A close qualifying session for the fourth round of the FIA GT Championship saw Austrian team Jetalliance claim a fine one-two to occupy the front row of the grid for two-hour race.
Wendlinger took his 7th FIA GT pole position with a time of 1:23.748 in his nr 33 Aston Martin DBR9 ahead of his team-mate Alex Müller in the nr 36 car. Third went to Christophe Bouchut in the SRT Corvette C6R, with José Maria Lopez fourth for ACA Argentina and Bartels fifth in the Vitaphone Maserati. This made four makes in the top four, with the top seven cars qualifying within a second of each other.
“It has been a pretty good weekend so far, ” Wendlinger said. “We were also competitive in the two free practice sessions. The car is handling very well, I had a very good lap and I am happy to be on pole position. It was a great performance from the team to get first and second, so we have to say thank you. ”
In GT2, Gianmaria Bruni took his second consecutive pole position for AF Corse, despite carrying the maximum weight of 50 kg round the tight twisting track. He will start ahead of his team-mate Christian Montanari, with Tim Mullen taking third for CR Scuderia. Fourth went to Matias Russo for Advanced Engineering Pecom Racing Team, ahead of Kirkaldy in the second CR Scuderia car.
“I think the team did a very good job, with three cars in the top four including the Argentine car, and Christian Montanari very close to me, ” Bruni explained. “We did good work with Michelin to improve the car with the weight, and everything came together. Tomorrow is another day – it is a long two-hour race. ”
The Citation Cup pole went to Wolfgang Kaufmann in the AT Racing Corvette C5R he shares with Aliaksandr Talkanitsa, while G2 was led by the nr 103 GTO Charouz Mosler MT 900. The Gillet Vertigo has unfortunately withdrawn due to engine damage, while second Mosler had to change its engine.
The GT2 and G2 cars were out first, with CR Scuderia’s Tim Mullen the first on provisional pole, followed by Mattías Russo. However, a lap of 1:27.785 from Bruni in the nr 50 AF Corse Ferrari five minutes into the session put the Italian on pole. He was shortly followed by his team-mate Montanari, who moved up to second, demoting Mullen and Russo to third and fourth. There were no further significant changes.
However, oil was reported on the track, with both the nr 56 and 57 cars stopped. Subsequently, the GT1 session had to be delayed in order to allow the track to be cleaned. A slight delay occurred when the pit lane exit was mistakenly closed at the time the pit lane entry was due to be shut. However, Bouchut was soon flying in the nr 3 SRT Corvette, setting provisional pole with a time of 1:23.878. Eleven minutes into the session, the nr 33 Jetalliance Aston Martin, Wendlinger at the wheel, moved to the top of the time sheets with a time of 1:23.748, and was soon joined by his team-mate Alex Müller in the nr 36 DBR9, locking out the front row for the Austrian team. José Maria Lopez improved in the nr 37 ACA Argentina Ferrari 550 Maranello to go fourth, ahead of the nr 1 Maserati.
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