Paolo Ruberti and the BMS Scuderia Italia team were able to take out GT2
Paolo Ruberti
Tomas Enge
Jos Menten
Michelin
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Paolo Ruberti
HISTORIC VICTORY IN THE 24 HOURS OF SPA
The joy tears that made Paolo Ruberti's eyes watery while he was getting on the podium are the symbol of an unforgettable weekend for the driver from Verona.
Winning the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps after ruling almost continuously is definitely not an everyday deed. At the eve of the event victory seemed a possible result, especially considering the second place harvested at Le Mans two months ago, but the level of all rivals and the respect for one of the most challenging tracks on the world induced to caution.
"We got our wedding present!" declared a Ruberti glowing with happiness at the end of the race. "This victory enhances the magic moment I am living, started with the second place at Le Mans and continued with the marriage to Alessandra. This is a success that goes beyond our expectations, but it is surely deserved since no one of our opponents retired. All the team made a great work, strategic too, exploiting the qualities of a car that has been in practice perfect throughout the whole race; our crew proved to be just as competitive, being united by a growing determination hour by hour aimed to getting a historic result. Such a long race is unavoidably very demanding from a physical viewpoint and I am satisfied for not having had any athletic drops; the changing weather conditions required an additional mental effort but the experience certainly helped me to keep the concentration high".
Tomas Enge
Enge eighth in 24h Spa hours
Tomas Enge finished 5th in the GT1 class and 8th overall in the Spa 24 hours. The Czech driver raced for the IPB Spartak Reiter Engineering in the most prestigious race of the FIA GT season. He shared a Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT with Peter Kox, Jan Lammers and Roman Rusinov. They had excellent first half and moved from 8th on the grid to fourth place. All drivers drove without faults but they lost time with a gearbox failure.
Enge and co. were fourth after 13 hours of the race with one lap gap to third. Everything went well until the gearbox broke. They lost 25 laps during a long repair. The quartet was outside top 10 as a result but all four drivers played their part in the catch up.
Kox got the final eight place in the final seconds of the race when he past Tim Mullen's ferrari 430. Tomas's crew did 544 laps during the 24 hours, the winning Maserati MC12 managed to lap Spa 577 times. As usual, full grandstands saw a thrilling marathnone with many dramas like crash of Karl Wendlinger's Aston Martin DBR9 in the night or Sunday's fire of the Corvette C6R with Fabrizio Gollin nehind the wheel.
Tomas Enge spent approximately seven and half hours behind the wheel of the Lamborghini. He will not have a big opportunity to rest as next race of the Int. Czech Chhampionship is scheduled for next weekend. As always he will drive a Mercedes Bent DTM C-Klasse car at Most of the Charouz Racing System team in both endurance and sprint races.
Tomas Enge: "I have learned new experience. I raced another car in a new team for me and also got to know new team-mates Jan and Roman. It was really nice. I enjoyed driving a Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT. I was surprised by its good handling. I knew about unique sound of the car but I must say that I was shocked inside. The engine perhaps lacks a bit of power. Anyway, the overall impression is very good. Also the team was happy although we were delayed with a gearbox failure and therefore we did not score the best possible result. It is always better to drive a GT1 car than a GT2 car, so I am happy that I had this chance."
The IPB Lamborghini made it to the finish but was well back
Jos Menten
With spots on the first and third row Phoenix Carsport has excellent perspectives for the race of two times around the clock. During the practice and qualifying sessions on Thursday and Friday both Corvette C6.R did not encounter a single problem. but during the race faith strikes for the beautiful American muscle cars.
Having lost the Saleen S7R from the Larbre Competition team, after a fierce crash in the warm-up, the #6 Phoenix Corvette leads the field. Jos Menten, behind the wheel of the Corvette bearing sporting number five, will start from fifth position on the grid. At 16h00 the light turns green for the 60th edition of the Total 24 Hours of Spa. Marcel Fassler keeps cool and gives way for Xavier Maassen (SRT - Corvette C6.R) who comes up on the inside and contents himself with a second place for now. Jos Menten tries to benefit from the opening his fellow countryman created.
Menten prepares to overtake the third placed Jetalliance Aston Martin, but gets nudged by Andrea Bertolini (Vitaphone Racing - Maserati MC12 #1): "I saw the Maserati coming in my rear view mirror but there wasn't enough room for both of us. He crashed into my right rear, causing me to spin. I put the car and neutral and rolled backwards to avoid another collision. Luckily everybody was able to get around my car without damaging it", the 27 year young Dutchman tells us. The driver from Haelen rejoins the battle at the back, facing a thirty second gap with the front runners. A combative Menten is lapping the same times as the leaders, working his way through the field. In merely a handful of laps he passes all G3-, G2- and GT2-cars! One hour in the race the Phoenix-driver is right on the tail of the GT1- competitors. First Menten passes the PK Carsport Saleen S7R before taking over seventh place from the IPB Spartak Reiter Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT. 2 hours and 10 minutes in the race Menten comes to the pits for a driver chance. Uwe Alzen takes over the wheel of the Corvette C6.R. The experienced German does a double stint and dives into the top-five. Lap by lap Alzen closes the gap and after 4 hours and 20 minutes the former DTM- driver lies in fourth position, merely one minute behind his leading Phoenix-team mates.
