BMS had a hard weekend but did score valuable points
Tomas Biagi
Davide Rigon
Paolo Ruberti
Joel Camathias
Christian Montanari
Michelin
Click a link to go directly to that story!
Tomas Biagi
BRNO - We nearly got it. At the end of this tormeted Czech week end, Thomas Biagi is concluding the two hours race of the seventh round of FIA GT with an excellent fourth place.
I thank my team mate, Christian Montanari that just is the middle of the race had been consistent. A very positive result also thank to the reliablility of Michelin tyres, thet allowed us concluding the race with the same set of tyres.
At this stage, we go on working with the maximum effort for the next French race in Nogaro that will take place on October 5th
Davide Rigon
On the track of Brno Davide Rigon is back behind the wheel of the Ferrari F430 No. 78, BMS Scuderia Italia team for the seventh round of the FIA World GT.
For the first time since the World Davide Rigon without leaving a trace points, in fact the whole weekend has had to fight with a car very nervous and difficult to drive. Early tests Rigon and team-mate Camathias have worked hard to find the right setup, but unfortunately the results did not arrive. At the end of the qualifying session the car No. 78 marked the only time of 10 category.
Since the early laps of the race Rigon starts to push up the heat recover position and, when the pit stop, leaving the car to his fellow team in seventh position. At the end of two hours of the race Ferrari No. 78 cut the finish line in tenth position, behind crew Mullen / Niarchos.
"Unfortunately this weekend did not go as hoped." Commented Davide Rigon. "Since the first free practice we had some problems that have been repeated even in the race and that we do not have permission to speak to the fullest. In race I tried to push the maximum to recover, managing to bring the car up to seventh place. Now do the next round in land on French circuit of Nogaro, scheduled for next October 5 "
Paolo Ruberti
Another podium for Paolo Ruberti, the fourth, in 2008 FIA GT one of his best sportive seasons. At Brno, in Czech Republic, the driver from Verona has been author of a thrilling second stint that saw him recovering from the back after an exit in a run off by his team mate Matteo Malucelli in the bagarre of the first corner.
This result strengthens the second place of the classification of Ruberti that, with three races still to run stands at 47.5 points, 21.5 adrift from the current leaders Vilander and Bruni. The next race is scheduled on the 5th of October at the French track of Nogaro.
Paolo Ruberti:
"We had some difficulties in qualifying that did not allow us to start from the front of the grid. But with a good race we managed to get some important points for the classification whereby we have a fairly good margin on Westbrook and Collard, at the moment third. The chances to win the title are quite small, but honestly we have never been under that illusion."
Joel Camathias
Difficult weekend for Joel at Brno.
Swiss GT driver, Joel Camathias (27), alongside his Italian team-mate Davide Rigon (22), driving the BMS Scuderia Italia # 78 Ferrari F430 GT, finished 10th in the seventh round of the FIA GT Championship.
Swiss-Italain duo didn`t find the right set-up for the Czech track, they were also penalized with an handicap weights of 30 kg, which was not helpful at all.
"I`m living Brno without any understanding of why we struggled so much around the circuit. It`s a pity because we would like to maintain the 4th position in the Championship, but a weekend like this didn`t help to reach our goal. I hope to be more competitive for the next round in Nogaro. Anyway I like to thank my extraordinary team [BMS Scuderia Italia], my excellent team-mate [Davide Rigon] and the Pirelli tyres".
We will see Joel back in action with BMS Scuderia Italia squad on October 5th at the eight round of the FIA GT Championship at Nogaro (France).
Christian Montanari
During his stint the driver from San Marino rises from 9th to 3rd position
A perfect performance for Christian Montanari in Brno: although the next-to-last position on the starting grid, the driver pushed his F430 Ferrari to the limit, rising from 9th to 3rd position.
At the beginning Thomas Biagi was driving and, after a difficult start, the recovery of no. 51 F430 begins.
At 19th lap Thomas Biagi leaves the F430, in 9th position at that time, to Christian Montanari who, with a clean and determined driving, is able, overtake after overtake, to finish his stint in 3rd position, giving the car back to Biagi at 20 minutes to the end of the race.
Thomas Biagi drives the F430 to the finish line, closing the Brno race in 4th position.
