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Brno

Eurosport Super Racing Weekends

16/04/2001

Race

Report

The weather was as unpleasant as on the first two days of the meeting, but in subtly different ways. Fine drizzle was falling at the start, with the air temperature now at 3°C. The rain became heavier, before stopping before the end of the race. The warmest place to be was in one of the cars.

Christophe Bouchut and Jean-Phillippe Belloc took the win by 18 seconds in the Larbre Viper, Larbre’s first GT class win with the big V10. They came home at the head of a Viper 1-2-3, the #12 Belmondo car of Vosse / Derichebourg 40 seconds ahead of Hezemans and new partner Jeroen Bleekemolen – not bad for the young man’s first race in a Viper.

Hezemans was the star in the early going: “I had so much grip I was wondering what was happening!” Superpole session or not, he moved from 13th to first in three laps. JC-W showed that he was on the pace too, up from ninth on the grid to second. “The car was really quick at the start and I was able to catch Hezemans and keep the gap constant at around 4 seconds.”

“But then the monsoon came,” was the Lister man’s description of the next change in the weather. Can you have a monsoon in such low temperatures? He hit a puddle and spun the Lister, losing half a minute.

Bleekemolen took over in the Carsport Viper, challenged by Clérico in the #11 Belmondo GTS-R. But the less experienced man hung on. “It felt good! Lots of pressure, but very good, especially as this is my first long distance race.” Clerico had vanished from his mirrors with fuel pressure: “It's a shame - the victory could have been ours.”

Bleekemolen finished his stint on lap 61, but the team gave Hezemans intermediate tyres. “That was our mistake,” Hezemans later admitted. All that grip had vanished. A stop for slicks dropped the Dutch car to third at the flag. “We had a low oil pressure warning, but I decided that I'd go for it - if the engine blew up, I didn't care.

Belloc inherited the lead in the Larbre car and stayed there until the end. “It's excellent to take our first win,” said Christophe Bouchut. “The car was very hard to drive in wet conditions. It was important to be safe, and impossible to follow the rhythm of the others.”

Jamie Campbell-Walter, taking over the Lister for the last hour from Richard Dean, eventually stopped for slicks with six laps left, immediately posting the fastest laps of the race. He finished fourth.

The Rafanelli Ferrari 550s completed the top six, one and two laps down on the first four, but demostrating excellent reliability. “We have made the next step, and now we'll make more progress for the next race,” said Gabriele Rafanelli. ”We can improve, but it will be difficult to beat the others, as they have years of experience. But we are pleased to be the only team with two cars in the points!”

Tomas Enge led the first stint in N-GT, ahead of Babini and Riccitelli. The latter took over the lead when Enge handed over to his team-mate Malcharek, with David Terrien in hot pursuit in the #62 Ferrari 360. When Riccitelli finally handed the car over to Quester, Terrien led the class for five laps, until finally pitting and changing drivers to Pescatori. Enge took the #65 car over for the final laps, but could not make up the lost ground from the middle stint, finally finishing in seventh place. Despite a spin, Quester maintained his lead until the chequered flag, chased all the way by Christian Pescatori. “Our radio was dead, and Christian didn't know how many laps remained, otherwise he might have pushed harder,” Terrien commented. Third place went to the Monza pole setters, Jürgen von Gartzen and Bruno Eichmann's Larbre Competition-Chereau Porsche 996 GT3-R. Their sister car, driven by Patrice Goueslard and Sebastien Dumez, was fourth, with Perspective Racing fifth and Monza winners, the #69 Redolfi Orlando Porsche 996 GT3-R of Cecotto and Chiesa taking the final point.

The JMB team were thrilled with second place, second time out. “It's great to have made the first podium for Ferrari in N-GT,” Terrien said. Pescatori added that, “It was very good for us, despite having no grip in the corners with the medium tyres. But second place is a very positive result.”