Alexandros Margaritis gets behind the wheel of the car for the fifth and sixth stint. During his stints the Greek has to cope with changing weather conditions. Nevertheless the former DTM-star manages to steer the Corvette C6.R to the top of the time sheets, being the fastest driver out on the track. From last to first in merely five hours; Jos Menten, Uwe Alzen and Alexandros Margaritis have put in an exceptional performance. but it ain't over until the fat lady sings. The Phoenix Carsport-firebird is forced to leave the battle field early.
"When Alexandros came in for a tire change, the rain came pouring down. He decided to stay on slicks but in his second lap he made a mistake on the Raidillon. The car hit the wall sideways, damaging the right exhaust pipe and the clutch. Because of the impact the clutch started to slip, causing it to overheat. Alexandros tried to get the car to the pits but in the Pif Paf the Corvette C6.R caught fire. The backside went up in flames and the car was brought in by a tow truck", a disappointed Menten tells us.
Phoenix Carsport; from heaven to hell in half an hour. Thirty minutes after the fire on the #5, the other Corvette enters the pit with a damaged front. Mike Hezemans could not avoid the crashed Jetalliance Aston Martin and collided with the DBR9. Hezemans-Fassler-Gollin-Deletraz lose seven laps because of this incident.
Michelin
Vitaphone Racing collected its third 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps success in four years today. The unsettled, overcast weather didn't stop the German outfit's two Michelin-equipped Maserati MC12s from claiming first and second places. The No.1 car of Bartels/Bertolini/Sarrazin/Van de Poele completed 577 laps (4,041km) to finish ahead of its sister car (No.2) shared by Ramos/Negrao/Lemenet/Pierguidi. The No.10 Aston Martin/Michelin of Simonsen/Peter/Turner/Thompson finished third to deprive the Italian carmaker of a one-two-three since the No.15 JMB Racing Maserati/Michelin finis hed just off the podium. All the Corvette/Michelins retired.
The GT2 category was won by the No.77 Ferrari of Ruberti/Malucelli/Camathias/Rigon, although the Porsche/Michelin brigade was in good form at the beginning of the race. The No.61 Porsche/Michelin (Collard/Westbrook/Lieb) actually led shortly before midnight but was forced to settle for second place.
Vitaphone Racing, which provisionally tops both the 2008 Teams and Drivers' standings, was chasing after its first win of the year after being beaten in turn by the Aston Martins and Corvette C6.Rs in the season's four previous races. It was finally at the legendary Belgian venue, host of the FIA GT Championship's annual 24-hour fixture, that the German squad finally succeeded in returning to its winning ways as its fast, reliable, black and green cars secured the top two places at the chequered flag.
The 60th 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps began in dramatic fashion even before Saturday afternoon's start when the pole-winning Saleen/Michelin of Vosse/Franchi/Lamy/Zacchia crashed during the morning's warm - up session and could not be repaired in time for the race.
Another favourite, the No.3 SRT Corvette/Michelin (Bouchut/Maassen/Soulet/Pillon) completed the opening lap in front but repeated brake problems prompted the Belgian team to throw in the towel early on.
The Phoenix Racing Corvette/Michelins dominated during the first few hours with the No.6 (Hezemans/Fassler/Deletraz/Gollin) and No.5 (Margaritis/MentenSchlunssen/Alzen) cars taking turns to lead as darkness moved in over the Ardennes, despite the difficult cocktail of damp and dry portions depending on where the successive showers chose to fall. The race then turned into something of a nightmare for the German team, since it went on to lose its No.5 c ar first of all (fire), with the No.6 car following suit (same reason) shortly before midday today.
In contrast, the Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12s enjoyed a strong run. The two Italian machines took control at around the six-hour mark before trading places for much of the night. A particularly strong stint at sunrise from Stephane Sarrazin, who qualified the Peugeot 908/Michelin on pole position at Le Mans in 2007 and 2008, gave the No.1 car a decisive edge. The final part of the race enabled the two leadi ng Maseratis to profit from their reliability and clockwork consistency to cruise home to a resounding one-two result. Vitaphone Racing also picked up a big points haul this weekend since its two cars were in front at the three moments when championship points were awarded (after six hours, at mid-distance and at the end).
