The Phoenix team have bounced back from a disappointing Spa with a pole in Romania
Qualifying for the 6th round of the FIA GT Championship, the Bucharest City Challenge, took place in extremely hot conditions around the 3.071 km Bucharest Ring street circuit, which the Championship is visiting for the second time.
After the rain and cold conditions last May, Bucharest in the sunshine is a very different place, and a thrilling qualifying session took place between the narrow, unforgiving walls. Marcel Fässler took his third pole position of the season in the Phoenix Carsport Corvette, ahead of Karl Wendlinger in the nr 33 Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9, with Michael Bartels third in the Spa-winning Vitaphone Maserati MC 12. Fässler’s lap of 1:15.348 was 0.184 ahead of the Aston Martin. The nr 6 Phoenix Corvette was fourth, ahead of the nr 4 PK Saleen – four makes in the top five.
In GT2, Gianmaria took pole position, in the nr 50 AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT2. The Italian, who is carrying the super-maximum penalty weight of 75 kg in the car after winning in Oschersleben, set a lap of 1:18.665, to claim his third pole of the season. Andrew Kirkaldy was second-fastest in the nr 56 CR Scuderia Ferrari, with Fabio Babini setting a best qualifying performance of the season in the nr 62 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 GT2. Matias Russo was fourth in the Advanced Engineering Pecom Ferrari, ahead of Richard Lietz in the Proton Felbermayr Porsche.
AF Corse have kept up their form with pole
The results remain provisional pending scrutineering.
The qualifying session sets the grid for tonight’s first one-hour race, in this altered format for the city circuit. The qualifying race will set the grid for Sunday’s Championship race. Half-points are awarded after each race.
The grid
| Pos | Class | Drivers | Car | Time | To 1st |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GT1 | Marcel Fassler | Corvette Z06 | 01:15.3 | |
| 2 | GT1 | Karl Wendlinger | Aston Martin DB9 | 01:15.5 | 0.184 |
| 3 | GT1 | Michael Bartels | Maserati MC 12 | 01:16.3 | 1 |
| 4 | GT1 | Mike Hezemans | Corvette Z06 | 01:16.6 | 1.218 |
| 5 | GT1 | Anthony Kumpen | Saleen S7 | 01:16.6 | 1.285 |
| 6 | GT1 | Alexandre Negrao | Maserati MC 12 | 01:16.6 | 1.297 |
| 7 | GT1 | Alex Muller | Aston Martin DB9 | 01:16.8 | 1.485 |
| 8 | GT1 | Christophe Bouchut | Corvette Z06 | 01:17.0 | 1.663 |
| 9 | GT1 | Allan Simonsen | Aston Martin DB9 | 01:17.4 | 2.093 |
| 10 | GT1 | Peter Kox | Lamborghini Murcielago | 01:18.2 | 2.871 |
| 11 | GT2 | Gianmaria Bruni | Ferrari F430 | 01:18.7 | 3.317 |
| 12 | GT2 | Andrew Kirkaldy | Ferrari F430 | 01:19.1 | 3.782 |
| 13 | GT2 | Fabio Babini | Ferrari F430 | 01:19.2 | 3.895 |
| 14 | GT2 | Matias Russo | Ferrari F430 | 01:19.3 | 3.948 |
| 15 | GT2 | Richard Lietz | Porsche 911 GT3 RS | 01:19.3 | 3.955 |
| 16 | GT2 | Christian Montanari | Ferrari F430 | 01:19.4 | 4.025 |
| 17 | GT2 | Emmanuel Collard | Porsche 911 GT3 RS | 01:19.6 | 4.288 |
| 18 | GT2 | Marc Lieb | Porsche 911 GT3 RS | 01:19.7 | 4.313 |
| 19 | GT2 | Tim Mullen | Ferrari F430 | 01:19.7 | 4.355 |
| 20 | GT2 | Davide Rigon | Ferrari F430 | 01:19.9 | 4.521 |
| 21 | GT2 | Henri Moser | Ferrari F430 | 01:20.0 | 4.664 |
| 22 | GT2 | Markus Palttala | Porsche 911 GT3 RS | 01:20.3 | 4.921 |
| 23 | GT2 | Matteo Malucelli | Ferrari F430 | 01:20.8 | 5.464 |
| 24 | G2 | Renaud Kuppens | Gillet Vertigo | 01:22.3 | 6.903 |