Christopher Haase and Christopher Mies took their third win of the year in Round 11 at Zolder to regain the lead in the FIA GT3 European Drivers Championship with one race reamining.
The race started behind the safety car because of the wet conditions with Haase, in the nr26 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS, starting on pole position. Jens Klingmann (nr25 Alpina BMW Alpina B6 GT3), starting from the front row, got a good start to take the lead as the green flags waved but once again the car failed to reach the chequered flag, promoting the nr8 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 Scuderia of Steffano Gattuso and Lorenzo Bontempelli to their best result of the year in second place.
Florian Gruber holding off the attentions of Cesar Campanico in the Team Rosberg Audi to take the 3rd place in the Fischer Racing Ford GT. Christopher Mies and Christopher Haase hold a 7.5 point lead in the drivers championship over Nicolas Armindo and Cesar Campanico. Julien Rodrigues and Thomas Accary, who finished 9th, are 9.5 points behind and still have a small chance of taking the title. However there was some joy for Hexis Racing AMR as 4th place for Frederic Makowiecki was enough to secure the FIA GT3 European Teams Championship title with one race to go.
Quotes
Christopher Haase (nr26 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS)
“My start was very good; we started behind the safety car, which was the correct position as the track was very bad, very slippery and it was difficult to drive. I drove a very safe pace, I didn’t take any risks. We went for an early driver change and changed onto slick tyres, which was the right time and at the end it was perfect.”
Christopher Mies (nr26 Phoenix Racing Audi R8 LMS)
“My part of the race was very hard. I started on slick tyres and some points the track was a little bit wet but I tried to do my best. My team told me that the car in second was 15 seconds behind; they did a good job, Christopher did a good job and we are very happy. It was difficult to stay on the track, the traction control wasn’t very good, it wasn’t so easy like it seemed from the outside. We are starting 8th in the second race; I made a mistake in my fast lap in qualifying yesterday, so we are in 8th rather than nearer the front. We will try and do our best, we are a good combination of drivers and we are seven and a half points in front. It is a good position.”
Steffano Gattuso (nr8 Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 Scuderia)
“Lorenzo had a very good start, he started in 6th position, but at the end of the first lap he was 3rd. He was able to push hard during his stint and he gave me the car in a very good position. The race was very difficult, during the pitstop I put on some slick tyres and the track was still slippery in some places. There was also a lot of traffic with the Belgian GT cars but this is a good result for us and the whole team. I’m very, very happy. We are starting in 13th position this afternoon but I hope we can get a good start and hand the car to Lorenzo in a good position.”
Christoffer Nygaard (nr28 Fischer Racing Ford GT)
“The pace was good from the start, I think I lost a bit behind the Ferrari and I was really struggling with traction but the balance in the car was good. I had to push all the time to find a good line but it seemed to work out and I had the pace to overtake. I saw Armindo in the Audi in the mirrors and he was coming up to me very fast, I tried to hold him but it was going to be a struggle. I did my best but he went past me and I saw that I couldn’t have held him anyway. The cars with traction control are very good when we have to fight in these conditions.”
Florian Gruber (nr28 Fischer Racing Ford GT)
“The first few laps on the slick tyres was a little tricky and very crazy. The Ferrari was a bit faster than me and could overtake me. The Audi R8 of Campanico was behind me towards the end but I was able to keep my pace and keep the third place at the flag. We’re 4th in the last race and hopefully it will be very good for us.”