round #5 2005 FIA GT: BRNO (CZ), June 25-26

LAMY/GARDEL FERRARI F550: 2nd WIN

Tipped as main favourite for the Brno race, Maserati failed to win the fifth round of the FIA GT Championship. Victory went to the Ferrari F550 Mara-nello of Larbre Compétition, shared by Gabriele Gardel (CH) and Pedro Lamy (PT). Earlier this year that duo won already the opening round at Monza. For Lamy it is already his third win on five outings. Indeed, at the Silverstone Tourist Trophy Lamy swirched to the Aston Martin DBR9 having won that race. After five rounds we find Ferrari with two wins; Maserati, Corvette and aston Martin with each one win. Gardel is the leader in the provisional driver's standings with 37 points, against 35 for Karl Wendlinger (A) and Andrea Bertolini (I) and 32 for Pedro Lamy. Bertolini/Wendlinger finished second at Brno, 58 seconds down to the winners. That seems a miracle, because at the qualifications Wendlinger wrote off the car and it seemed it was beyond repair. However, JMB Racing succeeded the repair so that the car could take the start. That was not the case for another GT1 car having been in trouble at the qualifications. Indeed, the Graham Nash Motorsport #7 Saleen S7-R could not be repaired in time to take the start. Third place went to the #3 Ferrari 575 GTC of G.P.C. Sport, shared by Jaime Melo (BR) and Jean-Philippe Belloc (F).

QUALIFICATIONS
Fastest man at the qualifications was Philipp Peter (A) with the #16 JMB Racing Maserati MC12. Being free of ballast, contrary to the other Masera-tis, Peter clocked a fastest lap in 1'56"322. It was already his second pole position of the season. Second in 1'56"686 at the qualifications was Andre-a Bertolini in the repaired #15 sister car, having started with 50 kg of ballast. Michael Bartels made it a 1-2-3 for Maserati with a fastest lap in 1'56"700 despite 40 kg of ballast. First non-Maserati was the Belgian Corvette C5-R (having won the previous round) in 1'56"920, heading the fourth Maserati, the #10 of Babini/Biagi in 1'57"288 despite 100 kg of ballast. Other top-10 places went to the Reiter Lamborghini R-GT (1'57"763), the Larbre Compétition Ferrari 550 Maranello (1'57"931 des-pite 40 kg of ballast), the #2 Ferrari 575 GTC (1'58"050), the #17 R.A.R. Ferrari 550 Maranello of Christophe Bouchut (1'58"615) and the much too heavy Media Rock Ferrari 575 GTC (2'00"629).
For the Russian Ferrari, just back from Le Mans, it was probably its last show of the season. Indeed, the car, leased from Care Racing, will continue its career in the 4 remaining rounds of the LMES. At the FIA GT Championship the car will be replaced, up from the Francorchamps 24 hours, by the team's new Aston Martin DBR9. In GT2 the #66 Gruppe M works Porsche 996 GT3-RSR was fastest in 2'02"664. Having failed the ride height test, the #88 sister car obtained no time for the first session. During the second qualification round, in hotter race conditions, the car came no further than 2'05"744, so that on the grid it was preceeded by the Renauer Porsche and by Balfe's Mosler MT900R.

THE RACE
At the start the Corvette was fastest away under heavy and extremely hot sun. Already at the second turn the #10 Vitaphone Maserati went off the track, taking the #2 G.P.C. Sport Ferrari 575 GTC out in the gravel. The Maserati could rejoin the race, but was beyond repair, just as the Ferrari . Much was expected from the fast Lamborgini, being back after two absentees at Silverstone and Magny Cours. Unfortunately the car was eliminated during the very first lap when it went off the track at the same second turn where the Vitaphone Mase-rati and the Lamborghini had their collision. With the #15 JMB Maserati being enforced to start from the pits (after having missed the second qualification round), only two of the four Maseratis seemed having still a chance to reach victory lane.

The #15 Maserati had to start from the pits. At the first qualification session Karl Wendlinger wrote the car off. It was some miracle that it was found back at the start.

