LOEB/PARENTE TAKE VICTORY IN SLOVAKIAN THRILLER
Sebastien Loeb (FRA) and Alvaro Parente (PRT) took a memorable victory in this mornings qualifying race at Slovakia Ring after a thrilling and action packed hour of GT sprint action.
Parente made an astonishing 8th to 2nd position move at the start of the race to ensure team mate Loeb was in prime position to later snatch the lead from the leading #12 Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra driven by Niki Mayr-Melnhof (AUT) with twenty minutes of the race remaining. Loeb executed a well-judged move in his McLaren MP4-12C and despite some initial retaliation from Melnhof after he backed off for a yellow flag, the 9-time World Rally Champion crossed the finishing line with 4.753 seconds to spare.
In second position, scoring six points and increasing their series points lead was Stphane Ortelli (MCO) and Laurens Vanthoor (BEL) in the #11 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra. Fighting back from a qualifying penalty that saw them start, Ortelli overtook Peter Koxs (NDL) Lamborghini Blancpain Reiter GT3 car to delight the team with another consistent points finish to stretch their advantage in the title race to 16 points.
Partnered with Kox was Stefan Rosina (SLK) and the Slovakian fans favourite delivered the basis for 3rd position with an excellent first stint in the Lamborghini Gallardo FLII. Finishing in 4th position was the second of the Sebastien Loeb Racing McLarens driven by Andreas Zuber (AUT) and Mike Parisy (FRA) to make it a very satisfactory race for the French squad.
The fight at the front of the field was thrilling in the second half of the race and at one stage the top five positions were covered by just 0.7s. Among the group was the HTP Gravity Charouz Mercedes driven by Alon Day (ISR), who fought through to second place with a daring move on Mayr Melnhofs Audi R8 LMS ultra. However, the subsequent contact resulted in a drive through penalty demoting the Israeli to 10th place and out of the points. Earlier in the race, Ren Rast (DEU) had opened up a healthy lead over Parente before a long safety car to recover the BMW Sports Trophy Team India car of Armaan Ebrahim (IND) erased the Germans advantage.
The Pro-Am category produced equally thrilling battles at the front of the field with the #2 HTP Gravity Charouz Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 driven by Andreas Simonsen (SWE) making a sensational late race manoeuvre to take maximum points. The Swede, who shares with Russian team mate, Sergei Afanasiev (RUS), overtook the points leader, Hari Proczyk (AUT), in the GRT Grasser Lamborghini to claim the class win. Proczyks team mate, Dominik Baumann (DEU) enjoyed an excellent opening stint to hand over the class lead but the Lamborghini eventually finished 4th in Pro-Am after a separate late-race spin.
The HTP Gravity Charouz drivers now lead the GRT Grasser pair by just one point in the Pro-Am table. Rounding out the Pro-Am top three was Alex Buncombe (GBR) and Wolfgang Reip (BEL) after a solid drive in the Nissan GT Academy Team RJN entry.
In the Gentlemen Trophy class, Michele Rugolo (ITA) and Claudio Sdanewitsch (DEU) took a clear win in their AF Corse run Ferrari 458 Italia. Despite a first corner excursion from Rugolo, the pair finished well ahead of category points leaders Petr Charouz (CZE) and Jan Stovicek (CZE) to score a debut victory and thus line up in class pole for the main race later this afternoon.
The teams and drivers now have a short break before the main race gets underway at 14.15cet this afternoon. You can follow live streaming of the main race, complete with timing herehttp://www.fiagtseries.com/pages/live
Qualifying RaceTop Ten finishers
Pos/Cl Driver Team/Car 1. PRO Loeb/Parente Sebastien Loeb McLaren 2. PRO Ortelli/Vanthoor Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi3. PRO Kox/Rosina Lamborghini Blancpain Reiter Lamborghini4. PRO Zuber/Parisy Sebastien Loeb McLaren 5. PRO Mayr-Melnhof/Rast Team WRT Audi6. PRO-AM Afanasiev/Simonsen HTP Gravity Charouz Mercedes 7. PRO Khodair/Bueno BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil 8. PRO Zonta/Jiminez BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil 9. PRO Sandstrom/Stippler Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi 10. PRO Day/Buhk HTP Gravity Charouz Mercedes
FULL RACE RESULT HERE
Catch up on the updated points table herehttp://www.fiagtseries.com/results/driver-standings
QUOTES
Sbastien Loeb (FRA) Sbastien Loeb Racing McLaren MP4-12C (Pro)Alvaro did an incredible start when he managed to put the car in second place, and when I took my stint I was able to overtake the Audi and put the car in front. After that, we had a yellow flag as a Mercedes had just stopped on the outside of the corner, so it was a bit tricky to push there. I did not want to make a mistake and be faster in sector two under the yellow flag so I was careful, maybe a bit too much. We were not so lucky since the start of the season except for the first race in Nogaro so I really hope this Qualifying Race will be a turning point in our season.
Andreas Simonsen (SWE), HTP Gravity Charouz Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 (Pro-Am)The beginning of my stint was quite difficult because I was in the traffic with new tyres and I needed a free lap to get good speed. I was stuck behind the Grasser Lamborghini, which was really quick on the fast section of the track but on the slow parts I managed to catch him up a bit. Then he made a slight mistake and I managed to overtake him on the inside. We had a small contact but only normal racing. It is good to be on Pole of the Pro Am class in the Main Race and hopefully we will be there again this afternoon.
Claudio Sdanewitsch (DEU), AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia (Gentlemen Trophy)There is a great atmosphere in FIA GT Series, and I am glad to be among racing with the best GT drivers in the world. For our first race, being on pole position for the Qualifying Race, and win it for the Gentlemen Trophy is very good. During the race, when Michele (Rugolo) handed the car over to me it was a bit difficult as I had no car behind and no car in front of me so I had to push on my own and keep my own pace during the whole race. The team did a great job, as well as Michele of course.
