For the fifth and sixth races of the series, the 2008 FIA GT3 European Championship visits Motorsport Arena Oschersleben; the track was part of the first season of the Championship, in 2006. The demanding, technical track packs a dozen corners into its 3.7km, giving drivers no respite.
When the teams and drivers woke up, they must have wondered what they had done to annoy the rain gods – yet again it was wet, as it has been every day so far in the Championship. By the time the first hour-long session got under way the rain had stopped and there was a dry line around the entire track, although it was still damp off-line. The session had only been running for six minutes when the red flags went out – the No.33 APEX Motorsport Jaguar XKR of Hall and Quaife had stopped, right across the pit-lane exit.
Six minutes later the session got under way again. As the track dried and temperatures rose, so the times fell; the No.26 Team Berlanga Ascar KZ1R GT3 of Rich and Thompson went quickest, then improved even further with a 1:32.373 the following lap. That looked set to be the fastest time of the session, but with just a couple of minutes remaining, the No.10 Aston Martin pulled out a lap of 1:32.214. Third quickest was the No.2 Martini Callaway Corvette of Bert and Meir.
With the circuit remaining damp off-line, there were numerous spins as drivers tried to find the limit. Just as the session ended the No.33 APEX Jaguar limped in to the pit-lane entry and stopped; the No.3 Kessel Racing Ferrari F430 GT3 of Iliev and Kralev, possibly distracted by cars slowing to avoid the stopped Jaguar, spun on the exit of the Bauer-Kurve just before the pit-lane entry and hit the barriers. The impact did considerable damage to the right front corner – bumper, front undertray, radiator and suspension were all wrecked. The damage prevented the car from starting the second session.
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