Sensationeller Sieg von Stefan Mücke und Christophe Bouchut im ersten Rennen der FIA-GT-Meisterschaft in Zhuhai
25.03.2007:
Sensationeller Sieg von Stefan Mücke und Christophe Bouchut im ersten Rennen der FIA-GT-Meisterschaft in Zhuhai
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 Christophe Bouchut (Frankreich/40 Jahre) im Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT das zwei Stunden dauernde Rennen.
Es war zugleich der erste Sieg des Teams ALL-INKL.COM Reiter Lamborghini aus dem sächsischen Friedersdorf. "Unglaublich, ich kann es noch gar nicht fassen", jubelte Stefan Mücke nachdem sein Teamkollege Bouchut den 650 PS starken Sportwagen nach 2:00:47,212 Stunden über die Ziellinie des 4,318 km langen Kurses gefahren hatte. "Es war ein tolles Gefühl, ganz oben auf dem Siegerpodest zu stehen und die Nationalhymne zu hören."
Zweite wurden Philipp Peter/Luke Hines (Großbritannien/Belgien) in einer Corvette C6R mit 2,453 Sekunden Rückstand vor den Belgiern Anthony Kumpen/Bert Longin (Corvette C5R/4,110 Sekunden zurück).
"Das Auto lag schon besser als im Qualifying und wir konnten die Rundenzeiten der Spitzenfahrer mitgehen", analysierte Stefan Mücke. "Unsere Strategie in der Safety-Car-Phase hat das Rennen entschieden." Sein Teamchef René Münnich ergänzte: "Der erste Sieg ist immer der schönste. Eine tolle Leistung."
Von Startplatz 10 aus war Bouchut in den ersten von zehn Saisonläufen gegangen und konnte sich zu Beginn gleich um zwei Ränge verbessern. Nach rund 40 Minuten Renndauer stieg dann Stefan Mücke zu seiner Premiere in das Sportwagen-Cockpit, schaffte den Sprung auf Platz 7 und verringerte den Abstand zur Spitze.
Da sah es allerdings noch nicht nach einem Sieg aus, denn Titelverteidiger Michael Bartels aus Plettenberg, dessen Vitaphone-Fahrerkollege Thomas Biagi (Italien) am Samstag (24. März) die Pole Position herausgefahren hatte, lieferte sich mit seinem Maserati MC 12 GT1 einen packenden Kampf mit dem da führenden Belgier Longin.
Doch nach einer Stunde und 15 Minuten kam aufgrund von Reparaturarbeiten an defekten Randsteinen der Strecke eine Safety-Car-Phase. Und dank einer guten Taktik - der vorgeschriebene zweite Fahrerwechsel von Mücke auf Bouchut zum richtigen Zeitpunkt in dieser Phase - war der Franzose in Führung gegangen und gab diese in den letzten 19 Minuten nicht mehr ab. Favorit Bartels hatte da an Boden verloren und sein Kollege Biagi konnte vom Ende des Feldes nur noch bis auf Rang 6 nach vorn fahren.
Nach der Siegerehrung musste sich Stefan Mücke sputen, um in das Flugzeug nach Europa zu kommen. Denn bereits am Montag (26. März) sitzt er schon wieder im Rennauto: Im nagelneuen Lola Judd des tschechischen Lola-Werksteams Charouz Racing System will er beim ersten offiziellen Test des Jahres der Le-Mans-Serie (LMS) im französischen Paul Ricard antreten.
Im LMP1-Renner, den er zusammen mit dem ehemaligen Formel-1-Piloten Alex Yoong (Malaysia) sowie Jan Charouz pilotiert, steht für den 25-Jährigen Mitte Juni der Saisonhöhepunkt mit dem 24-Stunden-Rennen von Le Mans auf dem Programm.
Mit dem 650 PS starken offenen Sportwagen-Prototypen, der 5,5 Liter Hubraum hat, wird der Berliner alle sechs Läufe der diesjährigen LMS sowie im Oktober zwei Rennen in der American Le Mans Serie (ALMS) fahren - also stehen insgesamt noch 18 Rennen für Mücke-Junior auf dem Programm. "Von mir aus kann es so weitergehen, wie beim heutigen Saisonauftakt", sagte der Berliner.
