FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 6 –

Qualifying for the 6th round of the FIA GT Championship, the Bucharest City Challenge, took place in extremely hot conditions around the 3.071 km Bucharest Ring street circuit, which the Championship is visiting for the second time.
After the rain and cold conditions last May, Bucharest in the sunshine is a very different place, and a thrilling qualifying session took place between the narrow, unforgiving walls. Marcel Fässler took his third pole position of the season in the Phoenix Carsport Corvette, ahead of Karl Wendlinger in the nr 33 Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9, with Michael Bartels third in the Spa-winning Vitaphone Maserati MC 12. Fässler’s lap of 1:15.348 was 0.184 ahead of the Aston Martin. The nr 6 Phoenix Corvette was fourth, ahead of the nr 4 PK Saleen – four makes in the top five.
In GT2, Gianmaria took pole position, in the nr 50 AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT2. The Italian, who is carrying the super-maximum penalty weight of 75 kg in the car after winning in Oschersleben, set a lap of 1:18.665, to claim his third pole of the season.
Andrew Kirkaldy was second-fastest in the nr 56 CR Scuderia Ferrari, with Fabio Babini setting a best qualifying performance of the season in the nr 62 Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 GT2. Matias Russo was fourth in the Advanced Engineering Pecom Ferrari, ahead of Richard Lietz in the Proton Felbermayr Porsche.
The qualifying session sets the grid for tonight’s first one-hour race, in this altered format for the city circuit.
The qualifying race will set the grid for Sunday’s Championship race. Half-points are awarded after each race.
For more information, please see www.fiagt.com
The results remain provisional pending scrutineering.
- Jacquie Groom, FIA - photo SRO
Bucharest - Qualifying 1 results
23.08.2008
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FIA GT Results: 2008 Round 6 - Bucharest
Weather sunny Track conditions dry
1 5 GT1 Marcel FASSLER Corvette Z06 1:15.348 7 146.72
2 33 GT1 Karl WENDLINGER Aston Martin DB9 1:15.532 9 0.184 146.37 ... mehr |
Hezemans & Kirkaldy fastest in pre-qualifying session
23.08.2008
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The cars tested themselves on the track again this morning in the pre-qualifying session. With the weather not having reached its peak temperature, the times were faster, with Hezemans in the nr 6 Phoe ... mehr |
Bucharest - Pre-Qualifying-results
23.08.2008
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Results: 2008 Round 6 - FIA GT Bucharest Pre Qualifying
Weather sunny Track conditions dry
1 6 GT1 Hezemans/Gollin Corvette Z06 1:16.472 26 144.57
2 10 GT1 Peter/Simonsen/Thompson Aston Martin D ... mehr |
Free Practice Quotes, Bucharest 2008
23.08.2008
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Xavier Maassen – nr 3 SRT Corvette C6R :
"So far so good. We’ve just been using one set of tyres, taking it easy and learning the track. Things look promising. The circuit’s challenging, b ... mehr |
Interview with Luca Pirri, FIA GT3 Italian driver living in Shanghai
22.08.2008
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Q: Luca, it is your 3rd season in the FIA GT3 European Championship, you are Italian but you live in Shanghai, China. Is it difficult to prepare for races and organise your schedule?
R: Yes ... mehr |
Phoenix fastest in free practice session in Bucharest
22.08.2008
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It’s round 6 and the FIAGT Championship is in Bucharest, suffering the heat (around 35°). With the sun shining strongly onto the city circuit, and in the presence of the Romanian Prime Minister, the cars took to the track for the first time this weekend for the fre ... mehr |
Bucharest - Free Practice1 results
22.08.2008
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Results: 2008 Round 6 - Bucharest Free Practice 1
Weather sunny
Track conditions dry
1 6 GT1 Hezemans/Gollin Corvette Z06 1:18.135 38 141.49
2 33 GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp Aston Martin DB9 1:18.305 37 0.170 141.18
3 1 GT1 Bertolini/Bartels Maserati MC 12 1:18.364 40 0.229 141.08
4 5 GT1 Fassler/Deletraz ... mehr |
Andrea Bertolini : recordman !
