Highly promising start for the Ford GT Matech Racing !
13.04.2007:
Highly promising start for the Ford GT Matech Racing !
FIA-GT3 / Equivalency test Adria International Raceway
Having just arrived this Wednesday at the Adria International Raceway in order to take part in another equivalency test in view of the FIA-GT3 championship, the Matech Racing team have already scored their first victory. They completed an incredible race against time in order to bring this project to fruition, namely to bring a Ford GT up to race norms, in a serious test session with a highly successful machine ….
Better than a regulation, it is a technical philosophy that the teams appointed by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile and SRO Motorsport Group have to apply to ensure the development and the manufacture of cars retained for the FIA-GT3 Championship. A championship that experienced an enormous success as from the first year it came into being, enough to be at the root of numerous projects.
Amongst which Matech Racing, a Swiss structure who put it into their head to bring a myth back to life, namely the Ford GT40 ! In just a few months, the team run by Christian Schumacher, with workshops located within a stone’s throw of the Nürburgring in Germany, managed to convert the Ford GT into a race car. And after several test runs on the world renowned Eifel circuit, the Matech team headed off for Adria, for a first official run, and especially to take part in this now reputable equivalency test handled by Christophe Bouchut in person.
And the least one can say is that the Ford GT did not go unnoticed. Not only did this beauty prove itself to be fast, clocking up the best lap time of the day, but its overall preparation dumbfounded more than one, starting with Christophe Bouchut himself !
"Notwithstanding its young age, this Ford GT really impressed me ", the official FIA-GT3 driver commented." Right from the word go she was really easy to handle, and especially fast. I reckon this car has an enormous potential. Believe me they’ll be talking about this car in this type of race. We now need to see how it compares with the references in the category, but Matech Racing really carried out come great work …"
Apart from the lap times clocked by the Ford GT, it is also the practical side of the car that took Bouchut aback. "We know that she has great looks, and the effect she has on people is guaranteed. Once at the wheel I thought it would take quite a few minutes for the mechanics to fix and adjust the various elements, such as the windscreen, the dashboard, and the pedals; without forgetting the various bodywork components.
Well in fact quite the contrary! In just a couple of seconds, everything was OK, and I was out on the track. In fact in an endurance race situation, such accessibility allows the mechanics to work quickly which is an undeniable advantage. Everything has been well thought out, offering maximum efficiency …"
A perfect christening for the Matech Racing Ford GT, which will be back on track in Dijon next Tuesday and Wednesday for a further series of tests. And we are leaving the final word to Christophe Bouchut. "In my career as a driver I have come across lots of cars. Well I can tell you one thing; this Ford GT has loads of spirit... truly impressive!"
GT3 & GT4 - TESTING IN ADRIA AND DIJON
The testing and performance balancing process in the FIA GT3 European Championship and the GT4 European Cup will continue this month with a further two official test sessions,at the Italian circuit of Adria on April 11th, and the French track of Dijon-Prenois on April 17th and 18th.
Both test days are open to GT3 a weiter >>
The second round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship will take place in Silverstone, with an action-packed weekend of racing. For the FIA GT Championship, round two is the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy, with the coveted and historic Trophy itself as the ultimate goal. Silverstone will also see the first round of the Citation Cup, for non-professional drivers in GT1 cars, runni weiter >>
2007 LONDON TO SILVERSTONE SUPERCAR TOUR : MUCH ANTICIPATED !+
Friday May 4th
After the success of the first London to Silverstone Supercar Tour in 2006, the event will be back, bigger and better, for 2007, and will form the opening ceremony for the weekend.
The Tour is open to 21st century supercars. The participants will leave the Royal Automobile weiter >>
PSI DELIGHTED WITH SECOND PLACE
Racing in Zhuhai was a last-minute decision for Philippe Tillie’s team, PSI Experience, and the two drivers Philipp Peter and Luke Hines. The Corvette came through to take second place, after good strategy followed by a fine performance from the Austrian driver in the final laps, when he was pushing Bouchut all the way to the weiter >>
The first overall win of a new car or model is not something that happens every race ... although since 2004 such events have been more frequent than during the first few years of the FIA GT Championship !
The table below shows some of the big ‘first times’ in terms of overall wins, over the last ten years. The shaded rows show the manufacturer entries - full entries in 1 weiter >>
After two successful seasons in Belcar, with no less than seven victories, of which two in the 24 Hours of Zolder, Selleslagh Racing Team will no longer be competing in the Belgian GT championship this season. On the other hand they have opted once more to run in the FFSA-GT, with the Frenchmen Eric Cayrolle and Laurent Cazenave.