Maserati's domination of the GT1 category could even have been rewarded with a one -two-three finish as the JMB Racing challenged for third spot. However, the No.10 Gigawave Racing Aston M artin/Michelin - which trailed the leading duo at a respectable distance - was able to hold on to the third spot it inherited during the night. The No.33 Aston Martin/Michelin of (Wendlinger/Sharp/Muller/Lichtner -Hoyer) succeeded in matching the pace of the early pace-setters before going off, while the Lamborghini Murcielago lost time because of gearbox trouble.
The GT2 category was won by the No.77 Ferrari of Ruberti/Malucelli/Camathias/Rigon, although the Porsche/Michelin brigade was in good form at the beginning of the race. The No.61 Porsche/Michelin (Collard/Westbrook/Lieb) actually led shortly before midnight but was forced to settle for second place. The AF Corse Ferrari/Michelin (No.50), which has already claimed three victories this season, had to sta rt from the back of the grid following an engine change, yet it managed to fight its way onto the GT2 podium at the finish. The team's other car (No.51) crashed out during the night, however. The No.76 Porsche/Michelin, which had emerged in front early on, lost a full hour following a gearbox change.
The next round of the FIA GT Championship will take teams to Romania in three weeks' time, with drivers trading the legendary sweeping corners of Spa-Francorchamps for the narrow streets of Bucharest
MICHELIN'S VIEW
Matthieu Bonardel (Four-wheel Programme Director, Michelin Competition)
"First of all I would like to congratulate Vitaphone Racing (Bartels/Bertolini/Sarrazin/Van de Poele). They moved into the lead during the night and stayed in front all the way to the chequered flag. As usual, this year's 24 Hours of Spa -Francorchamps turned out to be a thrilling race with lots of changes in the leaderboard.
"As far as tyres were concerned, the weekend was always going to be a big challenge because of the unsettled weather. About a month ago, we made an initial selection of tyres along with our partners and they all had 30 sets of dry weather tyres and 17 sets of wet weather patterns for each of their cars.
"This year, the most frequently used type of tyre was the slick. Our soft compound slicks fulfilled their mission to the letter, even when the track temperatures were quite high. During the night, the drivers were able to double-stint without any problems. Our medium compound slick also proved to be a competitive alternative during the daylight hours, but the hard compound wasn't used at all.
"The full range of wet weather tyres was employed, from the tyre designed especially for drying surfaces to the intermediate and full wets. The teams went for a variety of options and the showery weather made tyre choices particularly delicate, but everyone did a very good job.
"All of this year's three 24-hour races - the Nurburgring, Le Mans and Spa - saw rain and that fully justifies our having such a comprehensive range of products. The advice of Michelin's technical staff to the teams as a function of the different levels of grip available also played an important role. The changing weather meant that there was a real fight between tyre suppliers, too, and that placed the stakes even higher still."
Frederic Henry-Biabaud (Director, Michelin Competition)
"Once again, we have had a chance to show that our tyres are competitive, durable and versatile. The 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps is a key event for us since it involves top-of-the-range cars that the public can relate to competing in a highly demanding environment. For Michelin, this race was a chance to show our ability to respond to the varying and extreme conditions thanks to the range we were able to supply our partners. It's also thanks to this sort of challenge that we are able to progress and develop increasingly advanced tyres for our customers. We are strongly committed to the FIA GT Championship and we are following its future evolution very closely."
THEY SAID --
Stephane Sarrazin (driver, Vitaphone Racing Team):
"I am delighted to have been invited to contest the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps. It's a great race to have won! Everything went like clockwork for us, from the pit stops to the tyre choices, and none of the drivers made any mistakes. We benefited from first class advice from our Michelin technician and the information we were given was spot on throughout the race. The most incredible thing was lapping on soft compound slicks in the wet. During the night, I stayed out on a damp track with slick tyres and I managed to post some really quick times! Very impressive! Our tyres didn't suffer in the slightest and, as usual, our Michelin tyres gave us a decisive advantage."
Michael Bartels (Team Manager, Vitaphone Racing):
"I can hardly find the words to describe how happy I feel. When I think of all the preparation that went into this race upstream of the start, to have finished first and second is fantastic! Our association with the people from Michelin functioned perfectly. They attended all our briefings and had all the data they needed concerning our cars. In return, we benefited from all the advice we needed to help make our tyre choices. By pooling all the information we had, we were able to optimise our stock of tyres and go on to win! Had it not been for our partnership with Michelin, that wouldn't have been possible. Tyres are a vital factory in any 24- hour competition. This weekend wasn't a sprint but a genuine endurance race and our extremely positive work with Michelin was founded on that approach. They supplied us with all we needed: great tyres and expert advice. We couldn't have asked for more."