22.08.2008
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Currently leading the FIA GT Championship with his team-mate Michael Bartels, Andrea Bertolini has good reason to be happy before the Bucharest round.
The 32-year-old Italian came from Fiorano, where he had beaten the lap record at the Fiorano ... mehr |
Gigawave : never mind the ballast...
22.08.2008
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With 40kg of success ballast from the Spa outing making this track even more of a challenge for Gigawave MotorSport’s DBR9, driver Allan Simonsen explains;
"Qualifying is so important at a track like this. Overtakin ... mehr |
Bertolini-Bartels on the Romanian ‘City’ Track Aiming at Proceeding with their Triumphant March
21.08.2008
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FIA GT Bucharest City Challenge Preview:
After the nth great feat undertaken by Maserati at the Spa 24 Hours of 3 August, with three MC12s classified in the first four positions and with the Vitaphone Ra ... mehr |
ProSpeed Competition ready to take on the streets of Bucharest
20.08.2008
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FIA GT – Round 6: Bucharest
A mere three weeks after the 24 Hours of Spa, the fifth round of the FIA GT championship, the following race is already on the horizon. On the 23rd and 24th August the FIA GT is heading f ... mehr |
Rd 6: Bucharest (Romania) – Detailed Timetable
19.08.2008
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August 22nd – 24th, 2008
Thursday, August 21st
13.00 – 19.00 FIA GT Championship Administrative Checks13.30 – 19.30 FIA GT Championship Initial Scrutineering14.00 – 20.00 FIA GT Championship FIA Checks15.00 – 16.00 British Formula 3 Internation ... mehr |
Bucharest - FIA Entry List
19.08.2008
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2008 FIA GT Championship - BUCHAREST (ROU) - 22nd & 24th August
# TEAM NAT Handicap Weights** DRIVER 1 NAT LIC DRIVER 2 NAT LIC CAR Cat.
1 Vitaphone Racing Team GER 80 kg Andrea Bertolini ITA ITA Michael Bartels GER GER 25 kg Maserati MC 12 GT1
2 Vitaphone Racing Team GER 60 kg Miguel Ramos POR POR Alexandre Negrao BRA BRA 25 kg Ma ... mehr |
Bucharest - This will be the third-ever street race for the FIA GT Championship
19.08.2008
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THE FIRST … IN HELSINKI
The first was ‘Thunder in Helsinki’, in 1997. The third-ever round of the fledgling FIA GT Championship, it saw an extremely popular victory from local hero JJ Lehto , who won the four-hour race with his team-mate Steve Soper and the Team BMW McLaren F1 GTR.
Lehto, who had won the first round of the championship at Hockenheim, start ... mehr |
A look at GT1 and GT2 after the Total 24 Hours of Spa
19.08.2008
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The 2008 Bucharest City Challenge will be the third street race held as part of the FIA GT Championship, after Helsinki in 1997 and Bucharest last year. However, it will go down as the first-ever event in the history to be run over a one-hour format, with a qualify ... mehr |
Bucharest Ring : what the drivers think...
19.08.2008
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Alexandre Negrao - nr 2 Vitaphone Maserati MC 12 :
"This will be my first time in Bucharest. But for sure, to race on a street circuit is always exciting. I think if we have a g ... mehr |
Back to the Streets of Bucharest
19.08.2008
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After the longest race of the season, on to the shortest ! But the experimental one-hour format, specially designed to suit the city circuit, is likely to give the huge crowds of enthusiastic spectators a fantastic show in the 2008 Bucharest City Challenge.
The FIA GT Championship will be heading to Romania for the second ti ... mehr |
Possible future for Audi TT in GT4
14.08.2008
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After a first appearance during the free practice sessions at Oschersleben, the ... mehr |
Next stop : Bucharest
14.08.2008
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The Bucharest event promoters paid a visit to the Total 24 Hours of Spa, including the President and CEO of the Bucharest Ring, Mr Hartmut Beyer, seen here with SRO Chairman Stephane Ratel.
The next round of the FIA GT Championship will take place at the Bucharest Ring, a spectacular city circuit circumnavigating the Romanian parliamentary buildings.