In addition the team is also taking on th weiter >>
PK Carsport, with Belgians Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin in the Corvette C5-R, experienced a very good opening round of the FIA GT Championship. Even if the result could have been even better, the team performed very good throughout the whole weekend, with a third spot in qualifying, a first place in the mornin weiter >>
FIA GT - GT1 DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP - PROVISIONAL CLASSIFICATION AFTER ROUND 1 (CHINA)
1 Christophe Bouchut FRA 10 10ex Stefan Mücke GER 10 103 Philipp Peter AUT 8 8ex Luke Hines GBR 8 85 Anthony Kumpen BEL 6 6ex Bert Longin BEL 6 67 Fabio Babini ITA 5 5ex Jamie Davies GBR 5 59 Mike Hezemans NED 4 4ex Jean-Denis Deletraz SUI 4 4 weiter >>
2007 FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP - CHAMPIONNAT GT DE LA FIA 2007ENTRY LIST / LISTE DES ENGAGES
1 Vitaphone Racing GER Maserati MC 12 GT12 Vitaphone Racing GER Maserati MC 12 GT14 Pekaracing BEL Corvette C5R LMGT15 Team Carsport Holland NED Corvette Z06 GT17 All-Inkl.com Racing GER Lamborghini Murciélago GT18 All-Inkl.com Racing GER Lamborghini weiter >>
The 2007 season of the FIA GT Championship got off to an exciting start at the Zhuhai International Circuit today, where the All-Inkl.com Racing Lamborghini Murciélago took a closely fought victory, giving Lamborghini its first international motorsport win. In fro weiter >>
REVIEW ROUND ONE – ZHUHAI (CHINA)FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP 2007
The Zhuhai International Circuit in China acted as host for the opening round of 2007 FIA GT championship, the only non-European FIA GT round. On Saturday morning at 09.30hrs local time the light turned to green, for the first free practic weiter >>
Stefan Mücke: Ein tolles Gefühl
Einen sensationellen Auftakt gab es am Sonntag (25.März) im ersten Saisonrennen der FIA-GT-Meisterschaft im südchinesischen Zhuhai: Der Berliner Ex-DTM-Pilot Stefan Mücke gewann zusammen mit dem dreimaligen Champion C weiter >>
DIARY - Sunday, 25 March 2007 Zhuhai (China)
– 1st round of the FIA GT Championship - Race Circuit: Zhuhai, length 4.300km- Weather: Warm-up and race - dry, and partly overcast, air temperature 22° C
Maserati MC12 nr 11, Andrea Bertolini (I) weiter >>
Christophe Bouchut and Stefan Mücke started the season in the best possible way, giving All-Inkl.com Racing and the Lamborghini Murciélago their first FIA GT win. With the new two-hour format, where strategy is incredibly important, the timing of the pit stops along with a safety-car period saw the nr 7 c weiter >>
There was plenty of action during Sunday morning’s 30-minute warm-up. Jonny Kane was the first to set the fastest time with the nr 17 Barwell Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9, but the other drivers soon improved.
After few minutes, Bert Longin, in the nr 4 PK Carsport Corvette C5-R, took the lead, with a lap in 1. weiter >>
1st round of the FIA GT Championship - qualifyingCircuit: Zhuhai, length 4.300kmWeather: Free practice 1 - grey, overcast and partly wet, air temperature 22° C
Maserati MC12 nr 11, Andrea Bertolini (I) - Andrea Piccini (ITA) Maserati MC12 nr weiter >>
- Stefan Mücke: Viele neue Erfahrungen
Von Startplatz 10 aus bestreitet der Berliner Stefan Mücke am Sonntag (25.März) seine Sportwagen-Premiere im ersten Rennen der diesjährigen FIA-GT-Meisterschaft im südchinesischen Zhuhai.
Der Franzose Christophe Bouchut, Mückes Fahrerkollege im sä weiter >>
The FIA GT Championship opened its eleventh season with the 2006 Championship-winning teams claiming pole in both categories – although for both drivers, it was their first FIA GT pole position !
