City Challenge, Baku – Race Report
A Historic Day For Hexis

French squad Hexis made history by winning the first City Challenge GT race around the streets of Baku. In sunny conditions McLaren MP4-12C GT3 drivers Fred Makowiecki and Stef Dusseldorp finished the race 4.517 seconds ahead of Frank Kechele and Mathias Lauda with their Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3.

Qualifying 1

Frédéric Makowiecki secured pole position in his #17 Hexis McLaren MP4-12C GT3 in the first qualifying session of the City Challenge GT, the Frenchman's 1:03.750 being  just 0.018 seconds faster than Sean Edwards, in the #9 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche GT3 R.

The Hexis team was the dominating squad in first qualifying, with both of their two cars at or near the front from the start of the session. Makowiecki and Rob Bell held the first two places after the first half of the session, but ten minutes before the end Edwards took provisional pole. Makowiecki countered just one minute before the chequered flag was out and grabbed back P1; “In the beginning it was a little bit tricky, because some parts of the track were still wet," said Makowiecki. "It was clear that the fastest laps would be seen at the end of the session. The most difficult challenge was to find a clean lap without traffic.”

“Our Porsche was fast and I’ve found a good rhythm," said Edwards. "I could have been on pole position, but I was unlucky - in the first and second sectors I was fastest, but in sector three yellow flags didn’t allow me to go as fast as possible. However I’m satisfied with second position and anything is still possible.”

The top six was rounded out by Frank Kechele (#33 Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3), Rob Bell (#18 Hexis McLaren MP4-12C), Yelmer Buurman (#35 Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3) and Bernd Schneider (#6 Heico Motorsport Mercedes SLS AMG GT3). Jacques Villeneuve, who had crashed in Friday’s second free practice session, qualified ninth in the repaired #34 Vita4One BMW.  

Qualifying 2

Shortly before the end of the second qualifying session, Dutchman Stef Dusseldorp moved up into the top spot in the #17 Hexis McLaren, with Mathias Lauda and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof, both driving a Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3, following in second and third.

The session was halted midway through by Willy Toye crashing the #98 GRT Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 LP600+ into the wall. After action resumed, the Hexis pairing of Dusseldorp and Alvaro Parente was leading, followed by the young Russian Sergey Afanasiev in the #6 Heico Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3.

With five minutes to go Mayr-Melnhof temporarily held first position with Parente in second, but the Portuguese driver hit the wall and lost the left front wheel on his McLaren.

Not being able to defend his position, Parente was demoted by Lauda and finished qualifying in fourth place. Dusseldorp's late effort gave him pole for the second race, followed by the Vita4One pairing of Lauda and Mayr-Melnhof; “In first qualifying Frédéric was in front and now I’ve done the same," said the Dutchman. "In the opening laps with the new tyres I had a lot of traffic, but later I managed to find clean laps. Now I hope, it goes on like this in the races. Baku is a nice place and the track looks nice, but it’s also a challenge to be fast.”

“The organizers of the City Challenge have really done a great job," agreed Mathias Lauda. "It’s a great event and I'm enjoying racing on the streets of Baku. Additionally the track seems to suit me and my car.”

The two Vita4One Italy Ferrari 458 GT3s of Greg Franchi and Matteo Bobbi, finished fifth and sixth, followed by the #8 Mühlner Motorsport Porsche of Nick Tandy and the Mercedes of Afanasiev.

Sprint Race 1

The first ever GT race held on the new street circuit in the Azerbaijani capital Baku - the first of the two Sprint races that would precede the City Challenge race itself - went the way of Fred Makowiecki after the Hexis driver kept his McLaren MP4-12C T3 ahead of the charging Sean Edwards to cross the finish line 1.288 seconds ahead of the Mühlner Motorsport Porsche GT3 R.

The most important moment of the race was the start, with Makowiecki keeping his lead ahead of the Englishman.

The first two laps saw the Hexis driver opening up a small gap, but then Edwards closed back up and waited for the leader to make a mistake. This error never materialised and the French ace took the win; “The McLarens are really fast on this track, because they have a good engine and we’ve found a good balance,” said Makowiecki.

“It was good fun, but unfortunately Fred didn’t make a mistake," confirmed Edwards.

Rob Bell took third, a dozen seconds further back, after managing to hold off the Vita4One BMW of Frank Kechele and the SLS of Bernd Schneider; “The first two had a better pace today, but both for me and for McLaren reaching a podium spot was the most important thing,” he said.

Sprint Race 2

The second City Challenge GT Sprint race was more eventful, with the race being red-flagged twice - first on Lap 2 and then again on Lap 11, at which point the action was stopped for good. Mathias Lauda won the race, from Alvaro Parente and Stef Dusseldorf.