With an inn ... mehr |
KTM auch in Belgien mit Top-Vorstellung: Erneut zwei GT4 Klassensiege fuer den X-Bow
05.08.2008
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GT4 European Cup, Spa-Francorchamps
Im Rahmen des legendären 24-Stunden-Rennens von Spa war auch der GT4 European Cup in den Ardennen zu Gast. Eine große Herausforderung für den KTM X-Bow und seine Piloten – nic ... mehr |
Triple podium à domicile pour Eric De Doncker, toujours leader du championnat !
04.08.2008
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GT4 European Cup 2008 / 4. Spa
Pour son 4ème rendez-vous 2008, la GT4 European Cup a planté ses tréteaux à Francorchamps, avec au programme trois courses disputées en lever de rideau des prestigieuses 24 Heures de Spa. Et dès l ... mehr |
Jürgen Van Hover finds his speed at Spa
02.08.2008
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The race weekend ends for the GT4s at Spa with Jürgen Van Hover taking the win in the nr 3 SpeedLover ... mehr |
FIA GT4 : A second win for Buncombe
02.08.2008
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The second race of the weekend saw another victory for Alex Buncombe, driving the nr 14 RJN Motorsport Nissan 350Z. Not too far behind, was Jürgen Van Hover, getting a good place despite having transmission problems. In third once more came Eric De Doncker, pleased with this result despite all the problems.
In Sports Light, after a hard battle between the nr211 Lotus and ... mehr |
G&A Motorsport fastest again
01.08.2008
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Free Practice 2
On an overcast morning, with a wet track at the start, the GT4s got back out for their second session of the meeting.
Vladimir Udalenkov in the nr 6 Aston Matin N24 set the fastest time of 2:39.914, nearly 3 seconds faster than yesterday’s best! Setting second best time was Eric de Doncker in the nr 1 Motorsport98 Mustang FR500C, with a tim ... mehr |
GT4 : Spa Francorchamps free practice 2 results
01.08.2008
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Results: 2008 Round 4 - Spa-Francorchamps
Weather sunny
Track conditions dry
1 6 GT4 Kenis/Udalenkov BMW Z4 2:39.914 13 157.67
2 1 GT4 De Doncker Mustang FR500C 2:40.365 15 0.451 157.23
3 5 GT4 Engelhorn/Mayr-Melnhof Aston Martin N24 2:40.675 16 0.761 156.92
4 3 GT4 Van Hover Aston Martin N24 ... mehr |
GT4 - Spa-Francorchamps free practice 1 results
01.08.2008
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Results: 2008 Round 4 - Spa-Francorchamps
Weather sunny
Track conditions dry
1 6 GT4 Kenis/Udalenkov BMW Z4 2:42.535 16 155.13
2 1 GT4 De Doncker Mustang FR500C 2:42.808 11 0.273 154.87
3 60 GT4 Leisen Audi TT 2:43.380 11 0.845 154.33
4 3 GT4 Van Hover Aston Martin N24 2:43.416 16 0.881 154.29 ... mehr |
Work continues to progress at Potrero de los Funes
24.07.2008
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Work is progressing well at the Potrero de los Funes circuit, which will host the season finale of the 2008 FIA GT Championship. The impressive track, in the San Luis province in Argentina, is undergoing significant renovations before the teams and drivers head south in November.
... mehr |
KTM Racing - GT4 European Cup in Oschersleben
09.07.2008
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Spectacular races, big successes, but also a lot of bad luck – once more the GT4 races in Oschersleben were eventful and thrilling. The KTM-X-Bow drivers Catharina Felser, Christopher Haase and Dennis Retera exp ... mehr |
Moscow to host round of future FIA GT1 World Championship from 2010
08.07.2008
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On July 7th, Stephane Ratel and Patricia Kiefer visited the site of the future Eurasia Autodrome Domodedovo, which will be located near the Domodedovo Airport, 35 km South of Moscow, along with Eurasia Project Manager Pavel Volkov, Clive Bowen, Apex Circuit Design ... mehr |