2003 Champion Thomas Biagi placed the nr 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC 12 at the front of the grid for weiter >>
FIA GT first race in ZHUHAI - CHINA
Two new pole men for the FIA GT Championship ! Thomas Biagi claimed his first FIA GT pole position in the first round of 2007, setting a time of 1:31.339 in an extremely close qualifying session around the 4.318 km Zhuhai International Circuit. The Italian driver weiter >>
With the rain continuing in Zhuhai, the teams were faced with a largely wet second free practice session. However, conditions dried towards the end, and times fell as some teams ventured out on slicks. The best lap was set by Philipp Peter in the nr 19 PSI Corvette C6, with a time of 1:34.432, 1.7 seconds ahead of the C weiter >>
The first 80-minute practice season of the year was close and varied, with rain showers and a wet track making things even more interesting, with slick, intermediate and wet tyres all being used. Four different makes led the session, with Aston Martin, Lamborghini, Maserati and finally Corvette all taki weiter >>
The teams and drivers have gathered in Zhuhai for the first round of the 2007 season. One of the latest teams to be announced was PSI Experience, the team owned by Philippe Tillie. Their Corvette C6 will be driven in Zhuhai by FIA GT regular Philipp Peter, and newcomer Luke Hines, runner-up in the British GT Championshi weiter >>
FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP 2007 PREVIEW ROUND ONE – ZHUHAI (CHINA)
All-Inkl.com Reiter Lamborghini was present with three cars for the media launch of the FIA GT Championship (22-23 February 2007) in Monza, Italy. Jos Menten was the only driver behind the wheel of the Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT #8.
His fellow countryman Peter Kox was unable to att weiter >>
– FIA-GT-Saisonauftakt am Wochenende im chinesischen Zhuhai
– Montag Le-Mans-Test in Paul Ricard
In 19 Rennen rund um den Erdball – Stefan Mücke ist am Dienstag (20. März) aus der deutschen Hauptstadt zu seiner motorsportlichen Weltreise in der Sportwagen-Szene aufgebrochen. Der Berliner, der von 2002 bis 2006 in den Deutschen Tourenwagen Masters (D weiter >>
SKY SPORTS AND ITV’s MEN & MOTORS ADD TO STELLAR LINE-UP
With the combination of a prime-time programme on leading British sports network Sky Sports, and up to 47 hours ofmlive television on ITV-owned Men and Motors, the FIA GT Championship is heading for its best-ever distribution on British television. Along with the continuation of the 26-minute highl weiter >>
Matech Racing has announced their plans to enter three Ford GT cars in the 2007 season of the FIA GT3 European Championship. This project is in the hands of Martin Bartek, owner of the Matech Concepts Company, located in Switzerland. The Swiss team has called on Christian Schumacher, of Belgium, to prepare the Ford GT cars for their homologation with the FIA.
Andreas Hain weiter >>
Team AutoGT Racing France launched the new Morgan Aero 8 in Paris this week, with the goal of taking part in the FIA GT3 European Championship with three cars.
Former Formula One driver, Jacques Laffite should race with his daughter Margot. Margot Laffite is used to racing on ice, in the Andros Trophy, but this will be her first full season on tarmac ! Frédéderic Makowie weiter >>
Over two days, a number of FIA GT3 European Championship teams were in Nogaro for the second official test session: Tech9 Motorsport was present with one Porsche 997 Cup, BMS Scuderia Italia with two Aston Martin DBRS9, JMB with one Ferrari 430 GT3 and Apex Motorsport with the new Jaguar XKR GT3.
For Tech9, BMS and JMB, those test sessions were a good opportunity to try o weiter >>
Aston Martin Racing BMS has signed up two exciting young drivers, fresh from single-seaters, to drive the nr 22 Aston Martin DBR9. We spoke to them in Nogaro ...
Ferdinando, this season is going to be your first season in the FIA GT Championship, what did you do before?
FM : "I raced in F3000 in 2004, then I did two years in GP2, one of t weiter >>
Following a recent decision by the FIA, the Lister Storm GT is now eligible to compete for a further two years in the FIA GT Championship.
A statement from Lister Racing explained : "Looking at the times set at the recent test in Monza, and comparing them with Tom Coronel’s times in the Storm, set two years’ ago in similar conditions, the car will still be very competiti weiter >>
Starting with the 2007 season, the team formerly known as Racealliance will be renamed Jetalliance Racing. This is due to the new majority shareholder, the Jetalliance Group.
The Austrian Aston Martin Importer Karner Holding remains a partner with a strategic 10% share. Katharina Lichtner-Hoyer, sister of majority shareholder Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer, has been named as CEO. weiter >>
After a successful test in Monza, the Scuderia Ecosse team were out on track a little closer to home, taking advantage of being based near to Knockhill Circuit. Tomas Enge, Tim Mullen and Andrew Kirkaldy were on driving duty; this was Tomas’ first run with the team so a chance for everyone to get acquainted.
The serious business of the day was to test various Pirelli tyre weiter >>
Monday night saw the PK Carsport season officially get underway in the Versuz discothèque in Hasselt. Drivers Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin will be driving the team’s Corvette C5-R in the FIA GT Championship, as well as racing a Corvette Z06 in the Belcar.
"Due to the change of the regulations we had no choice and we had to go from three to two drivers" said Anthony Kump weiter >>
Barwell Motorsport’s Jonathan Cocker, who will make his GT1 debut in Zhuhai, has been named as one of the 20 finalists for the Motor Sport Association’s new British Race Elite programme.
