Marcel Fassler and Jean-Denis Deletraz secured maximum points from the FIA GT Championship weekend in Bucharest with victory in the second race of the weekend in the Romanian capital.
The Swiss duo dominated the whole weekend, with Fassler taking pole position, and leading the car to victory in Saturday's qualifying race. This gave them the pole advantage for the Championship race, which they used to full effect as, having been chased throughout by Hezemans and Gollin in the sister Phoenix Carsport Corvette, their victory was only assured when the #6 touched the wall and ended its progress.
This left second and third places to the Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12 cars, which had seemed at ease on the short, tight circuit despite their success ballast from Spa.
“The car was really working fantastically,” Fassler said. “We had a good balance over the whole weekend.
“We never made a mistake and the car was always in good shape. The limit between winning and losing is very tight on this circuit. We managed to last two days without making any mistakes and I think that's why we won!”
After a difficult race, which Miguel Ramos described as the most difficult of his career, the #2 Vitaphone Maserati finished second, despite 60kg of penalty weight and the fact that the car was suffering from a gearbox problem and overheating oil. Bartels and Bertolini crossed the line 13 seconds behind the winners in third, meaning that their Maserati MC 12 will have even more weight for Brno.
“I would like to use this opportunity, on the behalf of the drivers, to thank the Bucharest Ring people here and the people at SRO,” he said. “To organise a race like this; to manage to close a city with three million inhabitants for a race, it means a lot. I think the race went without big problems. From the driver's side, we were happy to find the conditions here. There are still some improvements to be made, but I hope we can keep this race on the calendar. Thank you to everyone at the Bucharest Ring.”
Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin put in a fine performance to finish just off the podium in their PK Carsport Saleen S7R, with the car claiming its best finish of the season in the Romanian heat. Fifth went to the #10 Gigawave Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9, ahead of the #3 SRT Corvette of Bouchut and Maassen, and the #8 IPB Spartak Lamborghini Murciélago.
After second in qualifying and a fine win in the qualifying race, CR Scuderia put in a strong performance around the Bucharest streets to claim its first FIA GT win in Romania. The #56 Ferrari 430 GT2 of Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell started from pole but lost out at the start, dropping back behind the AF Corse Ferrari. A race-long battle ensued, won by the British car when the #50 dropped back after reporting brake problems. Bruni crossed the line 0.3 seconds behind Kirkaldy, to claim their second second-place of the weekend and maintain their championship lead, while third went to Prospeed Competition and the duo of Westbrook and Collard, who had a difficult weekend with their Porsche over the bumpy street circuit.
“It's fantastic. A lot has gone in to getting the team here today,” Kirkaldy said. “We started working last October, and there's been so much to do to get us here. All we've done to get not only this team, but two others running, so that's nine cars in all, is a lot of work. It's great for the guys to be here. It's all looking fantastic for CRS at the moment!”
