SILVERSTONE GT3 RACE REPORT

The second round of the European GT3 Championship, that took place in one of the temples of motorsports, Silverstone, turned out to be one of the most frustrating weekends in the young history of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT, as all the Audis R8 LMS on track struggled to find a competitive pace throughout the week-end. In the case of the R8s of the Belgian squad, things got a little bit better on Sunday, once the tyre pressure was modified, but the car of Greg Franchi-Enzo Ide, after a terrific start, fell innocent victim of an accident at turn 1. A 19th position by the team’s other car of Didier André-Tobias Neuser in Race 2 was the best result of the weekend.

There was a clear sentiment of frustration in the pits of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT at the end of this British round of the FIA GT3. Following the very successful debut in Portugal and the brilliant win taken by Franchi-Ide in Race2 in Portimão, the team was aiming at moregood results, but expectations were dashed since practice and qualifying. Team Manager Vincent Vosse assesses: “We are clearly disappointed, but one thing is reassuring: the lack of pace was not a problem imputable to our team. It is all the Audis R8 which have sufferedagainst the competition and could not do any better than an 8th place. This tells that probably something has to be looked at in the balance of performance. This said, our cars were in trouble with the tires during all weekend. Things only got better once we changed the tyre pressure. It is always a bet not to follow the manufacturer’s indications, but lap times proved us right. The last misfortune was the accident at the start of Race 2 where Greg was completely innocent: there is nothing to do when an accident happens behind you and one of the cars involved, completely out of control, hits you and carries you away. The car is damaged, for sure, but hopefully, the chassis is in one piece. The objective now is to repair it properly ahead our next commitments.”

Race 1 in England started with the B drivers at the wheel of the R8s LMS, Enzo Ide havingqualified 9th and new-comer Tobias Neuser 12th. The young German had a difficult debut,given the tire problems, and spun twice after an early contact by another car disrupted thebalance of his Audi. In the second stint, Franchi and André struggled with the ageing tires, toeventually finish 20th and 24th, respectively.

On Sunday, once the decision was taken to modify the tyre pressures, there were hopes ofbetter results, especially after the sensational kick-off of Greg Franchi, who, starting fromposition 19, had climbed to 13th at the end of the straight. “But when I was turning into thefirst corner”, explains the Belgian, “I was suddenly hit by a Mercedes which was crossing thetrack after hitting the pit wall as a consequence of an accident in the last rows of the grid.There is nothing I could do, and our hopes to finish the weekend on a higher note weredashed. I am happy to be OK and hope the car is not too damaged. Really, it wasn’t our bestweekend...”

Tobias Neuser and Didier André had a less eventful race, which they ended in 19th position.The Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is now focusing on the next event of the FIA GT3 whichwill bring them to Navarra, a track where the team has raced two weeks ago in the BlancpainEndurance Series, taking two podium finishes, with the clear determination of puttingSilverstone’s disappointment behind.

European FIA GT3 – Round 2Silverstone (GB)

Results Race 11. Leo-Castellacci (Ferrari 458 Italia) 28 laps in 1h00m40s7832. Lesoudier-Martin (Aston Martin DBRS9) +10s4333. Glauque-Parisy (Mercedes SLS) +14s1874. Sandström-Al Faisal (BMW Z4 GT3) +14s5365. Vos-den Boer (BMW Z4 GT3) +24s40820. Ide-Franchi (Audi R8 LMS) +1m07s20024. André-Neuser (Audi R8 LMS) +2m05s789

Results Race 21. Vos-den Boer (BMW Z4 GT3) 27 laps in 1h00m57s2862. Colen-Katsburg (BMW Z4 GT3) + 1s0953. Lesoudier-Martin (Aston Martin DBRS9) + 5s4204. Brown-Geddie (Ferrari F458 Italia) +11s0185. Castellacci-Leo (Ferrari 458 Italia) +16s71819. Neuser-André (Audi R8 LMS) +1m44s186Ret. Ide-Franchi (Audi R8 LMS) 0 laps (accident)

Championship Standings after Round 4 of 121. Castellacci-Leo 43 points2. Sandström-Al Faisal 373. Walter-Hürtgen 364. Franchi-Ide 27Glauque-Parisy 2712. Halliday-André 8

Next RoundNavarra (ES), 2-3 July 2011.