FIA GT: Zonta and Kechele dominate at Navarra

 
The #25 Reiter Lamborghini pairing of Ricardo Zonta and Frank Kechele dominated this weekend's GT1 World Championship round at the Navarra circuit, taking pole position and then victory in both the qualifying race and the main event.

In the qualifying race poleman Kechele held the lead in to turn one and quickly began to build an advantage over the #34 Triple H Team Hegersport Maserati of Nico Verdonck.

At the stops Kechele handed over to Zonta whilst Verdonck was replaced by Alessandro Pier Guidi, but the change in drivers made little difference. Zonta continued where Kechele had left off, edging away from the Maserati to take the win by a shade over 4.5 seconds. The Marc VDS Ford of Bas Leinders and Maxime Martin was third, over half a minute adrift of the top two.

Zonta and Kechele then repeated their victory when it mattered, taking an untroubled Championship Race triumph.

The Lamborghini pairing's lights to flag win saw both drivers gradually pull away from the pack, eventually winning by over 11 seconds. That took their points total for the weekend to 33, preserving both men's outside chances of taking the title.

Second was the #9 Hexis Aston Martin of Frederic Makowiecki and Yann Clairay, with the #22 Sumo Power Nissan of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Warren Hughes third. Behind them was the the #7 Young Driver Aston Martin of Darren Turner and Tomas Enge, who finished fourth after a stunning drive from 19th on the grid.

Despite finishing in seventh place championship leaders Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini extended their advantage at the top of the standings. The #1 Vitaphone Maserati pairing now sit 33 points clear of closest challenger Thomas Mutsch, who badly damaged his Matech Ford shortly after taking over from team-mate Richard Westbrook. Mutch was forced to retire soon after, denting his title push.

Meanwhile The Reiter team's fantastic weekend brings them to within only 18 points of Team's Championship leaders Vitaphone.

The next race takes place at Brazil's Interlagos circuit (28 November), followed by the season-closing event in Argentina one week later (5 December).


James Weeks.