Raymond Narac and Patrick Pilet gave both IMSA Performance Matmut and a French team their first respective victories in the opening International GT Open race at Spa on Saturday. On Sunday it was the turn of fellow Porsche runners Richard Lietz and Gianluca Roda to claim the spoils, with the Autorlando duo also taking the lead of the championship.
Race 1:
The race started with two Portuguese drivers up front – Couceiro and Aguas leading from the off. It wasn’t long before Aguas had overtaken Couceiro for the lead though with Narac, Camathias, Michele Rugolo, Belloc, Peter and Bonetti in hot pursuit.
The pair continued their battle until just before the pitstops when the 430’s tyre blew, leaving Aguas stranded and out. After the driver changes, Pilet assumed a commanding lead for IMSA with a 15-second strong cushion over Giacomo Ricci, Gião, Lietz, David and Fässler.
It was that fight for second that subsequently became the focal point of interest, with Fässler managing to pass both Gião and Lietz before all three caught Ricci. But when the Swiss was ready to attack the Italian, a collision with the lapped Mtech Ferrari of Edmonton sent the Trottet Ferrari into a spin, losing three positions. Eventually, Lietz also managed to catch Ricci and, unlike Fässler, pass cleanly for a Porsche 1-2.
Ricci hung on for third – the only Ferrari representative in the top four – with Gião right on his tail in fourth. Fässler meanwhile recovered for fifth.
1. Narac-Pilet (IMSA Porsche 997) 29 laps in 1h12m21s471 (av: 168.400 kmh) 2. Roda-Lietz (Autorlando Porsche 997) +10s 3. Rugolo-Ricci (Advanced Ferrari F430) +11s 4. Couceiro-Gião (Autorlando Porsche 997) +11s 5. Fässler-Camathias (Trottet Ferrari F430) +18s GTS: 1. Peter-Broniszewski (Kessel Ferrari F430 GT3) 2. Wiser-Lancieri (Villois Aston Martin DBRS9) 3. Piccini-Geri (Sc.22 Corvette) 4. Cameron-Edmonds (Mtech Ferrari F430 GT3) 5. De Lorenzi-Borghi (GDL Porsche 997 GT3)
Race 2:
In another closely-fought and exciting race at Spa-Francorchamps, Richard Lietz and Gianluca Roda confirmed Porsche’s superiority in the Ardennes by winning the second race of the weekend to increase their championship lead to 12 points.
Autorlando Sport team mate’s Manuel Gião and Pedro Couceiro made it the perfect result for the squad with second while Marcel Fässler and Joël Camathias prevented an all-Porsche podium with third in their Trottet Racing Ferrari.
At the start, Pilet grabbed the advantage from poleman Lietz, with Cioci, Fässler, Gião, Ricci and Griffin behind. The two lead Porsches swapped positions at Les Combes on lap four with Cioci maintaining his third spot. It took a mistake on the seventh lap for Fassler to find a way past with Griffin following suit.
After the driver changes, Roda held an advantage of 17 seconds over Peter Bamford, Perazzini, Narac, Camathias, Couceiro, Kralev, and Bonetti. Camathias and Couceiro soon found their way through to the podium though, although they could do nothing about Roda at the front who held on for victory.
SPA RACE 2 RESULTS SUPER GT: 1. Roda-Lietz (Autorlando Porsche 997), 20 laps in 50m00s543 (av: 168.000 kmh) 2. Couceiro-Gião (Autorlando Porsche 997) +1s 3. Fässler-Camathias (Trottet Ferrari F430) +16s 4. Cioci-Perazzini (Megadrive Ferrari F430) +17s 5. Narac-Pilet (IMSA Porsche 997) +20s GTS: 1. Wiser-Lancieri (Villois Aston Martin DBRS9) 2. Petrini-Necchi (Villois Aston Martin DBRS 9) 3. Peter-Broniszewski (Kessel Ferrari F430 GT3) 4. Piccini-Geri (Sc.22 Corvette) 5. De Lorenzi-Borghi (GDL Porsche 997 GT3)
OVERALL STANDINGS SUPER GT 1. Lietz-Roda (Autorlando Porsche 997 RSR), 100 p. 2. Fässler-Camathias (Trottet Ferrari F430), 88 3. Rugolo-Ricci (Advanced Ferrari F430), 68 4. Couceiro-Gião (Autorlando Porsche), 60 5. Narac-Pilet (IMSA Porsche), 52 OVERALL
STANDINGS GTS 1. Peter-Broniszewski (Kessel Ferrari F430 GT3), 46 p. 2. Wiser (Villois Aston Martin DBRS9), 42 3. Lancieri (Villois Aston Martin DBRS9), 34 TEAM SUPER GT : 1. Autorlando Sport, 70 p. 2. Trottet Racing, 37 3. Advanced Engineering, 28 4. IMSA Performance, 21 5. Megadrive, 18 TEAM GTS : 1. Villois Racing, 66 p. 2. Kessel Racing, 56 3. Vittoria Competizioni, 32
Catch International GT Open coverage on Motors TV throughout 2009.
Tom Hornsby
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