FIA GT Nogaro - FIA GT3 Race One Race Report and Result

In the ninth race of the FIA GT3 European Championship Thomas Accary and Pierre-Brice Mena ran a perfect race in the #8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9. Starting from pole they led all but two laps and claimed their first win of the season. They led home the #20 Matech GT Racing Ford GT of Luca Pirri and Jürgen von Gartzen, with third place going to Michael Petit and Dino Lunardi in the #13 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 – but the real drama of the race revolved around the two pairs of drivers who lead the Championship.

Over the past few races the key to landing a good finish has been avoiding the first-corner chaos as the pack try to find a way through. At Nogaro, against all expectations the field were remarkably well-behaved; the only first-lap casualty was the #38 MM Racing Corvette Z.6R GT3 of Matzke and Skula, which spun out of fifth place and out of the top ten.

The #8 Aston Martin though was away and clear – Accary pulling out a gap of over two seconds after just two laps

At this stage, with the exception of the #38 Corvette, the top six were still in grid order, which meant it was the #19 and #21 Matech Ford GTs in second and third.

Lap 4 saw Ian Khan was punted into a spin from tenth position, the #20 Matech Ford GT coming to rest with the rear wheels just off the edge of the track in a gravel bed. Pulling the car out cost the Championship leader a full two laps.

Having taken over from Accary at the compulsory pit stop, Pierre-Brice Mena seemed to have the race under control, with a lead of over 10 seconds from the #21 Ford GT – but James Ruffier in the #1 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette had other ideas. Lying third after the pit-stops, Ruffier soon caught Alex Mortimer, in the #21 Ford GT; after an abortive outbraking attempt at the end of the main straight Ruffier made it past at the same point a lap later – and on the following lap, von Gartzen demoted Mortimer to fourth.

Ruffier continued to push hard, closing the gap to Mena by as much as a second a lap – but perhaps he was pushing too hard, smoke started coming from the rear of the Corvette. It quickly worsened – but it seemed to have no effect on Ruffier’s pace. The gap was down to under four seconds, with less than five minutes of the 60-minute race remaining, when the Corvette finally died – Ruffier was forced to pull off, a premature end to what had looked to be a thrilling climax. Since Ruffier and team-mate Arnaud Peyroles were just two points behind Khan and Mutsch, the mechanical failure – thought to be the differential – ending a chance to profit from Khan's earlier misfortune and robbing the Corvette squad of a chance to leapfrog the Ford GT pair at the head of the Championship.

But the race wasn’t over yet, and with only two laps to go Lunardi managed to find a way past the #21 Ford to claim the final spot on the podium. The #29 AutoGT Racing Morgan Aero 8 GT3 of Lesoudier and Scheier finished fifth on the track, but had been given a 2-second stop-go penalty for a pit-stop infringement. Since they did not take the penalty during the race, they had 32 seconds added to their race time – dropping them to 13th – and also penalised with a five-place grid drop for the second race. That promoted Marc Sourd and reigning champion Gilles Vannelet to fifth, in the #28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette.

With both Khan and Mutsch, and Peyroles and Ruffier, failing to score they remain separated by just two points at the top of the Drivers’ table – and having taken a win to follow their second place in Brno, Accary and Mena have jumped into third place, only six points away from the series lead. Fourth place leaves Bradley Ellis only one point further back, so the Championship is now certain to be decided at the final event, in Dubai at the end of December.

Thomas Accary – #8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9: “I’m very happy to win this race – this is my first win in the GT3 Championship. It’s good for our position in the championship, for the team, for Pierre-Brice and me. I had a little pressure from behind – also it was very hot, and it was difficult to maintain concentration during my long stint.”

Pierre-Brice Mena – #8 Hexis Racing Aston Martin DBRS9: “I actually think the car was better at Brno than it is here! We seem to be not so good over the bumps here. But Thomas did a good job, which made it fairly easy for me, because I took over the car in the lead. The car is definitely stronger than it was at the beginning of the year.”

Luca Pirri – #19 Matech GT Racing Ford GT: “We have gone better this weekend – nobody hit me from behind! We had a little bit of luck when the #1 Corvette had problems, which gave us second position – we hope to go one better tomorrow.”

Jürgen von Gartzen – #19 Matech GT Racing Ford GT: “This is a good result; the car was a bit difficult, we have had oversteer all weekend. When I was behind Ruffier he lost a lot of oil, so I had to drop back and couldn’t push so hard. Luca did a really good stint, holding off pressure from behind – I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race.”

