Montermini-Maceratesi (Playteam) Win, Battle for Title Fiercer than Ever• Italian Pair Takes Also Championship Lead• GPC’s Peter-Bonetti, 2nd in Race and in Championship• Lancieri-Romanini Give Villois’ Aston Martin First Victory in GTS
Andrea Montermini and Michele Maceratesi took their second win of the season in the Pro-Am race in Oschersleben, after a solid light-to-flag performance with their Playteam SaraFree Ferrari 430. The Italian pair preceded GPC’s Philipp Peter-Alessandro Bonetti. The two pairs are now first and second in the provisional standings, separated by a thin margin (2 points, 74 vs. 72) while former leaders Aicart-Guerrero (GTA Mosler) did not score points today and remain at 71 points. Another Ferrari 430, the Advanced Engineering one of Damien Pasini-Stefano Livio, took third place in the race and is also third in the championship, where the situation could not be closest (4 teams in 6 points).
It was also an historical day in the GTS class, where Gabriele Lancieri and Diego Romanini gave the Aston Martin DBRS9 its first victory in the GT Open and the Villois Racing the maiden win in its young history.
Gianni Giudici and Andrea Perlini (Ferrari 360) obtained a solitary success in the GTB class.
PADDOCK RUN-DOWN AND FREE PRACTICE – With the absence of three cars with respect to the official entry list (the two Sofrev ASP Porsches 997 Cup and the Ferrari 430 Challenge of Hexagon Racing), 28 cars are present in the warm circuit near Magdeburg. To be noted, a number of changes in the driver line-ups of teams Latorre, Racing Box and Villois.
Unfortunately, free practice took a heavy toll, as two cars are heavily damaged in accidents and cannot be repaired on the spot. These are the Sun Red #14 of Fernández-Llobet and the Ferrari 360 Challenge of Gini-Arlotti. It seems that the Oschersleben circuit is even more technical and demanding after the recent modification to the first corner!
QUALIFYING 1 – On Saturday morning, the bad luck seems to continue and the session is interrupted twice. First it is the Sun Red Ferrari 430 Challenge of Adrià Matheu to hit the barriers, then a contact between the Ferraris of Severin and Gattuso forces a long time of inaction to clean the track from oil spilled all over.
Pole is for Andrea Montermini on the Playteam Ferrari 430 ahead of thre other 430s (Sundberg, Pasini, Peter) and the Sun Red driven for the first time by GP2 star Ernesto Viso. In GTS, a brilliant maiden pole for Gabriele Lancieri and the Villois Racing Aston Martin DBRS9, ahead of the Vipers.
HANDICAPS PRO-AM RACE#11 Camathias-Lietz (Autorlando Porsche) – 45”#18 Bobbi-Frezza (GPC Ferrari)- 25’’#23 Roda-Mowlem (GPC Ferrari) -25’’#31 Azzoli-Mocci (Racing Box Viper) -30”#33 Romagnoli-Marchetti (Latorre Viper) -30’’
RACE REPORT -At the lights, the biggest challenge for the 25 starting cars seems to be to go through the first chicane unscathed. It is almost achieved: no major drama, but the GTA Mosler of Guerrero runs wide and the Advanced Engineering Ferrari of Gattuso is hit at the back. The Mosler will suffer the same misfortune one lap later in the same spot, being forced to a long stop in the pits. Another car in the pits is the Latorre Viper of Marchetti, which failed to start.Poleman Montermini takes the lead with authority, followed by Sundberg (RSV Ferrari), Peter (GPC Ferrari), Pasini (Advanced Ferrari) and Viso (Sun Red). The young Venezuelan is in great shape, especially at the braking at the end of the straight, where he passes Pasini (lap 4) and Sundberg (lap 5) to take third spot behind Montermini and Peter (separated by 6”). On lap 8, Pasini misses the breaking point, getting past by Busnelli, Frezza and Camathias. In GTS, the Villois Aston of Lancieri leads ahead the Vipers of Azzoli (Racing Box) and Sabatini (Proteam).
Sundberg manages to retake third on lap 10, after passing the SunRed which starts losing rythm and will lose ground and positions.
When the driver change window opens, the GPC Ferrari of Frezza-Bobbi and the Autorlando Porsche of Camathias-Lietz are the firsts to stop. In lap 17, the leader comes in after having to avoid the Viper of Sabatini, which spins ... in the pits entrance lane.
The GPC Ferrari of Peter-Bonetti and the RSV Ferrari of Sundberg-Romero are the last to stop, in lap 21. Once stops are over, the table still sees the Playteam #1, now driven by Maceratesi, in the lead, with a bigger gap (13”) on Bonetti (Ferrari GPC), Livio (AE Ferrari, who has a contact with the Sun Red when he laps it), Romero (RSV Ferrari), Massironi, Bobbi, Lietz and Mowlem. Romanini (Villois Aston) is ninth and leads the GTS category ahead of a very quick Geri (on the Racing Box Lamborghini) and the second Villois Aston of Wiser.
A charging Matteo Bobbi puts the show in the final ten laps, as he passes Massironi (lap 27), Romero (lap 32) and Livio (lap 34) to take third place behind the undisturbed pace-setters, Maceratesi and Bonetti. But the Italian and his GPC Ferrari, as the Autorlando Porsche #11, incurs in a 20” penalty for not having stopped enough time for the driver change. The Racing Box of Mocci is the last car to retire, in lap 31. Gianni Giudici and Andrea Perlini (Ferrari 360) took the laurels in GTB after a solitary race.
STANDINGS AFTER 7 ROUNDS: Montermini-Maceratesi, 74; Peter-Bonetti, 72; Aicart-Guerrero, 71; Livio-Pasini, 68; Massironi-Busnelli, 65, Roda-Mowlem, 59; Lietz-Camathias, 57; Giudici, 45; Romero-Sundberg, 43; etcs
