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Hungaroring

Eurosport Super Racing Weekends

01/07/2001

Race

Report

It was typically hot and humid on raceday, which would make it tough on the drivers around the twisty F1 track, especially for anyone prepared to complete 80 laps!

Mike Hezemans and Jeroen Bleekemolen completed the job in Hungary, having been building up to this sort of performance since taking pole at Silverstone. They led practically all the way, with the #4 car Carsport Viper coming home in a strong third place to complete the resurgence of this team. "The only real problem we've had so far (this season) was the fuel tank," explained Hezemans. "Now we've changed it, and we can do 1h 15 minutes instead of 45 minutes (on a tank of fuel)." Jeroen Bleekemolen earned his first FIA GT win.

David Terrien and Christian Pescatori took their third win of the season with the JMB Ferrari, simultaneously taking the N-GT Championship lead away from Luca Riccitelli.

Mike Hezemans led from the start, while JC-W dropped away initially. Alain Menu showed his fighting qualities by dicing for second with Christophe Bouchut, but the Viper driver held him off. The Ferrari only lasted 18 laps anyway, before retiring with whatever we can read into an “instantaneous fuel drop.”

The two Listers began to close on the faster starters, JC-W through into second place and closing on Hezemans. It was looking promising for the title fight, as the gap would obviously shrink if #1 could stay ahead of #7. Then it all went wrong for the lead Lister, JC-W taken out of the race on lap 20 by a spinning N-GT Porsche. Mauro Casadei rolled back across the track, straight into the Lister's path. When you get bad luck, it seems to arrive in bucket loads.

“The car isn't too badly damaged - the impact was at about 40 mph, and it's mainly superficial,” explained the big man in charge. “It's just one of those things," said JC-W. "I'd recovered after a bad start, and was lying second when I hit a pack of five backmarkers. I passed two with no problems, but then one spun, and the others scattered to avoid him. I slowed right down, and thought the track was clear, but then I was hit on the side and then the front. It's a shame - the car was fantastic, and I could easily have won the race.”

The safety car came out while the Lister and two N-GT Porsches were scraped off the track, and many teams took advantage to make a first, very early pit stop. The second Carsport Viper moved into second, followed by a Jean-Pierre Jarier effort that qualified for his old 'Jumper' nickname; but the ART Viper lost a lot of time with a jammed front wheel at their first stop.

Dominique Dupuy, in the Racing Box moved up to third, with Anthony Kumpen going well in fourth in the #11 Paul Belmondo Viper. This was looking like a Viper benefit. The #4 Carsport Viper lost time when Michael Bleekemolen came into the pits to find that his son was still in the shower, getting cooled off for the last stint.

Kumpen moved into second place, but lot out to Bouchut, then the Belgian's Viper developed fuel problems when he made a splash and dash, dropping this one down to sixth. Thus the cooled off Sebastiaan Bleekemolen ended up third, one place ahead of the charging Julian Bailey. He set the best lap of the race in the surviving Lister, after a solid effort from Nicolaus Springer in the middle of the race. Someone would have been wishing that it was this Lister that had had the collision, not the #1, which has had a highly unfortunate season so far. “I'm very happy to finally finish a race this season," said Herr Springer. "The traffic wasn't too bad - at the worst, there were three at a time to pass, but they all moved out of the way quite well. I did have one little spin when I started, on cold tyres, but it didn't do any damage. And Julian did an excellent job!”

But Carsport have even overtaken Lister Storm Racing for second place in the Teams Classification, a prospect that seemed highly unlikely the way the two teams started the season.

David Terrien started the #62 JMB Ferrari: "It was a crazy start. The car is not quick enough in the straight lines, so I could not overtake, and I dropped down to fifth. Then I had a very difficult battle with the Perspective Racing Porsche." The Ferrari again got through a three hour race on one stop, helped of course by the Safety Car. Christian Pescatori finished the race: “It was a very difficult race, and I have to thank the mechanics for a very fast pit stop,” he said. “The only problem we had was with the fuel, and so I stopped after crossing the line, for safety reasons.”

Fabio Babini took the lead at the start, chased by Philipp Peter in the Redolfi Orlando Porsche. But the race developed into a four way battle between the lead Ferrari, the Riccitelli / von Gartzen RWS Porsche, the babini car and the quicker Larbre Competition Porsche.

Riccitelli's car developed fuel problems, while the Larbre car managed to follow the JMB example and go through on one stop. Pescatori crossed the line barely a second ahead of the strong Dumez / Goueslard pairing. “We only finished one second behind the Ferrari, which is very optimistic for the next races,” said Patrice Goueslard.

Babini and Moccia were third, with Perspective fourth, EMKA fifth and the second RWS Porsche sixth.

And who was it who completed 80 laps? The same fellow who managed over 70 at Silverstone - Tim Sugden. He set the second best N-GT lap of the race and hauled the EMKA car into contention, after starting from the pit lane after one of those scrutineering muddles that occur from time to time.

Six races gone and it's 48 points to the Larbre Viper pair, only 23 to JC-W. Hezemans and J. Bleekemolen now have 20, the same as Tom Coronel.

Terrien and Pescatori have 36, ahead of Riccitelli on 30.

Neither of these standings could have been guessed at at the start of the season.