FIA GT1 Brno - Championship Race Report Romain Grosjean and Thomas Mutsch in the #5 Matech Ford GT head the drivers' standings after their second series victory in a dramatic Championship Race in Brno. The victors at the opening round in Abu Dhabi pocketed another 25 points in the Czech Republic ahead of the Young Driver Aston Martin of Tomas Enge and Darren Turner and the Sumo Power Nissan GT-R of Michael Krumm and Peter Dumbreck. At the finish, just 1.7 seconds covered the top five cars in an intensely-fought race. Starting from sixth on the grid, Grosjean had an eventful first stint which included a heavy clash with one of the Hexis Aston Martins. “The start was a bit strange. I knew the straight was going to be difficult, as we were lacking in power," Grosjean said. "In the first corner, the Aston Martin just didn’t brake and hit me very hard from the right and I thought the car was destroyed, because the noise inside was incredible. "But I have to get used to GT1 cars, they’re strong. The car was alright. I had to work my imagination to find an opening amongst the cars. In the last few corners, I found somewhere I could get through, that was a bit risky." Grosjean fell down the field but fought back to be fourth by the time the pit window opened under the second safety car period of the race. "I made the moves on the two Aston Martins and the Corvette, who I’d thought about all night, having been stuck behind him for 35 minutes yesterday. It was difficult to overtake, and I really had to think to find where I could get past," he added. "The pit stop was just incredible from the team. We were in the pit entry and suddenly we were out in P1. Then Thomas went out, and was under pressure, like in Abu Dhabi, but he works well in these conditions." It was the second win for the Matech Ford GT #5 after victory in the opening race in Abu Dhabi. The Franco-Swiss driver said he was delighted to be heading to the next round of the series at Paul Ricard in the south of France on July 2 as the series leader. "For the team and the championship, after a disappointing weekend at Silverstone, it’s very good to be back on top. I prefer to be the leaders than having to go for it and having to catch up with somebody. I love this position. If we keep on working with the team as we are now it’ll be great. "It's always great to race in front of your home fans. I think it's always special to race in France." Mutsch was equally delighted with the result. “Who could have thought that this morning that we could win here. Thanks to our team, thanks to our mechanics who did a really amazing job. We overtook three cars just in the pitstop. It’s really fantastic." It was a topsy-turvy race for the Czech driver Enge in the Aston Martin No.7. Having qualified second, Enge's hopes of a podium appeared to have vanished at the start when he misread the start light sequence. As the pack headed for the start line, Enge eased off when all around him drivers were hitting the loud pedal. He later explained that he thought he saw an amber (warning) light and backed off assuming that there was an aborted start. He was engulfed by the field and was relegated to 16th place on the opening lap. He said: "I saw an amber light at the start and thought it meant another formation lap and I backed off and just drove under the lights and unfortunately didn't see the lights go green. That mistake probably cost us victory. "Despite that the guys did a great job at the pit stop to get us out in second position. "We pitted under the safety car, and we had a fantastic pit stop again. We had the fastest car, fastest crew in the pit lane. Our guys can change the tyres very quickly. We managed to jump from P10 or 12 to P2. That was a fantastic improvement. "Then there were thrilling final laps from all three drivers, then Thomas and Peter, who really pushed. I was really sweating a lot at the end of the race, because Peter was really pushing very much. I enjoyed the race a lot. "What a comeback, to finish in second place in front of my home crowd. I’m really happy that we had such an audience today and Darren and I could deliver. "This is a really great result. This has been a very successful weekend for us, after what happened at Silverstone." The early leader and pole sitter Andrea Bertolini in the #1 Vitaphone Maserati had threatened to run away with the race until a stop-go penalty for a speed violation at the start halted their progress. Having done the penance, Bertolini rejoined well down the field. Handing over to Michael Bartels the overall team points leaders eventually fought back to finish fifth with the No.2 Vitaphone Maserati (Enrique Bernoldi/Miguel Ramos) sixth. Michael Krumm, Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R #23 “I’m not too proud of the start. I noticed something happened to Tomas. It was a bit confusing I think, because Bertolini was flat out before we even got sorted on the straight line. It was a bit confusing for me because he was gone, and the race hadn’t even started yet. Obviously I had no option but to put the throttle down as well and followed. Unfortunately for Tomas, but good for me as I ended up in second and there was no extra formation lap. The car ran well. I could keep close, I felt comfortable sitting behind Bertolini for a time and then, luckily for us, he got a penalty. And then unfortunately, I tried to make a gap for Peter for the pitstop and unfortunately the safety car came