TotalMotorSport All the latest Motorsport news, race reports and photographs from around the world. Alms, Touring Cars, Formula One & Le Mans 24 Hours

Estoril

21/10/2001

Race

Report

A win for Mike Hezemans and Jeroen Bleekemolen secured runner-up spot for them in the GT Drivers Championship, while third place in N-GT was enough for David Terrien and Christian Pescatori to leapfrog Luca Riccitelli and take the Drivers Championship in their class, by just three points. For Riccitelli, it was a race that never got going, his Porsche damaged on lap one, then rejoining many laps down with no chance of taking any points at all. RWS ended up tied with JMB on 62 points in the N-GT teams title, but JMB took that one too, with five wins to RWS's two.

So it wasn't an epic N-GT Championship decider, but as a race, it had plenty going for it - with the weather playing its customary 2001 role of course. That meant overcast conditions to start with, then rain after 30 minutes - which developed into a downpour - then a dry spell, then another quick shower towards the end. Out front, the Campell-Walter / Verdon-Roe Lister dominated much of the race, but two extra stops for tyre changes for the second period of rain put an end to their chances of the win. The Mike Hezemans car stayed out on slicks, the track dried, and he and Jeroen B. were 'home and dry'.

Anthony Kumpen seemed to play as great a part in the race - the N-GT race - as the weather: his Viper "slid sideways, gathering a number of Porsches in its path," according to the official release. That included both of the RWS cars, plus the #69 Redolfi Orlando GT3R. Perhaps this was the GT / N-GT first lap clash that seemed almost inevitable at some time during the year. Kumpen and the #9 Porsche were eliminated straight away, Riccitelli's title challenge was over, and overall pole man Garcia had to chase through from the back. "I was on the left hand side of the track, and two cars in front of me collided," explained Kumpen. "I tried to avoid them, but I was hit from the side, then in front. I had nowhere to go."

That left a surprise winner in N-GT, the Perspective car of Perrier and Neugarten - which had qualified way down in 26th place. An even bigger suprise was the fifth placed car overall, the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini, of Gavin and Kox. What a difference a couple of professionals make.

With the first lap and then weather dramas, there were two Safety Car periods within the first 20 laps. The Carsport Vipers led early on, but Bouchut was on the move. "That was not really fair," said Sebastiaan B. of the move that saw Bouchut pass him, with contact, but Bouchut spun after a touch from Sebastiaan's brother in #3, dropping the Larbre Viper down to fourth.

JC-W and Julian Bailey were the ones to watch though, running 1 - 2 once the SC pulled off for the second time. The former had a spin, leaving the ex-F1 man in the lead, and with the track drying, tyre choice at the next stop was crucial. Nicolaus Springer went for wets, BV-R for slicks; the latter were the right choice, but when rain fell towards the end, Jeroen Bleekemolen stayed on slicks, the Lister went for wets (and JC-W again), the rain didn't last - and Lister Storm Racing didn't improve on their three wins in 2001.

A second win for Hezemans and Jeroen B. saw them take second place in the points, from JC-W, by just three. After four wins from the first seven races, Bouchut and Belloc had a sad end to the season, just a third, a fourth and a fifth from the last four.

Perspective follwed the Carsport example, Thiery Perrier staying out on slicks during the last hour to take the class win, from Dumez and Goueslard in the Larbre Porsche.

RWS and Reiter Engineering demonstrated the contrasting fortunes of racing. "It's terrible for us - I really can't believe it," said Rudi Walch, Team Manger of RWS. "We had two cars in the front, the Ferrari was at the back, our strategy was the right one, we had a good set-up, and we knew we had to stay in front of the Ferrari. It's not good to finish like this, with the race effectively over after 100 metres. We will fight again - we know we can do it."

"All season, people have been telling me to give up," said Hans Reiter of his team's efforts with the Lamborghini. "But we were fastest in the warm-up and fifth in the race. It is a great result from great drivers."

Who would have predicted a Ferrari win in N-GT this year? Will anyone put money on Lamborghini doing it in GT in 2002?

And that is effectively the end of the 2001 season's race coverage from TMS.