It was a difficult weekend that could have yielded more for Christian Montanari
Christian Montanari
Paolo Ruberti
Thomas Biagi
Davide Rigon
Joel Camathias
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Christian Montanari
Christian Montanari stopped by an accident on Bucharest Ring In Bucharest the driver stops at 21o. lap of the second race
Early stop for Christian Montanari on Bucharest Ring, sixth race of the Fia GT World Championship. On the hard city circuit in the Romanian capital city, with a temperature of 35o. - that means 52o. on the pavement -- the F430 Ferrari of AF Corse Team was forced to withdraw for a damged caused by the accident with 911 Porche GT3 driven by Felbermayr senior.Christian Montanari was driving his stint on F430 Ferrari no. 51, at that time he was on fifth position. Thaking advantage of an hesitation of Malucelli on F430 GT2 no. 77, Montanari passed him on the first corner, but he suddendly found the 911 Porche GT3 in front of him. Altough they weren't driving too speedy in that point of the circuit, the two cars collided and turned in the way of escape.Montanari started again, but after a few laps he has been forced to stop because of the damage at the front -- left shock absorber.
Christian Montanari:
"Bucharest Ring doesn't permit a lot of overtaking, so you have to take advantage of any possibile chance. Our car was going faster than Malucelli's, wo had an hesitation in leaving the last corner before the back straight and I took advantage of that for passing him on the first corner. I was braking, in second gear, but as soon as I passed Malucelli I found the lapped Porche in front of me, that was closing the corner following his trajectory: the collision was unavoidable. I don't think it is anybody's fault: he was passingt the car on the right side and he surely didn't immagine I was doing the same on the left side. i didn't see him 'cause Malucelli's car hid the Porche. I'm upset about it, but that appens in races. I'm sorry for the team and I want to thank them becase they made a very good job. Now we will concentrate on next race in Bro, Czech Republic, in September."
Paolo Ruberti
The street circuit of Bucarest, sixth round of the season, has been raced on the unusual format of two manches one hour each.
A fourth place and a fifth one have been obtained by Paolo Ruberti, after the victory in the 24h of Spa, with his usual crew mate Matteo Malucelli. These two results are positive especially considered what some rivals harvested.
"We minimized the damages of a steep weekend since qualifying" commented the driver from Verona before leaving the Romanian city. "Our car was slightly less competitive than at Spa, but nevertheless we manage to take home some precious points for the championship. With four rounds still to go we keep the second place in the classification; considering the gap that separates ourselves from the leaders we are determined to keep this position till the end of the season."
Thomas Biagi
BUCHAREST - Thomas Biagi expected something different from what occoured during this sixth date of FIA GT championship. Anyway the Italian pilot has shown his usual competitiveness: on Saturday during the first "manche" he was finishing the race at the third place just before being rammed by Maassen who lost control and whose Corvette brought Ferrari 430 out of track. Despite the bump, Thomas has started again closing fifth in the race.
"I have to leave this weekend behind my shoulder - Thomas sais after the two days in Romania - even yesterday a sure podium vanished after a collision with a GT1 car. Luckily the race was not completely compromised and I arrived to the end. Today (Sunday, ndr) I haven't even got in the car...
"After Spa, I wish I gained the best score I could in order to gain the second place back in the global ranking. I wish I could jump on my car the sooner! My mind is on next date at Brno, in the Czech Republic on September 14th. I'm confident: we have all the skills to perform well and I can always rely both on AF Corse that is working so good and on Michelin tyres committable and performing."
The roumanian race was disputed on two days: first manche on Saturday lasting one hour with start based on quanlifications and second manche on Sunday, always one hour race with start based on the first proof ranking. Scores count half and refer to each manches.
A single point was very important for the BMS Scuderia Italia team
Davide Rigon
After striking victory in the prestigious 24h of Spa-Francorchamps three weeks ago, the sixth round of the FIA World GT does not carry much luck to Davide Rigon, back behind the wheel of his Ferrari F430 GT2 No. 78 team BMS Scuderia Italia.
Contrary to what had been used until now, the weekend took place on two appointments from 60 'each and, unfortunately, reliability had a key role in both races before the break pump water and then the failure of the propeller in race 2 has forced Davide Rigon the first withdrawal season.
"Unfortunately this weekend was not the best" commented Davide Rigon. "As long as we were on track without problems I was able to run on good times, managing to be even faster of my fellow team Malucelli and Ruberti and this is certainly a very important aspect. Unfortunately in race 2 our propeller sold and then I could not help but park my Ferrari. It 'been a shame because as I was always giving maximum."
After six races Davide Rigon accupa the fourth square in the general ranking with 33.5 points. Next appointment Brno, scheduled on September 14.
Joel Camathias
After striking victory in the prestigious 24h of Spa-Francorchamps three weeks ago, the sixth round of the FIA World GT does not carry much luck to Davide Rigon, back behind the wheel of his Ferrari F430 GT2 No. 78 team BMS Scuderia Italia.
Contrary to what had been used until now, the weekend took place on two appointments from 60 'each and, unfortunately, reliability had a key role in both races before the break pump water and then the failure of the propeller in race 2 has forced Davide Rigon the first withdrawal season.
"Unfortunately this weekend was not the best" commented Davide Rigon. "As long as we were on track without problems I was able to run on good times, managing to be even faster of my fellow team Malucelli and Ruberti and this is certainly a very important aspect. Unfortunately in race 2 our propeller sold and then I could not help but park my Ferrari. It 'been a shame because as I was always giving maximum."
After six races Davide Rigon accupa the fourth square in the general ranking with 33.5 points. Next appointment Brno, scheduled on September 14.