Toni Vilander & Gianmaria Bruni Brings Up Silverstone Victory
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Apr 21, 2008
FIA-GT
A victory on its seasonal debut for the AF Corse Team, in the FIA GT championship at Silverstone(England,) in the GT2 class.
Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni crossed the line first, ahead of the other Ferrari F430 GTs of the CR and BMS team.
In the other AF Corse Team car, Thomas Biagi and Christian Montanari finished fourth. The weather madefor a difficult and tricky race, but Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni, thanks to testing this morning in thewarm-up, chose the best tyres, courtesy of Michelin and the best set-up on their Ferrari F430 GT.
But for a Safety Car period towards the end of the race, Biagi-Montanari had an almost certain podium finishin their sights.
For the record, the race in the GT1 class was won by Wendlinger-Sharp in an Aston Martin, ahead of theBartolini-Bartels Maserati and the other Aston Martin of Peter-Simonsen.
Amato Ferrari: “I am very happy with this result. The team, the drivers and the Michelin tyres were allexceptional. It’s going to be a tough championship, but we are ready to fight for a third consecutive title.”
Toni Vilander: “Winning for the second consecutive time in two years at Silverstone is very nice. Despitetoday’s difficult conditions, the car was perfect and I was able to make up a lot of ground in the early stages.
Then, when Gimmi got in the car, I said over the radio it was time to fit the intermediates and so we wereable to go the rest of the way without having to make any more tyre changes.
Gianmaria Bruni: “It’s great to start the season with a win. Toni was very strong. On the opening lap, he even passed some GT1 cars, thus building up a good advantage over our rivals. When I got in the car on
intermediates, I was able to manage our lead over Bell-Kirkaldy and the only slight anxiety came when thesafety car appeared, as I thought I would lose the lead I had build up, bit in the end, I pushed and finished upwith a lead of around 27 seconds.”
Christian Montanari: “A good debut and a positive fourth place. This weekend I was able to experience driving in the dry in practice and in difficult wet conditions in the race and I am pleased with how thatworked out./ The team worked very well with a great race strategy, but unfortunately, the safety car ruined our plans.”
Thomas Biagi:“I am satisfied because I am still learning about the car and the characteristics of the GT2 class. The intermediate Michelins worked really well, as did the team and we had a really good feeling. Thesafety car robbed us of a well deserved podium. I am looking forward with confidence to the next round in Monza.”
