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A1-Ring

26/08/2001

Race

Report

An unlikely Ferrari win in N-GT (coupled with a retirement for Luca Riccitelli) has suddenly transformed that class at the head of the title race, but a Ferrrai win for Prodrive - in only their second actual race with their 550 - effectively makes no difference to the GT title 'battle', which was already going the way of Bouchut and Belloc. Prodrive's win will send shudders down certain spines though, if only because the 'self-build' and 'self-homologation' route seems to have been turned on its head by a company with all the skills of...the manufacturer?

Lister Storm Racing would argue that their lead pair were heading for the race win - until the propshaft broke with Tom Coronel at the wheel. Bailey and Campbell-Walter had both advanced past the Carsport Vipers in the early going, 'Jules' then tackling Rydell and slipping into the lead on lap 26. The gap fluctuated, with JC-W seemingly content to observe for now.

After the first stops, it was quickly a Dutch 1 - 2, Peter Kox leading...Nicolaus Springer (dropping back to a very good fourth), then Tom Coronel. Initially, the Dutch gap stood at 15 seconds, because Lister Storm Racing had opted for a four tyre change, Prodrive only two. Tom Coronel had a point to prove, and the ideal tool to do it with. He closed in at up to a second per lap, until...the propshaft failed, which caused a fire as the fuel lines were cut, which caused some "serious damage" to the #1 Storm. TC rolled out, unharmed. He's had some accidents and mishaps this year in various Championships, none of which seem to be his fault. "Suddenly I heard this 'woof' sound and the car was on fire. It's a pity, because a nice battle was building up between us and the Prodrive Ferrari and it would have been a good show."

The Carsport Vipers were 80 seconds and more behind Kox by then, so as regards a race, well, there wasn't one at the front. Kox pitted early - heat? - on lap 71, leaving Rydell a stint and a bit to the end, pitting for fuel only after 103 laps. That reduced the gap at the flag to a more manageable 50 seconds and 55 over the two Carsport Vipers.

Bailey was the fastest man on the track in the last stint, but he was too far adrift to catch the Dutchmen ahead. Other than Rydell, five of the first six were Dutch today.

The Larbre Viper was two laps down (delayed by a puncture), the drivers commenting once again on the ballast they're carrying - a predictable tale, but hardly their fault - with Anthony Kumpen getting some reward for his toil in two countries with a sixth for Belmondo.

Was it a race of two classes - ballasted and unballasted? Hezemans was just off the ultimate pace with his 70 kg ("We just had no chance today"), so it appears that the rules are effectively spoiling the racing. Let's see how Prodrive cope with some lead next time out. "It was too hot in the car, which is something we'll have to look at for the next race," suggested Rickard Rydell. "I think Prodrive did a fantastic job, they worked tremendously hard, etc. etc." was Peter Kox's typical winning driver's summary.

Michael Bleekemolen was concerned about his sons racing each other. Good. So he should be - close racing is what we want, with its attendant dramas if things go wrong. "I'm very proud of my sons, but when they are fighting so close together, I am always a bit afraid for them." Sebastiaan was less worried, more 'young driver enjoying a scrap', brother or not: "I hope we can have more of these fights in the next rounds." So do we.

Claude-Yves Gosselin reckoned that the Prodrive 550 passing him was like him passing an N-GT: "There were two categories of GT cars out there today," adding some weight to observations above.

"My worst weekend of the season," sighed Emanuele Naspetti, after transmission (propshaft) failure on the car that looked as though it could stop the Lister-Viper domination. No joy for the third Lister, Jarier stopping after eight laps with a smouldering sensation in the car, which was probably just rubber on the exhaust.

So how did the #62 Ferrari 360 win this one, after a couple of nightmare days on Friday (particularly) and Saturday? "It's an incredible result for us after starting 26th on the grid," spluttered David Terrien. "We have three advantages - the good chassis, the fact that we are a very even driver line-up, and the excellent performance of the team in the pits." He and Pescatori also did the whole race on one set of tyres, so that chassis must be fairly special, but they didn't do it on one stop. "That would have been impossible for us (today)." It was "our most beautiful victory, and our most unexpected one."

The opening stages were all about Riccitelli and Sugden, the stars of Qualifying. As Riccitelli pulled away, so Sugden (in fourth, left, ahead of Freisinger and Larbre) fought past von Gartzen and Peter into an excellent second. After the stops, as the EMKA Porsche slipped back, so Pescatori moved up to second, but a minute behind Quester. Amorim was third in the one-stopping Freisinger GT3Rs.

Dieter Quester completed a shortish stint, leaving Riccitelli to set the fastest lap sof the race as he closed in on the Ferrari. He was two seconds per lap faster, and swept ahead with 40 minutes left. Game over? It was when a serious fluid leak eliminated the Championship leader. "The tube from the rear axle radiator broke - an original Porsche part that is used in the road car," explained Quester. "Luca was so disappointed, he had tears in his eyes."

Ortelli and Amorim were about 20 seconds behind the winners at the flag, these two entries a second and more slower than Riccitelli's best. The Italian now leads the little Ferrari men by just four points. This should be a classic end to the season.

Tim Sugden fought back to fourth, lapping only two tenths slower than Riccitelli, but he couldn't catch Dumez and Goueslard in third. Like Ortelli, they were on a one-stopper. If the races were 15 minutes less in length, they could all do one stop. No, silly, that wouldn't work for the gentlemen.