GT1: German teams look to impress on home soil

The FIA GT1 World Championship heads to the Nurburgring for the sixth round of the 2010 season this weekend.

It will be the first time the championship has visited the German track since 2001. In the last round at Spa-Francorchamps, Lamborghini joined Ford, Nissan and Maserati as Championship Race winners in the inaugural year of the new World Championship.
 

There will be plenty of local interest at the Nurburgring this Bank Holiday weekend as, six German teams and eleven German drivers will be competing, and it is a German team currently leading the championship, Vitaphone Racing.
 

The Vitaphone team, and its Maserati MC12, is just six points ahead of Thomas Mutsch, the German double race winner now paired with the reigning FIA GT2 Champion Richard Westbrook.
 

The second-highest German team in the rankings is Young Driver AMR. German driver Stefan Mücke shares the #8 Aston Martin DB9 with Denmark’s Christoffer Nygaard, and is looking forward to racing at his home circuit. 
 

Phoenix Racing / Carsport are based at the Nürburgring Industrial Estate and Marc Hennerici will partner Dutch driver Mike Hezemans in the team’s only Corvette at their home race.
 

The Reiter team travel to the Nürburgring on a high for their home race after victory in the last round in Belgium at the end of July.  Race winner Frank Kechele will once again be paired with former FIA GT Champion Ricardo Zonta and will be looking for their second win on the spin.
 

Triple H Team Hegersport will also be running Maseratis and with podium success in France and Belgium, for team owner and driver Altfrid Heger, a lot of hard work has followed.

Current Nordschleife lap record holder Marc Basseng races with fellow German Thomas Jäger in the #37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago, while the third German driver in this team is Dominik Schwager, who races with Dutch-based Italian Nicky Pastorelli in the nr38 Lamborghini. 
 

There will also be a couple of new faces on the GT1 grid in Germany.  Nicolas Prost, son of four-times F1 World Champion Alain Prost, joins the Matech Competition team alongside Neel Jani.  French driver Yann Clairay joins the Hexis AMR team in the Aston Martin DB9 alongside Qualifying Race winner Frédéric Makowiecki.

FIA GT1 World Championship entry list – Round 6, Nurburgring

1 Vitaphone Racing Team, Michael Bartels / Andrea Bertolini, Maserati MC12
2 Vitaphone Racing Team, Miguel Ramos / Enrique Bernoldi, Maserati MC12
3 Swiss Racing Team, Karl Wendlinger / Henri Moser, Nissan GT-R
4 Swiss Racing Team, Seiji Ara / Max Nilsson, Nissan GT-R
5 Matech Competition, Thomas Mutsch / Richard Westbrook, Ford GT Matech
6 Matech Competition, Nicolas Prost / Neel Jani, Ford GT Matech
7 Young Driver AMR, Darren Turner / Tomas Enge, Aston Martin DB9
8 Young Driver AMR, Stefan Mucke / Christoffer Nygaard, Aston Martin DB9
9 Hexis AMR, Frederic Makowiecki / Yann Clairay, Aston Martin DB9
10 Hexis AMR, Clivio Piccione / Jonathan Hirschi, Aston Martin DB9
11 Mad-Croc Racing, Xavier Maassen / Jos Menten, Corvette Z06
12 Mad-Croc Racing, Mika Salo / Pertti Kuismanen, Corvette Z06
13 Phoenix Racing / Carsport, Mike Hezemans / Marc Hennerici, Corvette Z06
22 Sumo Power GT, Warren Hughes / Jamie Campbell-Walter, Nissan GT-R
23 Sumo Power GT, Michael Krumm / Peter Dumbreck, Nissan GT-R
24 Reiter, Peter Kox / Christopher Haase, Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV
25 Reiter, Ricardo Zonta / Frank Kechele, Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV
33 Triple H Team Hegersport, Altfrid Heger / Alex Muller, Maserati MC12
34 Triple H Team Hegersport, Bert Longin / Nico Verdonck, Maserati MC12
37 All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport, Marc Basseng / Thomas Jager, Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV
38 All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport, Dominik Schwager / Nicky Pastorelli, Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV
40 Marc VDS Racing Team, Maxime Martin / Bas Leinders, Ford GT Matech
41 Marc VDS Racing Team, Renaud Kuppens / Markus Palttala, Ford GT Matech
 

Josh Madaberi