Still before the end of the first lap the Belgian Corvette, having made an outing in the gravel during the opening lap, is passed by the two Maseratis with Philipp Peter (#16 JMB) leading Timo Scheider (D) in the #9 Vitaphone. The #11 Larbre Compétition Ferrari F550 Maranello passes as third. Four laps later, however, the car is passed by Christophe Bouchut in the #17 R.A.R. Ferrari F550 Maranello, making its last race of the season in the FIA GT Championship. The #15 JMB Maserati is already 8th after five laps. Good start also for the old Lister Storm GT, being as high as 6th after five laps. Jaime Melo (BR) is 4th in the G.P.C. Sport Ferrari 575 GTC. It takes until lap 13 before Anthony Kumpen (#6 Corvette C5-R), succeeds to pass Justin Keen (USA) in the Lister and Melo in the Ferrari. In front a fantastic Christophe Bouchut succeeds to pass both Timo Scheider in the Vita-phone Maserati and Philipp Peter in the #16 Red Bull Maserati. Up from lap 14 he sets now the pace. 
Once out at the lead, Bouchut goes extremely fast, two seconds per lap faster than both Maseratis. In GT2 the Ebimotors Porsche succeeds to follow both Gruppe M works Porsches until the moment the car has to come into te pits to have its alternator replaced. Replacement costs the Italian team of Moccia/Busnelli five complete laps. In front Timo Scheider is pushing so hard that Philipp Peter goes into the gravel of turn 10, rejoining the race in 8th position.
Drama after 22 laps when, unexpectedly, heavy rain invades the track. All cars have to come in to change their tyres. The R.A.R. Ferrari, having an advance of 7 seconds over Timo Scheider's #9 Vitaphone Maserati on coming into the pits, will loose more than a complete minute, rejoining the race in 5th position, fifty seconds behind the #9 Maserati, now in hands of Michael Bartels (D).

Gardel, who replaced Lamy at the wheel of the #11 Ferrari 550 Maranello, is now second, heading Kumpen in the Corvette and Melo in the Ferrari 575 GTC. It seems that Larbre Compétition made the best tyre choice, since after 31 laps Gardel has already passed Bartels, to go out at the lead. Alexei Vasiliev (RU) did the same with Melo, so that the R.A.R. Ferrari is now 4th. He causes a stir, when in the following laps he passes also the Corvette and the Vitaphone Maserati of Bartels. We have again two Ferraris in front, being on a quickly drying track up to 10 seconds per lap faster than the rest of the field. The two Maseratis on ranks 3 and 6 have to come in to go for intermedium tyres, whilst the Ferraris continue their march. The #88 Gruppe M Porsche is victim of an overheated engine and is retired after 37 laps. The #15 Maserati, having made a good tyre choice, is moving up steadily, passing the #3 GPC Ferrari 575 GTC and the Corvette, to come within the top-3 around mid-race.
A second series of regular pit stops follows after 54 laps. The Russian Ferrari, having lost its second place with the slow Nikolai Fomenko at the wheel, will drop in the standings until rank 8. After all regular pit stops Lamy/Gardel are still leading. Since the #9 Maserati of Bartels and Scheider struggled with ignition problems, the Ferrari's advance is now up to one minute. Bertolini/Wendlinger in the miraculous #15 Maserati, having started from the last place, are now second, seven seconds ahead over the #3 Ferrari 575GTC of Jean-Philippe Belloc (F), having replaced Jaime Mello.
Having been lapped by most cars in front during the stint of Fomenko, Christophe Bouchut succeeds in a brilliant finish to unlap himself by passing both the #3 Ferrari 575 GTC and the #15 Maserati of Bertolini. Unfortunately two laps were lost with Fomenko at the wheel, so that the Russian Ferrari remains 8th in the overall ranking.
The ignition problems of Bartels/Scheider made their Maserati dropping in fifth position, even passed by the Corvette. The #16 Maserati of Philipp Peter and his team mates Chris Buncombe (GB) and Roman Rusinov (RU), never recovers from its outing in the gravel. It hangs in 6th position, heading the vailliant Lister Storm, making its best finish of the season. In front the #3 G.P.C. Sport Ferrari 575 GTC closes within four seconds from the miraculous JMB Racing #15 Maserati MC12, unfortunately not enough to take the second place at the finish. So Pedro Lamy and Gabriele Gardel offered the #11 Larbre Compéti-tion Ferrari F550 Maranello its second victory of the season.
Positions change no longer and the #15 Maserati of Bertolini/Wend-linger and the #3 Ferrari 575 GTC finish nose to tail one minute later as second and third. The Corvette holds its fourth place, one lap behind the leading trio, and heading the two remaining Maseratis.
Winners in GT2 are Mark Lieb and Mike Rockenfeller in their #66 Gruppe M works Porsche. They finish ninth overall, two laps ahead over the Balfe Mosler. Second in GT2, but four laps down to the class winners are the Belgians Stéphane Lemeret and Loic Deman in the GPC Sport Ferrari 360 Modena, beating the Renauer Porsche, finishing as third. Then follow the Vonka Porsche and the Ried/Ried Porsche, the two other regular entrants in GT2. [JPVR]