Christian Montanari:
"Unfortunately the week end didn't start good, we had many problems during the free practice and the qualifying. But this morning, during the warm up, things have changed: we found the right solutions thanks to the good job of the team. I'm really satisfied about my race stint, the feeling with the car was good, also thanks to the Michelin tyres, that allowed us to drive the two-hours race without changing them. We received the news about Italy's F1 GP and I would like to congratulate Giorgio Ascanelli, technical director of Toro Rosso: I had the great pleasure to work with him last year in Maserati, winning the race here in Brno. I want to congratulate also Sebastian Vettel, my fellow in the Drivers Soccer Team, who did a great performance."
Michelin
Aston Martin/Michelin and Ferrari/Michelin dominate in Brno
As in 2007, Michelin tyres dominated qualifying and the race in the GT1 and GT2 categories at Brno in the Czech Republic. The Aston Martin of Jetalliance Racing (Wendlinger/Sharp) took its third win of the season, while Bruni and Vilander (Ferrari AF Corse) took their fourth GT2 win in seven races.
After their last-minute withdrawal in Bucharest owing to technical problems, the Austrian Jetalliance Racing team returned to action this weekend at Brno. On Saturday, Karl Wendlinger qualified the No.33 Aston Martin on pole, after a stunning lap using Michelin's soft compound tyres. Today, the pairing of Wendlinger/Sharp took their third win of the season, following on from Silverstone and Oschersleben, at the wheel of a competitive car that was running without ballast.
However, the podium positions were only settled in the last five minutes of this seventh round of the championship. After its two pitstops, the No.33 Aston Martin/Michelin was running second, 36 seconds behind the No.3 Corvette/Michelin driven by an on-form Christophe Bouchut. The Frenchman completed an incredibly fast hour- long stint, securing the fastest race lap (with a time of 1m 53.221s) at the very end of the race. However, the No.3 car had only made one pitstop and had to make a mandatory second visit to the pits.
The 36-second lead proved insufficient. Although the team didn't change tyres, the No.3 Co rvette emerged from the pits behind the No.33 Aston Martin and with the two Corvette/Michelin cars of Phoenix Racing breathing down its neck!
During the last two laps, this trio of Corvettes indulged in a battle royal. Driving car No.6, Mike Hezemans manage d to get past Xavier Maassen, who had taken over the wheel of No.3 from Bouchut. As they crossed the line, the three Corvette/Michelin cars were covered by less than a second!
The second Aston Martin/Michelin car of Jetalliance Racing (Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer) finished in fifth position, having spent much of the race fighting over second with the No.5 Corvette. The Aston nevertheless finished ahead of the two Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12/Michelin cars, which were severely handicapped by running a large amount of ballast this weekend. The No.2 Maserati (Ramos/Negrao) climbed back up to seventh place after getting tangled up in a first-corner incident, which also delayed the Gigawave Motorsport Aston Martin/Michelin (Simonsen/Peter) and several GT2 competitors.
In the GT2 category, the No.50 Ferrari of Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni has dominated the 2008 season. The drivers took their fourth win from seven races ahead of the No.79 Porsche/Michelin driven by Janak/Bergmeister. The Porsche 997 GT3 cars performed strongly this weekend, particularly the No.61 car (Collard/Westbrook), which ran in second place for much of the race before a minor collision damaged the radiator, causing the engine to overheat. The second AF Corse Ferrari (Biagi/Montanari) climbed back up to fourth place in GT2 after also being delayed by the incident at the start.
Gerard Bombled (Endurance and FIA GT Programme Manager, Michelin Competition): "Brno was resurfaced for this year, and it meant we were taking a bit of a step into the unknown. In the end, the circuit has more grip than previously, and is less aggressive for the tyres. We encountered a range of conditions this weekend, with high temperatures during qualifying and cooler weather today for the race, with an air temperature of 15o.C and a track temperature of 22o.C. Some GT1 cars qualified on soft tyres (Aston Martin No.33) and changed to the medium compound at the first pitstop. However, the Corvettes completed the full race distance on soft tyres, and Christophe Bouchut's incredible stint proved that this compound offered good performance and consistency. The GT2 competitors used the medium compound, and the No.51 Ferrari ran the entire race on a single set.