Dusseldorp had endured a troublesome getaway from pole and the Dutchman was immediately overtaken by Lauda and Parente.

However, before the race could develop further Mitch Mitländer spun and crashed the #27 RBT Corvette ZR06 into the wall. The race was red-flagged in order for the track to be cleaned.

The race was restarted after a 20 minutes’ break, with Lauda keeping his lead and followed by Parente, Dusseldorp and Mayr-Melnhof. This was how things remained until another shunt provoked the second red flag. Swiss racer Jürg Aeberhard touched the wall heavily in the other RBT ZR06 and destroyed the car. Such was the wreckage (the driver was unhurt) that the race director decided not to restart the action.

“I had a really good start and also a good race. I’m very happy with my performance,” said Lauda. Parente, meanwhile, was satisfied with his second place; “My start was great and I was able to overtake two cars. Later on, however, it was impossible to gain more positions, which is normal on a street circuit anyway.”

Stef Dusseldorf added; “My start was not too bad, but the two other guys were better. Too bad that the race was stopped after eleven laps.”

Matteo Bobbi crossed the line fifth ahead of Nick Tandy, Greg Franchi, and Jos Verstappen (#34 Vita4One BMW).

City Challenge Race

Makowiecki took full advantage of his pole position and was the first driver to reach the first corner. From this point on he created a gap over his pursuers, who were led by Frank Kechele.

Yelmer Buurman put his Vita4One BMW Z4 GT3 into third place, followed by the second Hexis McLaren MP4-12C GT3 of Rob Bell and the #57 Ferrari of Stefano Comandini.

As the race went on, only Kechele and Buurman were close to each other and fighting for second position. At the mandatory driver change Stef Dusseldorp took over the lead McLaren from Makowiecki and kept the lead. Behind him Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof found himself defending second position, after taking over the car from Buurman and leapfrogging the sister BMW of Frank Kechele/Mathias Lauda due to a better pit stop. The Austrian would subsequently lose position to Alvaro Parente, who was driving the Bell car, and Lauda; but when Parente had to stop due to a technical problem, Mayr-Melnhof re-inherited third position. Even a short safety car period, caused by the Michael Christensen Porsche GT3 stopping on the track, couldn’t stop the frontrunners from winning the race.

“It was a perfect weekend,” said Fred Makowiecki. “The only tricky points were the start and the traffic, but everything went well.” His teammate Stef Dusseldorp added: “The weekend was incredible. I only had some problems with the cold tyres, but when they reached the right temperature, I immediately had the pace. Winning in Baku is a great way to end the season.”

Frank Kechele, who finished the race in second position, had a great time driving at the new Baku street circuit: “I would have liked to ignore the pit stop, because driving here is so much fun. And the crowd was so enthusiastic.”  Luckily for his teammate Mathias Lauda, he decided to enter the pit lane. “The car was not as good as yesterday, but second position is something I’m happy about,” said the Austrian.

For Yelmer Buurman it was the first competition after his heavy crash in the GT1 world championship finale in Donington earlier in the month. “On Friday it was not easy for me, but on Saturday, after sleeping one night, I felt much better. The race was highly enjoyable for me.” His team mate Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof finished the work Buurman had started; “It was my first ever race on a street circuit and I really like it. It’s a little bit like Monaco. In my stint I had some trouble with the cold tyres and couldn’t keep Parente and Lauda at bay. Anyway, third place is a nice result. And congratulations to the City Challenge organisers for creating such a great event.”

Behind the top three Bernd Schneider/Sergey Afanasiev put their Heico Motorsport Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 into fourth position, while Mühlner Motorsport pairing Sean Edwards/Karim Al-Azhari, who raced a Porsche GT3 R, were fifth, although they were given a stop & go penalty for a too-short pit stop.

After the race, the duo was given a 30 second time penalty due to a collision, leaving them seventh in the final results. Heico’s Mike Parisy/Maximilian Buhk took the chequered flag in sixth, just ahead of ex-Formula 1 stars Jacques Villeneuve/Jos Verstappen. “It was a great experience to take part in that amazing race," said Villeneuve. "Driving on this track was big fun; it was exciting and everyone worked very professionally. Working with my teammate Jos Verstappen was perfect, because we’ve had the same ideas about the set up.” For Verstappen it was the first car race in a long time; “Of course I had to adapt to the car and to racing, but it was nice. I hope to come back soon.” 

Hartmut Beyer, C.E.O. of City Challenge GmbH, hailed the inaugural running of the event in Baku as a great success: “The reception and the feedback we have had here was simply amazing. Everybody was very enthusiastic and with 19,750 spectators, we had an impressive crowd. We are definitely looking forward to coming back next year!”