Busnelli-Massironi (Playteam Ferrari) Win Memorable Race in Brands

• Italian Pair triumphs by 0.1 seconds in closest-fought GT Open race so far • Pasini-Livio (Advanced Engineering Ferrari) second after great duel • Petrini-Wiser give Villois Racing and Aston Martin a second success in GTS • Giudici-Raimondi (Ferrari 360) on top in GTB

The Pro-Am race in Brands Hatch will be remembered as one of the most closely-fought GT races and probably the most exciting one in the young history of the series. Max Busnelli and Mauro Massironi, at the wheel of their Playteam SaraFree Ferrari 430, took their third victory of the season after an heroic fight with the Advanced Engineering’s 430 of Damien Pasini ans Stefano Livio. The two cars ended the race side by side, separated by 0.1 seconds. Matteo Bobbi and Marco Frezza (GPC) completed an all-Ferrari, all-Italian podium. Marco Petrini-Massimiliano Wiser won in GTS, leading an Aston Martin one-two and giving the Villois Racing its second victory. GT veteran Gianni Giudici, this time associated with Raffaele Raimondi, brought the Ferrari 360 Challenge to another victory in GTB. There was also drama in this sunny afternoon in Brands, as Cor Euser suffered a massive shunt in the straight but luckily escaped uninjured. Still, this will be a wonderful race day to remember for attending fans because of the great show in the track. Damien Pasini, despite the disappointment for falling very short from victory, perfectly summarized everybody’s feelings: “This is what racing should be, and this is why we love the GT Open!”

PADDOCK RUN-DOWN It’s a 24-car strong entry that arrived in Brands Hatch, after quite a long journey for most of the teams. Latest notable changes see Scuderia Giudici and Advanced Engineering dropping one of their cars each, while Scuderia La Torre is bringing only one of its Vipers.

With regard to drivers, the main change is the absence, for family reasons, of Giuseppe Chiminelli in the second Autorlando Porsche. He is replaced by Marco Jacoboni. The two free practice sessions saw no major incidents, a majority of drivers and teams using the time to set-up the machines and acquaint themselves to the demanding English track. The only incident worth of mention sees the Lamborghini of Jaime Sanz de Baranda going off at Druids and hitting the tyre wall; the car is damaged but will be repared on time for the races. QUALIFYING 1 Day light is starting to fade away and only the most passionate fans are still in the circuit, resisting to strong winds, when the first qualifying session starts. It will be a magnificent battle that ends with 11 cars (representing 4 different makes) within a second and promises a highly-fought Pro-Am race on Saturday. The pole was eventually conquered by Max Busnelli, in the Playteam Sarafree Ferrari 430, only 0.062 seconds ahead of the Sun Red 21, brilliantly driven by German WTCC driver Peter Terting. Follow the Ferraris of Montermini, Sundberg, Pasini and Bobbi and the Mosler of Aicart, while series leader Camathias is tenth. Angel De Castro takes pole in GTS, with the Lamborghini, and Gianni Giudici (Ferrari 360 Challenge) is fastest among GTBs.

HANDICAPS PRO-AM RACE

Driver change window: Between minutes 15 and 24 Driver change minimum time (for all): 55 sec.#5 Romero-Sundberg (RSV Ferrari): 15” #11 Lietz-Camathias (Autorlando Porsche): 45” #23 Mowlem-Roda (GPC Ferrari): 20” #38 Lancieri-Romanini (Villois Aston Martin): 35” #43 Giudici-Raimondi (Giudici Ferrari) : 40’’ #44 Arlotti-Gini (Giudici Ferrari) : 15’’ #60 Cioci-Geri (Racing Box Lamborghini) : 25’’

PRO-AM RACE REPORT At the green light, it is a perfect start for poleman Busnelli, in the Playteam Ferrari 340, ahead of Terting (Sun Red), Sundberg (RSV Ferrari) and Pasini (Advanced Engineering Ferrari), while, Montermini in the other Playteam’s 430 gets bumped by the GTA Mosler of Aicart at Druids, with both cars suffering some body damage and the Ferrari having to stop to change a punctured tire. The first few laps see a superb battle for the lead, with Terting trying almost everywhere (on the outside as well as on the inside) to pass Busnelli and the leader responding to every attack with great calm. The show is so beautiful that everybody seems to ignore Pasini, who has passed Sundberg for third on lap 3, and overtakes Terting by surprise in the straight on lap 10. Bobbi is fifth ahead of Aicart (GTA Mosler), Amorim (RSV Ferrari), Bonetti (GPC Ferrari), Azzoli (Racing Box Viper), Roda (GPC Ferrari) and Camathias (Autorlando Porsche). In the meantime, Marchetti is in the pits with a problem in his La Torre Viper while Azzoli, in Racing Box’s sister car, crashes on lap 4, while leading the GTS class, Sainz (Lamborghini) suffers a puncture and Petrobelli runs off but resumes the track. While gaps remain terribly tight, it is Camathias opening the driver change ‘ballet’. When everyone is done with driver change and handicaps, it is Livio leading ahead Massironi, but only for a short while as the Advance Engineering driver runs wide at Druids and is passed soon after.

Frezza is third, followed by Zapata, Romero, Guerrero, Peter, Mowlem, Lietz and Wiser, first in the Villois Aston Martin. Comes then, on lap 23, a really scary moment, when the Marcos of Cor Euser, runs wide at the entrance of the straight, gets out of control in the grass and hits hard the rail before spinning many times and stopping in the middle of the straight. The veteran Dutchman, fortunately, emerges unscathed, while the safety-car is out for 5 laps. The remaining few laps, with all cars running close after restart, sees even more action. First, Zapata (Sun Red) drops from fourth to ninth in one move, when he opens too much the door at Hill Bend. Then, Livio manages to catch Massironi: the last two laps are of absolute excitement, with the two Ferraris running side by side. Masssironi, though, manages to keep the advantage and conquers victory. The two Astons make a one-two for the Villois Racing in GTS and Giudici-Raimondi take yet another victory in GTB.

Today’s GT Open race (26 laps) will start at 13:05 local time. TV report on Eurosport 2 at 17:30 CET.