FIA GT3, Slovakia Ring - Race 2 Report

Under the supervision of the President of Slovakia, Mr Ivan Gasparovic, round ten of the FIA GT3 European Championship was held this morning. Like the first race on Saturday there was a Lamborghini on pole position and a Mercedes-Benz on top of the podium at the end of the race.

In the second race of the weekend all 27 cars had a clean start and there were no casualties in the first corner. The nr 25 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo of Stefan Rosina pulled away and was already over three seconds clear of the rest of the field after just 2 laps. Behind Rosina the AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia nr 50 and Gravity-Charouz Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 nr 11 swapped positions, the AF Corse car now able to go after the leading Lamborghini.

On lap 5 Rosina was already four seconds clear of the Ferrari with the Mercedes another 2 seconds further down in third. Yesterday’s winner, the nr 44 Heico Motorsport Mercedes went off at turn 5 and returned to the track in last position.

What followed was a period of incidents and bad luck for several drivers. First the AF Corse Ferrari nr 51 and MTECH Ferrari nr 20 got int wrong and ended up in the gravel, one lap later there was contact between the nr 45 Heico Motorsport Mercedes and the nr 2 ProSpeed Competition Porsche.

Reiter Engineering was then hit by tire issues again when the leading nr 25 car suffered a left rear puncture, at the same time the nr 24 hit a puncture in yesterday’s race. The AF Corse Ferrari nr 50 was unable to take advantage as it went off into the gravel at turn 6 and had to be pulled from the gravel. As a result the third placed Mercedes-Benz of Jarek Janis got into the lead.

When the pit window opened the leaders stayed out, but when they came in things went wrong for Janis and Machitski. As the nr 11 Mercedes-Benz was ready to get back on the track its path was blocked by the nr 6 Need for Speed Team Schubert BMW and the mechanics had to push the car back. The resulting loss of time meant the nr 3 Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz was able to pass in the pit and move into the lead of the race.

The Graff Racing Mercedes-Benz, driven by Philippe Giauque, was clear of the rest of the field and was never threatened anymore in the remaining laps, although Giauque struggled with his tires in the final minutes, much to the dislike of his teammate Mike Parisy.

Behind the leader the battle for second place was on between Leo Machitski and Csaba Walter, but despite being quicker in the corners the BMW lost ground on the long straights when the power of the Mercedes engine kicked in. The Need for Speed Team Schubert nr 7 was not able to pass the Mercedes and eventually finished in third place, just a few tenths ahead of the nr 35 Faster Racing by DB Motorsport BMW of Hoevert Vos. Vos ahd closed the gap to the two cars ahead of him in the last laps, but ran out of time to place an attack for third.

Giauque secured the second win of the weekend and the season for Mercedes-Benz, win that puts Parisy and Giauque in second in the Drivers Championship. Castellacci and Leo didn’t score any points, but remain the leaders of the championship by 14 points. In the Teams Championship Need for Speed Team Schubert remain in the lead, with Faster Racing by DB Motorsport reducing the gap by 1 point to 19 points. Both championships will be decided at Zandvoort in October.