in and the fight in the pits was exciting. The problem was we were stuck with the car and couldn’t get out. We tried and we had to push the car back, but even so, we came out third, so this was probably one of the best pitstops the boys have done. I want to thank the whole Sumo Team, it was a fantastic effort. And the race in the end was fantastic, and I think the only reason we couldn’t get second was that Darren knows well the Nissan GTR from last year, so he knows exactly where it’s strong or not. Unfortunately for us, the safety car was the problem.” Peter Dumbreck, Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R #23 “It was hard work to find a way by. The guys ahead made no mistakes. We were all running a similar pace. I felt that I was faster in some areas but they were quicker in other areas. If I was to have a go at passing it was into turn three. And every time it got a bit close, Darren’s radar went up and he covered the inside, and it left me nowhere to go. It was a little bit frustrating. We got caught behind the Corvette in the pits; I could see I was never going to make the turn, there was no way, the boys had to push me back. I don’t think we would have gone out in the lead, but we would certainly have got 2nd, in front of the Aston. This third place is something to build on. It’s not too heavy going into the next race. I think we’ll be up there again and fighting. We’re gradually getting to grips with everything; two podiums in the last two races. 2 different cars, but we were still getting there. I’m really proud of everyone at the team. I’m happy with my team mate, he’s on the pace; so bring on the rest of the year.” Darren Turner, Young Driver Aston Martin #7 “My heart is still pumping. It was a fantastic race. Thomas made no mistakes at the front, I had Peter right behind me, very strong in some places around the circuit, so I had to play quite a clever game between the two of them. I wanted to attack but not obviously put myself in a position that Peter could make a move that stuck. It was a long race where I sat, being in the middle of the Ford/Nissan sandwich. The main thing is the guys did an amazing job in the pit-stop and leap-frogged us right up to the front of the field. It was good to get some points on the board at last. It’s been a good car all weekend. It was lovely in the race. Maybe we can improve and maybe we can have a car I can attack a bit more. It’s a great come-back for the team and hopefully we can come back to the next race and keep on building on these points.” Tomas Enge, Young Driver Aston Martin #7 “The starting procedure was definitely not ok. I went already to the race director and told him about that. There was no green light, which means there will be another formation lap. But our fantastic pit work brought us to second position. The last laps were really thrilling with the great battle of Darren (Turner) with the leading car. It’s a great comeback for the entire to finish second after our bad luck at Silverstone, and it’s especially nice for me to come second in front of my home crowd.” Bas Leinders, Marc VDS Racing Ford GT #40 "At the start of the Qualifying Race Maxime lost two places, which put him among a group of madmen who pushed him back to 18th. Even though we set 4th fastest lap time we could not get higher than 16th in the end. From that position we started the Championship Race, on a new set of tyres, so I was able to push very hard. Just before halfway I occupied 9th spot, just behind the Triple H Maserati's and an Aston Martin. Those guys were driving like crazy, pushing each other off all the time. Even though I was careful not to get involved, I quickly managed to pass Margaritis. But two corners later he found it necessary to push me hard, so we both ended up in the gravel trap. Even his team manager came to apologize afterwards. Of course it is very unfortunate to lose a great result because of the actions of a clumsy idiot, but I suppose that's part of racing. Now we shall focus completely on the Le Mans 24 Hours, in three weeks' time." Renaud Kuppens, Marc VDS Racing Ford GT #40 "Since the start of the weekend we suffered from a general lack of grip. Together with Markus I tried an enormous amount of different set-ups, but none worked. I hope that we can have a extensive test before the next race in Paul Ricard, because it is very frustrating to cope with a weekend like this." Stefan Mücke, Young Driver Aston Martin #8 “I had to start from the pits, but could quickly close the gap to the cars in front of me. I had some really nice fights and could make up some positions. It was a lot of fun, the car was really great. But unfortunately there was a problem with the wheel hub.” Championship Positions After Round 3 1 Thomas Mutsch 56
1 Romain Grosjean 56
2 Andrea Bertolini 44
2 Michael Bartels 44
3 Marc Hennerici 30
4 Frédéric Makowiecki 28
5 Thomas Accary 26
6 Andreas Zuber 26
7 Jamie Campbell-Walter 25
7 Warren Hughes 25
8 Darren Turner 24
8 Tomas Enge 24
9 Peter Dumbreck 19
9 Michael Krumm 19
10 Clivio Piccione 18
10 Jonathan Hirschi 18
11 Matteo Bobbi 18
11 Bert Longin 18
12 Miguel Ramos 16
12 Enrique Bernoldi 16
13 Andrea Piccini 15
13 Frank Kechele 15
13 Jos Menten 15
13 Mike Hezemans 15
14 Altfrid Heger 10
14 Alexander Margaritis 10
14 Ricardo Zonta 10
14 Christoffer Nygaard 10
14 Stefan Mücke 10
14 Rafael Daniel 10
15 Dominik Schwager 6
15 Nicky Pastorelli 6
16 Stefan Rosina 4
16 Maxime Martin 4 | 
