Scuderia Playteam SaraFree’s Manuel Giao-Pedro Couceiro make it onto the podium for the second time this weekend

The second International Gt Open Race marking the official inauguration of the new Valencia street circuit brought a second podium this week end to the Portuguese pair of Playteam SaraFree, Giao-Couceiro, once again on the podium for the sixth time this year. Championship leaders Montermini-Maceratesi unfortunately did not score points during the weekend, finishing in 11th position at the end of race 2. However, they brilliantly keep the championship lead with 107 points 17points ahead of their Portuguese teammates (90).

The two Ferraris no. 3 and 4 started race 2 from 4th row behind the poleman Lietz. After a good start Manuel Giao and Michele Maceratesi were already strong in 2nd and 3rd position. A number of incidents in the few first laps of the race eliminated some of the strong competitors such as Belicchi and Ricci who collided along with the Trottet Ferrari of Moser spun out.

The two Playteam Ferraris made it more and more difficult for Policard. On lap 3 the three cars were braking side by side, with the Frenchman eventually touching both of the Scuderia Playteam Ferraris. As a result, Scuderia Playteam Sarafree also suffered and Maceratesi had to get back to the garage to fix the damaged underbody of the car that was coming loose.

Richard Lietz’s domination continued with Giao following closely behind. Maceratesi was in 13th position as he handed over the car to his team-mate Andrea Montermini at the ninth lap. Pedro Couceiro, at the wheel of the Ferrari F430 no. 4 was in sixth place despite a ten second handicap at the end of the driver change. Montermini was then ranked in tenth position.

In the second part of the race, nothing could stop Pedro Couceiro who finished in third place thus earning his place on the podium. Montermini on the other hand was not able to make such a strong showing and remained in 11th position all the way to the end of the race.

"At the start everything was going well," explained Michele Maceratesi. "Then all of a sudden everything went wrong. Policard touched and damaged my car. From that moment on the car started reacting differently. I realised I was losing the bottom of the car and had to drive back into the box."

"It was a difficult race with a car that was very unbalanced and difficult to brake. I had a hard time keeping it on the track." explains Andrea Montermini. "I am very disappointed. Some of the competitors think that it is only them on the track. Driving a car does not mean to be on your own on the track "

A very happy Pedro Couceiro commented: "It was hard because we had a ten second penalty thinking that it would be extremely difficult to obtain any result. Manuel Giao made a great start. It is a pity about the contact between Policard and Michele that even destabilized our car in the race. As for us, we were racing to finish in the points in order to preserve our position in the championship.

I believe we did a good job. I am so happy for the team. The championship outcome is open for us and the outlook positive for the series too." Pedro Couceiro continued.

"I am quite happy for our second podium of the weekend and the sixth of the season. It was quite hard today between the ambient temperature and the competition. It was a tough race indeed. I was involved in the incident between Michele and Policard. I could not do anything to avoid them. I touched the wall, but the car reacted well afterward. I was able to get away and managed not to lose any speed.

I also want to thank Pedro who did a good job in his part of the race. He kept us in a great position despite our handicap," according to Manuel Giao "It was great teamwork all around during the weekend, which places both of our two cars in the lead of the championship but also brings us to fight again each other."

- Agnes Carlier -  photo Scuderia Playteam Sarafree