Michael Petit – #13 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT3: “This is my first podium finish in an international series. The car is not easy to drive – it oversteers a lot. Dino did a very good job, and I’m very happy.”

Dino Lunardi – #13 JMB Racing Ferrari F430 GT3: “I’m really pleased, because I got this result with a new car and a new team. It has been pretty difficult, especially because the car isn’t easy to drive. The end of the race was tough, but I managed to pass the #21 Ford GT with only a lap to go. I’m very happy for my new team, and this is my second podium in the GT3 series – it’s marvellous! I’m sorry that the partnership with Gilles has ended, because he was a good friend – maybe now this will make us enemies!”

Gilles Vannelet – #28 Marc Sourd Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3: “That was a good race – the Corvette is a good car. I think I could have gone faster in the beginning, but I wanted to respect Peyroles ahead of me, because of his position in the Championship. But I prefer to stay behind and stay safe than to hit him and take him out of the race. Tomorrow will be better, I hope.”

Phil Quaife – #33 APEX Motorsport Jaguar XKR: “The Jaguar is good at gaining time down the long straight, but most of the corners here are first and second gear, and we lose a lot of time in those. The good news is that we’ve made a good step forward this weekend, kept it in one piece and had a fairly good race. Dubai will definitely suit us better, because of the long straights and faster corners.”

Ian Khan – #20 Matech GT Racing Ford GT: “I was pushed off. The guy had tried to overtake me into the double-right at the end of the lap, but locked up and slid past; the second time it was a half-hearted attempt, and he pushed me off. We were in a good position today – it’s really galling when this kind of thing happens.”

James Ruffier – #1 Martini Callaway Racing Corvette Z.06R GT3: “We don’t know what the problem was yet – I think it may have been the differential. I was playing it safe, not pushing hard, but I was still catching the Aston Martin in front of me – so I thought it was worth trying to take the win. Suddenly there was smoke in the car – I was struggling to breath; then there was an alarm, and the engine died.”

Joost Custers/ GG

Race Result

1 8  Accary/Mena Aston Martin DBRS9 1:00:01.639 38 laps
2 19 Pirri/Vongartzen Ford GT +6.646 secs
3 13 Petit/Lunardi Ferrari F430 GT3 +21.284
4 21 Ellis/Mortimer Ford GT +22.098
5 28 Vannelet/Sourd Corvette Z06R GT3 +34.411
6 9  Rodrigues/Rodrigues Aston Martin DBRS9 +40.638
7 36 Loix/Lemeret Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S +40.916
8 17 Ciro/Zani Aston Martin DBRS9 +42.378 
9 38 Matzke/Skula Corvette Z06R GT3 +53.273
10 10 Lagniez/Makowiecki Aston Martin DBRS9 +53.467
11 40 Jirik/Vosse Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S +54.034
12 27 Depresle/Cazenave Corvette Z06R GT3 +57.274
13 29 Lesoudier/Scheier Morgan Aero 8 GT3 +59.319 
14 39 Thomas/Hemroulle Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S +1:02.755
15 2  Meir/Bert Corvette Z06R GT3 +1:16.659 
16 4  Warren/Moser Ferrari F430 GT3 +1:22.514
17 37 Vojtech/Lacko Corvette Z06R GT3 +1:33.510 
18 5  Ricci/Balbiani Ferrari F430 GT3 +1:35.235
19 33 Quaife/Dymond Jaguar XKR 37 laps
20 14 Kraihamer/Retera Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 37 laps
21 12 Rambeaud/Rambeaud Ferrari F430 GT3 37 laps
22 35 Lamot/Penders Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 37 laps
23 6  Ashburn/Williams Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 37 laps
24 32 Hissom/Clucas Jaguar XKR 37 laps
25 11 Ballay/Sicart Ferrari F430 GT3 36 laps
26 20 Khan/Mutsch Ford GT 36 laps
27 1  Peyroles/Ruffier Corvette Z06R GT3 34 laps

Not Classified

16 Zumerle/Zenere Aston Martin DBRS9 19 laps DNF
41 Romagnoli/Marchetti Dodge Viper Competition Coupe 18 laps DNF
7  Nuttall/Shelley Porsche 997 GT3 Cup S 17 laps DNF
31 Laffite/Sturdza Morgan Aero 8 GT3 13 laps DNF
42 Sabatini/Zadotti Dodge Viper Competition Coupe 13 laps DNF