Dessen Vater Peter, Chef des in der DTM, der Formel-3-Euroserie und in der Formel BMW Deutschland engagierten ASL-Teams Mücke Motorsport, war mit nach China gereist und freute sich ebenso über den Erfolg seines Sohnes: "Das Daumedrücken unseres gesamten Teams schein geholfen zu haben. Das war ein prima Rennen von Christophe und Stefan sowie ihrer Crew."
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 >>
The Spanish RSV Motorsport team makes sure its attendance to the new season of the International GT Open and de National GT Championship, and it takes responsibility of carrying out with the scheduled sportive programme for this year 2006. They are also going to take part in the prominent 24 Hours Spa in t weiter >>
ASL Team Mücke – Motorsports in FIA GT Championship
A new challenge is waiting for Stefan Mücke. From 2002 till 2006 the Berlin racer drove a Mercedes-Benz at the German Touringcar Challenge (DTM). For the coming season 2007 he will race in the FIA GT Championship for the ALL-INKL.COM weiter >>
Teams and drivers contacting the SRO London offices might have noticed that there’s a new face in the Team Relations department. Meet Paolo Callea, who has joined SRO to work on the FIA GT team relations.
Paolo has been actively involved in Motorsport since an early age. He had previous experience directly in karting, before moving to cars with Volvo and BMW. After he gra weiter >>
The 2006 edition of the FIA GT Championship book
- which also includes photos and reports on the inaugural season of the FIA GT3 European Championship
- is now available from Belgian publishers Apach.
The book, which is 144 pages long, has over 200 colour photos, and costs 42 euros.
For more information, or to pla weiter >>
Up until recently, the only way to get on-board camera images from a racing car or motorcycle was to transmit the images to the TV Compound via a helicopter hovering above the race circuit. However, following the introduction of digital microwave links around five years ago, Gigawave engineers set out to exploit the benefits offered by digital technology and eliminate the need fo weiter >>
French team First Racing is planning to run a team of Lamborghini Gallardo cars in the FIA GT3 European Championship this season. The First Racing workshops, in Magny-Cours, will take delivery of the three cars in mid-February. Fabien Giroix and Hans Reiter once worked together in the context of the DTM, resulting in this latest collaboration.
The Lamborghini Gallardo rac weiter >>
Aston Martin Racing BMS and Pirelli undertook two days of testing at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit on February 9th and 10th. Fabio Babini and Jamie Davies, who have been confirmed as the drivers of the nr 23 car for 2007, completed extensive testing of the Pirelli tyres, and worked on further development. The cars were also driven by
two young single-seater drivers, Alessa weiter >>
Monaco-based team JMB Racing has announced its racing plans for 2007. This includes entering two Maserati MC12 cars in the GT1 category of the 207 FIA GT Championship. The team will also enter three Ferrari 430 GT3 cars in the FIA GT3 European Championship, and will run two Maserati Trofeo cars in the GT4 European Cup.
JMB last ran Maserati MC 12 cars in the 2005 season, weiter >>
Bert Longin, driver with the GLPK Corvette for the last two years and threetimes race winner, has signed a two-year contract with his sponsors, Johnson Controls.
"I am really pleased with this," Belgian driver Bert said. "I think this is recognition of what I achieved last season. For me, it is a sign that I am doing my job. I have never had a two-year contract before; no weiter >>
The 2006 British and FIA GT3 European Champions, Leo Machitski and Sean Edwards respectively, have come together for 2007 to take the next step in GT racing, when they will race the Tech9 Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3-RSR.
The team undertook a shakedown onm February 7th at Brands Hatch. "The target was simply to put 200 km on the car and bed everything in," commented team ow weiter >>
The full range of Aston Martin racing cars have been testing at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit.
As well as the Aston Martin DBR9, which runs in the FIA GT Championship, the test included the DBRS9, a race-winner in the FIA GT3 European Championship last year, and the N24, which is one of the potential cars for the new GT4 European Championship.
BMS Scu weiter >>
After three intense days of testing in Adria on February 6th, 7th and 8th, Scuderia Playteam-Sarafree has announced the names of the drivers for their two Maserati MC 12 cars for the 2007 FIA GT Championship.
One car will be in the hands of 2006 Champion Andrea Bertolini and 2006 runner-up Andrea Piccini. The other car will be driven by Giambattista Giannoccaro and Alessa weiter >>
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