Bad luck saw Scuderia Ecosse not get the result they deserved
CR Scuderia
Scuderia Ecosse
Charouz Racing Systems
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CR Scuderia
Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell took an FIA GT podium finish at Oschersleben in Germany today. Their CR Scuderia team-mates, Chris Niarchos and Tim Mullen, showed great pace throughout the two-hour race but finished 11th after trouble in the pits.
Mullen and Bell both got away well at the start and maintained their third and fifth place grid positions. As the race got going Mullen was pitched into a bumper-to-bumper battle with the AF Corse Ferrari of Montanari, whilst Bell set off after Richard Westbrook’s Porsche. Rob passed the Porsche and moved up to fourth just before Mullen pitted to hand over to Chris Niarchos.
The drama began when the no.55 Ferrari wouldn’t start so Niarchos had to be push-started in the pitlane. Unfortunately as well as losing time in the stop the car would also incur a drive through penalty as push starting isn’t allowed. The team had to do it, even though they knew there would be a penalty, as it was the only way to start the car. Once Niarchos was on track though he drove a great stint and stayed out for almost an hour before handing back over to Mullen.
“The car was awesome today,” said Tim. “It’s a shame we had the starting problems as we were really quick and on for a good result. I was all over Montanari at the start but I just couldn’t find a way through. I didn’t want to risk a big lunge so I played safe. All in all it would good to have the pace and hopefully we’ll get a great result at Spa.”
In the meantime Rob Bell was still flying and handed over to Andrew Kirkaldy in third place. Kirkaldy had a trouble-free run which he was pleased about as he had a tough time yesterday. During the pre-qualifying session he had an ‘off’ which heavily damaged the no.56 Ferrari. The team worked flat out to fix the car in time for qualifying and all was well until Andrew struck a kerb and damaged the water radiator during the qualifying session itself. Unfortunately that particular kerb was damaged earlier in the day and the repairs had built it up higher than before. Andrew wasn’t the only driver to clobber it!
“It was a fairly straightforward race for me,” commented Kirkaldy. “We chose the harder tyres due to the accident in qualifying (you have to nominate your tyre choice before qualifying); we weren’t sure we would be ready to qualify so, knowing we may have to start at the back, we chose the harder tyre. This meant we were a little slow in the middle stint. The safety car didn’t really help us either but after Adria I think this is a great result and now I’m really looking forward to Spa.”
With almost thirty minutes of the race remaining the safety car came out so Kirklady pitted and handed back over to Bell. When the safety car came in with 20 minutes remaining on the clock Bell found himself in third place and in a bit of a Ferrari sandwich. Although he was racing with Montanari for second place he couldn’t get to the AF Corse Ferrari as another AF Corse Ferrari was between them. With no blue flags shown to the lapped Ferrari Rob was unable to attack for second place and had to settle for third at the flag.
“This has been a tough weekend in many ways and it is a real testament to the guys that we got a podium finish,” said Bell. “I don’t want to labour the point but there were no blue flags shown after the safety car went in. You had the first, second and third placed GT2 cars all within a few metres of each other but with lapped cars in between them.”
“This is a brilliant result for the team,” said Niarchos. “I think we got rid of a few cobwebs and demons today. Rob and Andrew got a well-deserved third place, Tim set the fastest GT2 lap and my middle stint was the best I have driven for a couple of years. I think this is a great platform to take us into Spa. We are going straight there now for the test on Tuesday and are all greatly looking forward to the 24 hour race in a few week’s time.”
Scuderia Ecosse
GT superstar Jamie Davies was on course for a top five finish at Oschersleben today, when the introduction of the safety car on lap 59 bunched the field up with 21 minutes of running left. As racing got underway again for Jamie, during his second stint, he was tapped from the rear while entering the tight and tricky first corner - taking him off the track and losing several places in the hard-charging pack .
After the race Jamie said, "My first stint was really good and I was able to push hard on the tyres during my first 42 minutes of the race. The Pirelli tyres were very consistent and gave the car good balance and feel. After the safety car my race was compromised by a crazy move from the GT1 Corvette that cost us a top five result and some valuable championship points."
Post race Fabio Babini said,"My stint was very good and the mechanics did a great job with the pit stops. The car was working well, I was able to push, and the strategy was working out well. It is a shame we lost out on some points due to the incident at turn one. I am confident that we are making good progress with the car and will be very competitive at the Spa race."
Scuderia Ecosse team principal Stewart Roden said as the race finished, "It was a tough race and to lose out on some valuable points is a shame. Our race pace was really good and the strategy we had chosen was working in our favour, especially when the safety car came out. Jamie and Fabio both drove very well all weekend and the team pulled off some stunning pit stops. With the season reaching halfway point at Spa we are keen to dominate and get the team back on the top step of the podium."
Charouz Racing Systems
The fourth round of the FIA GT championship at Oschersleben did not bring any delight to the GTO Charouz Racing team. Neither of the Mosler MT900 saw the checquered flag. A technical failure was the reason in both cases. Adam Lacko with Ales Jirasek retired after 13 laps out of 97 and Stepan Vojtech with Kenneth Heyer had to stop two laps before the end.
Their Mosler stopped with a fuel system failure. Lacko and Jirasek retired with a suspension problem. "I can only say that I am very unhappy with the way the team have been working. We will have to make radical steps," said team principal Antonin Charouz
Thomas Biagi
OSCHERSLEBEN - Once again on the podium, this is the result of the fourth round of FIA GT for Thomas Biagi, ended up with a long and sincere hug with his friend and team manager Amato Ferrari. "I'm am used to Oschersleben podium, in the last five years I've been three time first in the rank and second for two times? I can say that Montanari and I are well improving during our first season with Ferrari F430, since then we've always been on the podium, even if second.
Changes in set up and after morning warm up, for an higher vehicle reactivity, worked well. Anyway I battled in my stint with Maluccelli at first, then Kirkaldy and Westbrook's Porsche in the end. A hard struggle but we got it giving in the hand of Amato Ferrari again a double succes. We're going to Spa hoping our dream can last".