David Brabham was one of those with the task of selecting the 20 drivers, aged between 16 and 25, who would go through to the next stage. "We tried to cover as many racing categories as weiter >>
2006 Champions AF Corse, to be known as AF Corse Motorola for the 2007 season, will be returning to defend their title with two Ferrari 430 GT2 cars and four top drivers ! For 2007, the nr 50 Ferrari 430 GT2 will be driven by Toni Vilander and Dirk Müller, while the nr 51 car will be in the hands of Gianmaria Bruni and Stephane Ortelili.
Returning to the team after racing weiter >>
Michael Bartels has announced that Vitaphone Racing fully intends to defend their titles in the GT1 category - including aiming for three-in-a-row in the Teams title, which it won in 2005 and 2006.
The German team will enter two Maserati MC 12 cars, shod this year with Michelin tyres. "It will not be easy to achieve our goals," Bartels admitted. "The competition will be e weiter >>
The cars will soon be loaded into the plane, and will set off for Zhuhai, China, where the first event of the 2007 season will take place. The first in a new era of two-hour races,with two obligatory pit stops including driver change - ten years after the first FIA GT race took place in 1997.
The entry grid for this first race is impressive, and with so many top driver li weiter >>
2007 FIA GT Championhsip Round 1 - ZHUHAI CHINA
1 Vitaphone Racing Team GER Michael Bartels GER Thomas Biagi ITA Maserati MC 12 GT1 GT1
2 Vitaphone Racing Team GER Miguel Ramos POR Christian Montanari RSM Maserati MC 12 GT1 GT1
4 GLPK Carsport BEL Anthony Kumpen BEL Bert Longin BEL Corvette C5R GT1
5 Carsport Holland NED Jean-Denis Deletraz weiter >>
This week saw the GT4 European Cup get underway at the Paul Armagnac circuit in Nogaro, France, with the first performance balancing tests of some of the cars due to take part in this year’s series.
Four different models of car were presented for testing : the Ford Mustang FR 500 GT, Nissan 350 Evo, Lotus Sport Exige and Aston Martin Vantage N24. They were put through th weiter >>
The Ford GT lands up in the FIA-GT3 championship !
This time the information is official; the Ford GT, worthy successor of the mythical GT40, will as from 2007 appear in GT3 version. And on top of that it will be competing in the European FIA-GT3 championship, all thanks to the initiative of an in weiter >>
Pos Car Class Car Thursday Friday Fastest
23 Aston Martin Racing BMSGT1 Aston Martin DBR9 1:46.622 1:45.504 1:45.504
33 Race Alliance GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 1:47.292 1:46.420 1:46.420
3 Phoenix GT1 Aston Martin DBR9 1:46.837 1:46.837
8 All-Inkl.com Racing GT1 Lamborghini Murciélago 1:47.802 1:47.802
weiter >>
The 2007 season of the FIA GT Championship got underway in Monza, with a press conference and test session around the powerful circuit.
Three sessions took place on track for the GT1 and GT2 cars, with a total of 20 cars taking to the track. The best time of the day was set by the nr 23 Aston Martin Racing BMS weiter >>
2007 FIA GT Championhsip
3 Phoenix Racing GER Giorgio Mondini Emmanuel Collard FRA Matteo Malucelli ITA Aston Martin DBR9 GT1
7 All-Inkl.com Reiter Lamborghini GER Christophe Bouchut FRA Stefan Mücke GER Marc Basseng GER Lamborghini Murciélago GT1
8 All-Inkl.com Reiter Lamborghini GE weiter >>
New team Spectrum Motorsport, led by Dana Brewer, is planning to enter two Saleen cars in the 2007 season of the FIA GT Championship. One car will be entered in the full season, and will be driven by two as-yet-unnamed American drivers, while the second car, to run in the Citation Cup, will weiter >>
Eine große Auswahl an Wetten rund um das Thema Motorsport und Formel 1 findet man auf dem Online Portal des Sportwetten Anbieters Interwetten.com
Falls Sie Fan des Motorsports sind, sollten Sie bei youwin.com wetten – der Wettanbieter mit den besten Quoten und Wettmärkten.
Welcome to Vertex Auto, your best source for porsche car parts | Chassis Dyno | formal dresses online
Having just arrived this Wednesday at the Adria International Raceway in order to take part in another equivalency test in view of the FIA-GT3 championship, the Matech Racing team have already scored their first victory. They completed an incredible race against time in order to bring this project to fruition, namely to bring a Ford GT up to race norms, in a serious test session with a highly successful machine ….