FIA GT
Zakspeed took a well deserved victory in Budapest
Courtesy of the FIA GT/DPPI
Round eight of the FIA GT Championship saw the GT1 and GT2 Championships decided and some great action from the Hungaroring.
Racing away from pole position, the Zakspeed Saleen S7R of Jarek Janis, Sasha Bert and Andera Montermini were able keep the opposition at bay to win and keep the driver’s championship alive. The German team was often engaged in duels with the BMS Aston Martin of Fabio Babini and Matteo Malucelli but this car fell to third in the final stint. The final part of the race was still hard fought with the seasoned Montermini up against the Corvette of Anthony Kumpen. Montermini won this battle, finishing over 10 seconds ahead of the GLPK Carsport car of Bert Longin, Mike Hezemans and Kumpen. The Championship winning Maserati MC12s of Vitaphone Racing finished in fifth and seventh with the only Lamborghini Murcielago finishing eighth.
The GT2 Championship was also decided in the favour of AF Course who second and fifth in class. Scuderia Ecosse tried their hardest to stop AF Course from winning the title by winning the class as Nathen Kinch and Andrew Kirklady won from pole position. They won from the AF Course car of Jamie Melo and Matteo Bobbi and teammates, Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos. The JMB GruppeM Ferrari of Tim Sugden and Iradj Alexander had been in contention for a podium but were denied when they had to pit for fuel late in the race. The G3 race was won by the Seiler/Groppi from teammates Stancheris/Zlobin. There were only two cars in this category and they were both Aston Martin DBRS9s from the BMS stable.
Results: 2006 Round 8 - Budapest Race Result
Pos Class Drivers Car Time Laps Gap Avg Speed
1 GT1 Janis/Bert/Montermini Saleen S7R 3:01:38.944 102 147.60
2 GT1 Longin/Hezemans/Kumpen Corvette C6R 3:01:49.450 102 10.506 147.46
3 GT1 Babini/Malucelli Aston Martin DBR9 3:02:05.630 102 26.686 147.24
4 GT1 Piccini/Deletraz Aston Martin DBR9 3:02:57.374 102 1:18.430 146.54
5 GT1 Bertolini/Bartels Maserati MC12 GT1 3:03:01.756 102 1:22.812 146.48
6 GT1 Gollin/Ramos Aston Martin DBR9 3:03:02.442 102 1:23.498 146.48
7 GT1 Biagi/Davies Maserati MC12 GT1 3:02:10.659 101 1 LAP 145.73
8 GT1 Bouchut/Kox/Leuenberger Lamborghini Murcielago 3:01:50.846 100 2 LAPS 144.55
9 GT1 Barbosa/Balfe Saleen S7R 3:01:40.144 99 3 LAPS 143.24
10 GT2 Kirkaldy/Kinch Ferrari 430 GT2 3:03:06.648 98 4 LAPS 140.68
11 GT2 Melo/Bobbi Ferrari 430 GT2 3:01:41.477 97 5 LAPS 140.33
12 GT2 Mullen/Niarchos Ferrari 430 GT2 3:02:07.941 97 5 LAPS 139.99
13 GT2 Sugden/Alexander Ferrari 430 GT2 3:02:23.727 97 5 LAPS 139.79
14 GT2 Salo/Aguas Ferrari 430 GT2 3:02:27.589 96 6 LAPS 138.30
15 GT2 Felbermayr Jr/Ried Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 3:02:49.747 95 7 LAPS 136.58
16 GT2 Riccitelli/Alzen Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 2:58:39.640 94 8 LAPS 138.30
17 GT2 Moccia/Busnelli Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 3:02:53.718 94 8 LAPS 135.09
18 GT2 Kutemann/Daoudi Ferrari 430 GT2 3:03:20.384 94 8 LAPS 134.77
19 G3 Seiler/Groppi Aston Martin DBRS9 3:01:57.695 92 10 LAPS 132.90
20 G3 Stancheris/Zlobin Aston Martin DBRS9 3:02:07.637 92 10 LAPS 132.78
21 GT2 Gruber/Lichtner-Hoyer Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 3:02:38.566 92 10 LAPS 132.40
22 GT2 Felbermayr/Ried Porsche 996 GT3 RS 3:02:04.246 91 11 LAPS 131.37
23 GT2 Zengo/Palik Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 3:02:19.160 89 13 LAPS 128.31
Not Classified
GT2 Konopka/Rosina Porsche 996 GT3 RS 2:10:29.055 65 D.N.F. 130.94
GT1 Peter/Wendlinger Aston Martin DBR9 1:56:51.352 63 D.N.F. 141.71
Sam Tickell