the championship standings."

Peter Kox, #24 Reiter Lamborghini

"We had a fantastic pit stop so we owe it all to the team which helped us to overtake the Corvette. The car is not quite there yet but we are working on it and improving it and at least we can now compete at the front."

"Christopher did a fantastic stint under a lot of pressure from four cars."

Christopher Haase, #24 Reiter Lamborghini

"Our team did a great job at the pit stop. This was the key to taking the second place. It was a difficult race as I was very close with the Corvette. I am really delighted to be on the podium at my home race. Our whole team did a great job."

Marc Hennerici, #13 Phoenix Racing/Carsport Corvette

"We have done a very consistent job during the whole weekend. To find a good set-up with a new team-mate is sometimes difficult but with Alex (Margaritas) it was really perfect from the first moment."

"The car was much better than we expected because of the latest Balance of Performance decision. Third place is really great for us."

Alexander Margaritis, #13 Phoenix Racing/Carsport Corvette

"Coming back with Phoenix, we have a long relationship since the DTM times. It was a great moment on Wednesday when I got the phone call 'Alex can you be there on Thursday?'. I said for sure it would be a pleasure to drive for you. The atmosphere from the first moment was very good."

"I hope we can find a solution so I can continue driving. I have to speak to my manager and make the decision in the next few days."