07/05/2006

The 2006 season of the FIA GT Championship got off to an excellent start in Silverstone today, with the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy.  In front of 15,000 spectators, and despite wet weather, a thrilling race kept the excitement going until the end, when Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels claimed the historic trophy for Vitaphone Racing Team.  A clever strategy saw their Maserati MC 12 triumph ahead of the Zakspeed Saleen S7 and the Aston Martin Racing BMS Aston Martin DBR9, making three different makes on the podium, and five cars on the same lap after three hours of racing.  In GT2, Matteo Bobbi and Jaime Melo, in the nr 58 AF Corse Ferrari 430 GT2, were victorious ahead of Ebimotors' Porsche 996 GT3 RSR of Emmanuel Collard and Luca Riccitelli, promising excellent things for the season ahead.


Results: 2006 Round 1 - Silverstone
Race Result
Pos
Car
Class
Drivers
Car
Time
Laps
Gap
Avg
speed
1
1
GT1
Bertolini/Bartels
Maserati MC12 GT1
3:00:40.717
95
162.23
2
9
GT1
Janis/Bert
Saleen S7R
3:00:45.452
95
4.735
162.16
3
23
GT1
Babini/Gollin
Aston Martin DBR9
3:01:44.736
95
1:04.019
161.28
4
7
GT1
Bouchut/Brabham
Aston Martin DBR9
3:01:46.587
95
1:05.870
161.25
5
2
GT1
Davies/Biagi
Maserati MC12 GT1
3:02:09.298
95
1:28.581
160.92
6
5
GT1
Piccini/Deletraz
Aston Martin DBR9
3:00:44.832
94
1 LAP
160.46
7
24
GT1
Pescatori/Ramos
Aston Martin DBR9
3:01:45.350
94
1 LAP
159.57
8
4
GT1
Hezemans/Longin/Kumpen
Corvette C6
3:02:22.272
94
1 LAP
159.04
9
58
GT2
Melo/Bobbi
Ferrari 430 GT2
3:02:12.116
91
4 LAPS
154.10
10
75
GT2
Collard/Riccitelli
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:02:18.381
91
4 LAPS
154.02
11
59
GT2
Salo/Aguas
Ferrari 430 GT2
3:02:28.618
91
4 LAPS
153.87
12
11
GT1
Balfe/Derbyshire/Cunningham
Saleen S7R
3:00:53.679
89
6 LAPS
151.81
13
66
GT2
Ried/Felbermayr Jr
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:01:40.225
89
6 LAPS
151.16
14
57
GT2
Dean/Tomlinson
Panoz
3:02:05.005
88
7 LAPS
149.12
15
74
GT2
Moccia/Busnelli
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:00:01.387
87
8 LAPS
149.12
16
52
GT2
Kaufmann/Moro
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
2:59:26.507
85
10 LAPS
146.16
17
69
GT2
Felbermayr/Ried
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:00:58.031
85
10 LAPS
144.93
18
99
GT2
Gruber/Lichtner-Hoyer
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:00:53.158
84
11 LAPS
143.29
19
77
GT2
Rosina/Konopka
Porsche 996 GT3 RS
2:59:27.138
83
12 LAPS
142.72
20
56
GT2
Kutemann/Gosse
Ferrari 430 GT2
3:01:03.328
83
12 LAPS
141.45
21
53
GT2
Knauss/Jurasz/Heutschi
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:01:08.052
82
13 LAPS
139.69
22
55
GT2
Sugden/Alexander-David
Ferrari 430 GT2
3:02:26.472
82
13 LAPS
138.69
Not Classified
--
62
GT2
Kirkaldy/Kinch
Ferrari 430 GT2
17:25.630
8
D.N.F.
142.41
--
60
GT2
Tuckey/Manning
Nissan 350Z
53:31.487
23
D.N.F.
132.79
--
63
GT2
Mullen/Niarchos
Ferrari 430 GT2
55:05.251
26
D.N.F.
145.82
--
101
G2
Kuppens/Leinders
Gillet Vertigo
1:06:32.720
30
D.N.F.
139.25
--
13
GT1
Franchitti/Leuenberger/Walchhofer
Lamborghini Murcielago GTR
1:21:28.974
39
D.N.F.
147.78
--
33
GT1
Wendlinger/Peter
Aston Martin DBR9
1:49:01.069
54
D.N.F.
152.89
--
32
GT1
Lechner/Diefenbacher
Aston Martin DBR9
0
D.N.F.
N/A
Fastest Laps
--
101
G2
Kuppens/Leinders
Gillet Vertigo
1:56.538
25
98.66mph
158.78
--
9
GT1
Janis/Bert
Saleen S7R
1:46.532
68
107.92mph
173.69
--
55
GT2
Sugden/Alexander-David
Ferrari 430 GT2
1:52.480
77
102.22mph
164.50
Session notes
Weather
cloudy
Track conditions
wet, then dry