Dubai 2006: Maiden win for Phoenix.

Saturday, 18th November 2006

Having already come close to victory on several occasions this year, Phoenix Racing’s Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz were finally able to claim their first win of the year at the final time of asking in Dubai.

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Indeed, Janis’ switch from partnering Bert in the Zakspeed Saleen to the Race Alliance Aston Martin alongside Karl Wendlinger and Philipp Peter proved to be a shrewd move, the Czech driver helping his new co-drivers to fifth in the race.

Fifth place was well ahead of Bert, racing with Andrea Montermini and Jos Menten, who could only manage 22nd overall after problems with their S7R. As a result, it is Janis who finishes third overall in the championship at the end of his first season of sportscar racing, two points up on his more experienced former co-driver.

Fourth place belonged to Fabio Babini and Matteo Malucelli, although the BMS Scuderia pairing missed an ideal opportunity having started the race from pole position, inheriting it from the demoted Larbre Ferrari 550 Maranello, before losing the lead on lap eight and gradually slipping down the order to fourth.

It was a similar story for team-mates Fabrizio Gollin and Miguel Ramos, who had started second alongside their Aston Martin siblings but finished down in sixth place.

Seventh was claimed by the controversial Larbre Ferrari, which was forced to start from the pit lane instead of pole position when it was decided that not running restrictors was against the regulations. In return, they were forced to carry an extra 10kg of ballast, a penalty that saw them eventually finish three laps off the pace, even if they inevitably won their G2 category as the only competitor for that class.

In GT2, Tim Mullen and Chris Niarchos delivered Scuderia Ecosse their fifth victory of the season, although it was Jamie Melo who had the biggest smiles, the Brazilian having been confirmed as champion with second place in class alongside Toni Vilander.

Indeed, the AF Corse driver needed barely any points to edge out team-mates and rivals Mika Salo and Rui Ageus but was assured the title when they could only manage third.

A1 GP star Jeroen Bleekemolen, along with Jonny Kane, broke the Ferrari stranglehold to take third in class for Spyker, just ahead of Tim Sugen and Iradj Alexander in the JMB 430GT.