FIA GT, Oschersleben – Saturday Morning Notes

A Quiet (Noisy) Start

We’re playing catch-up here today, after a Ryan Air-related delay (an extra five hours in the departure lounge of Luton Airport surrounded by myriad hen/stag parties being nobody’s idea of fun) scuppered our plans to arrive at the circuit on Friday.

A very busy day began at Oschersleben with warm but overcast and breezy conditions. Ahead lay 80 minutes of FIA GT practice and a further 80 minutes of pre-qualifying in the morning, as well as 40minutes each for GT3 and GT4 qualifying; to be followed by the first GT3 and GT4 races and the two 15 minute FIA GT qualifying and a scheduled 19:05 finish to the day’s proceedings.

The circuit itself, although located in the heart of the country’s poorest region, is a fantastic facility. The paddock is very well designed and can seemingly accommodate the hoards of GT cars at ease, while viewing opportunities for the spectators are spectacular; the majority of the track observable from high bankings that create the impression of an arena, with the engine noises trapped within. One gets the feeling that the GT3 races will be LOUD!

There was significant news on Friday, with the announcement that the numbers 59, 60 and 61 have been excluded from the Adria results for running unhomologated parts. ProSport have appealed and the amended results remain provisional, but Richard Westbrook has already conceded (to Graeme Tyler) that the only way forward is to win; starting with this round.

In a first free practice session free of dramas, the #3 Corvette of Christophe Bouchut and Xavier Maassen was fastest on 1:23.793, with Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp second on 1:24.688. In GT2, Tim Mullen clearly likes the track, setting the fastest time in this session for the second year running; although the AF Corse Ferraris, rather worryingly for the others, don’t appear to be having too much difficulty in coping with the handicap weights.

“It’s been a good morning,” said Chris Niarchos. “Tim’s quickest and I’m please with my times; there’s only one sector where I’m losing time, but we can sort that.

“I like the circuit; some drivers don’t. You’d think it would be a Porsche circuit, but it’s the kind of place that you have to attack – you have to be brutal across the kerbs and allow the car to take a beating, and the Ferrari is strong enough to take it – and with the severe bumps and braking off-camber, it suits the mid-engined car well.

“Pick-up is a problem, I don’t know why. It’s okay on the racing line, but a metre either side, there’s all sorts of crap.”

Rob Bell, in the #56 CR Scuderia 430, was not getting carried away with the team’s performance so far; “It’s close at the top; it’s good,” he said. “But you never know anybody’s true pace until qualifying starts. We’ve been trying a few things this morning - fuel loads, Michelin compounds, etc. - and so will all the others.”

The sun was out by noon and the temperature was starting to climb.

In pre-qualifying, Wendlinger and Sharp improved by a place, this time going half a second faster than the #5 Phoenix Racing Corvette of Mike Hezemans and Fabrizio Gollin. Times were generally slower than in the first session, but not for Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer and Alex Muller, who improved the #36 Jetalliance Aston to a third fastest 1:25.193 after a truncated first practice session.

In GT2, Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni were fastest on 1:28.621 in the #50 AF Corse, but contributed to an early end to the session by blocking the track at Turn 14 (along with the #2 Masarati) with just a few minutes remaining. 

Oops! No they didn't. That was Andrew Kirkaldy in the #56 and he caused quite a bit of damage to the rear right of the car. Qualifying was unlikely to be threatened, though.         

The #104 G2 Charouz Go To One Racing Mosler of Kenneth Heyer and Stepan Vojtech was awaiting a fresh engine from Holland after losing one in the first session and would miss qualifying.  

MH