The first round of the FIA GT Championship
The Scuderua Ecosse Ferrari F430 GT2 of Jamie Davis/Fabio Babini is chased down by the race winning Aston Martin DBR9.
Story and Photos By Hugh Doran
The home of British motor racing, Silverstone, played host to the first round of the 2008 FIA GT Championship on 20th April. Fog and a greasy track greeted the competitors while the large crowd was greeted with temperatures that barely reached double figures. While the weather was somewhat chilly the on track action was anything but – especially fans of Italian cars.
Due to the conditions the first race of the day, the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli – Coppa Shell was started behind the Safety Car which remained on track for two laps before the green flag was waved. A wise move as Croatian driver Diego Roda managed to spin in his F430 on the parade lap. Once racing started properly Mike Cantillon simply drove away from the field at the rate of nearly two seconds a lap.
Next up was the FIA GT race for the Royal Automobile Club’s Tourist Trophy – one of the most historic prizes in motor sport. The GT1 class was always going to be a straight fight between the Maserati MC12’s of Vitaphone Racing the Aston Martin DBR9’s despite the fact that the Chevy Corvettes made the early running. Sadly for fans of the Trident it was the British car that took the spoils with the Andrea Bertolini/Michael Bartels MC12 in second place after a spirited drive by the latter. Elsewhere in GT1 Peter Kox & Roman Rusinov pedaled their Lamborghini Murcielago to 10th overall. And sometime Grand Prix drivers Esteban Tuero & Gaston Mazzacane were enjoying a drive in the ACA Argentina Ferrari 550 Maranello which finished three laps down in 20th place.
How times have changed in the GT2 category, once dominated by Porsche with only the token Ferrari mixing it up. Nowadays the tables have been completely turned and it was no surprise that Ferrari took the win. The winning car being that of Corsa Motorola and their drivers Gianmaria Bruni & Toni Vilander finishing in 11th overall and only one lap down on the race winner.
The second Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli was won by Andrea Pichini who was unopposed. The next race was the GT3 race and this was a straight fight between America and Europe. On the American side there were Ford GT’s, Mustangs, Vipers and Corvettes. Europe called on the cream of the supercar world which included Aston DBR9’s, Jaguar XKR’s, Morgan Aero 8’s and Ascari KZ1R’s from Great Britain, Porsche 997 GT3’s from Germany and then there were the Italians with six Ferrari F430’s and four Lamborghini Gallardo’s. However the win went to the Anglo/German pairing of Ian/Khan in their Ford GT.
And so to the final race of the day for the GT4 European Cup. The only race of the day with no direct Italian involvement. However Italian race car constructor Dallara did have a hand in the development of the two entries in the Sports Light class, namely the KTM X-Bow’s (pronounced “Cross Bowâ€), the first car from the Austrian motorcycle manufacture.
Vitaphone Racing eased themselves gently into the season with 2nd (for Andrea Bertolini/Michael Bartels in car 1) and 7th (for Miguel Ramos/Alexandre Negrao).
Kessel Racing’s F430 and ACA Argentina’s 550 Maranello tip-toe around a greasy, foggy and cold Silverstone .
Peter Kox and Russian driver Roman Rusinov took the Lamborghini Murcielago to an honorable 10th overall.
Gianmaria Burni presses on through Club corner on route to GT2 honors.
The GT3 version of the F430 driven by Pascal Ballay/Nicolas Misslin – note the different front end styling of the GT3 compared to the GT2 and road versions.
The other Maserati MC12 of JMB Racing driven by Peter Kutemann & Maurice Basso.
Few racing cars look as good as this Lamborghini Gallardo of S-Berg Racing’s Hans Knauss & Dominik Kraihamer.
The British-entered Gallardo of Tech 9 Motorsport paring Rob Wilson and Maurizio Fabris.
Weird Car 1: The Gilete Vertigo is a Belgian creation that just happens to use a Maserati V8 (older versions used V6 Alfa’s). The car failed to finish in the hands of Bas Lienders & Renaud Kuppens.
Weird Car 2: MotoRcycle manufacturer KTM drafted in Italian race car constructor Dallara to help with the X-Bow, the result being one quick car driven here by Dennis Retera.
It may be a new team, but the ACA Argentina Ferrari 550 Maranello of Esteban Tuero/Gaston Mazzacane has seen much action in FIA GT racing over the last couple of years.
Mike Cantillon totally dominated the Ferrari Challenge Trofeo Pirelli Coppa Shell race with a wining margin or nearly half a minute.
The number 13 proved unlucky for the JMB Racing pairing of Bruce Lorgere-Roux & Mauro Casadei as their exit from the race resulted in the deployment of the Safety Car.