One-two for Ferrari in FIA GT2 in China, with the AF Corse
Motorola team
25 March 2007 – The Italian AF Corse Motorola team
has started the FIA Grand Touring championship with a one-two
finish at China’s Zhuhai circuit, running the Ferrari
F430 GT cars developed by the Corse Clienti department of
Maranello. The crew of Dirk Mueller and Toni Vilander won
the closely contested GT2 class, ahead of team-mates Gianmaria
Bruni and Stephane Ortelli.
It was a difficult race with the safety car out on track
for a long time, while the Porsche of Collard and Malucelli,
that crossed the finish line first in the category was disqualified
from the final results after post-race scrutineering. In the
GT1 class, which was devoid of Ferrari entries, victory went
to the Lamborghini of Bouchut and Muecke.
For the record, Ortelli was leading at half-distance when
he collided heavily with a manhole cover on the racing line
at the final corner, damaging his left front tyre, compelling
the number 51 AF Corse Motorola F430 GT to complete an entire
lap in this state before being able to pit, thus losing the
lead.
Dirk Mueller: “I am very happy with this result which
is the best possible start to the championship for our AF
Corse Motorola Team.” Toni Vilander: “This weekend
has been a learning curve for me and my main concern was not
to make any mistakes. The Michelin tyres performed faultlessly
all race long.”
Gianmaria Bruni: “What happened to Stephane was a real
shame, because we had a comfortable lead after the first pit
stop and the F430 GT was very quick.” Stephane Ortelli:
“Today, my team-mate Gimmi did most of the work, handing
me the car in the lead, but then I had that incident which
was really bad luck!”
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