FIRST FREE PRACTICE
It seems as if the Maseratis have the biggest chance to win the fifth round of the FIA GT Championship. Of them the #10 of Champion-ship's leaders Fabio Babini and Thomas Biagi have to start with 100 kg ballast, whilst the #15 of Andrea Bertolini and Karl Wendlinger has to start with 50 kg, and the #9 of Michael Bartels and Timo Scheider has to start with 40 kg. Philipp Peter (A) - who considers Brno as his home circuit - and his team mates Chris Buncombe and Roman Rusinov are the only Maserati drivers coming at the start without ballast. At the Friday free practice Philipp Peter was thus the fastest man on the track, realising a fastest lap in 1'58"002. Four of the five fastest cars were Maseratis. Only the Belgian Corvette C5-R (having started with 40 kg ballast) reached the top-5 with 1'58"8 (fourth best time).
Of the five Ferraris at the start in GT1 the #11 Maranello 550 of Labre Compétition, having started with 40 kg ballast, was preceeded by the #2 Ferrari 575 GTC of G.P.C. Sport, reaching the sixth place in 2'00"3, and followed by the #3 sister car with 2'00"6. The Czech Rock Media Team Ferrari 575 GTC of Tonda Herbeck, with Andrea Montermini as team mate, could not convince. Its 2'02"3 was only good for a provisional 11th place on the grid.
The Reiter Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT, where Peter Kox has now Gianni Morbidelli as co-driver, realised the tenth time in 2'00"8, being preceeded by the #7 GNM Saleen S7-R in 2'00"7. The two Konrad Saleens, having been in problems the whole first half of the season, are absent (already for the second time this year). The Lister could, once more, convince nobody with a poor 2'02"5. The Russian Ferrari Maranel-lo, just back from the Le Mans 24 hours, didn't start in the first free practice session.

GT2 entry at Brno is restricted to ten cars, eight of them being Porsches. Machanek Racing is present with only one of its Coca Cola Porsches, but didn't enter the first free practice session. As at the four former rounds the two Gruppe M works Porsches 996GT3-RSR are without competition. They realised 2'04"2 (#88) and 2'04"8 (#66), going even faster than the Polish GT1 #20 RAM Saleen. The lonely Porsche being able to follow a bit the two works Porsches is the Ebimotors #74 of Luigi Moccia and Emanuele Busnelli (having already be seen at two previous rounds) with 2'06"4 as best time. Shaun Balfe - a G2 entry - comes next with his Mosler MT900R in 2'06"9. Of the seven remaining GT2 cars the G.P.C. Sport Ferrari 330 Modena realised the same times as the local ACR Bratislava Porsche 996GT3-RSR: 2'08"3. The JMB Ferrari 360 Modena and Jan Vonka's Porsche 996GT3-RS disappointed with times above 2'12", being more than 8 seconds per lap slower than the two works Porsches.

SECOND FREE PACTICE
Fastest at the second session was the #9 Vitaphone Maserati of Bartels and Scheider in 1'57"6. The Lamborghini was now faster than the 2'00"8 of the morning, clocking 1'59"0. Faster too were the Larbre Compétition Maranello in 1'59"7 and the #3 G.P.C. Sport 575 GTC in 2'00"1. Fine performance of the Lister, realising now 2'00"2 (7th best time of the afternoon session). In GT2 still no Machanek Racing Porsche 996GT3-RS. The #88 Gruppe M Porsche improved it's morning time being brought down to 2'04"0. Both Modena Ferraris stay with their slow times from the morning. The R.A.R. Ferrari 550 Maranello was practising during 19 laps but came no further than 2'00"9, only the 8th best time of the afternoon.  [JPVR]