Moscow Raceway: Qualifying FIA GT1.
Hexis McLaren bounce back with one-two in Moscow Qualifying
The
Hexis Racing pair of Alvaro Parente (PRT) and Gregoire Demoustier (FRA)
secured pole position for tomorrow’s Qualifying Race in a stunning
return to form for McLaren in the seventh round of the FIA GT1 World
Championship.
Parente in the No.2 McLaren produced a quickest lap of 1:33.536 around the twists and turns of the Moscow Raceway.
In the previous round at Slovakia, the Hexis Racing team managed just two points after a spate of mechanical problems.
The
No.1 McLaren of Fred Makowiecki (FRA) and Stef Dusseldorp (NLD) was
second fastest (1:33.726) to round out a good day for the French outfit.
“After
the hard weekend we had in Slovakia it was a great effort by the whole
team to come here to Russia and finish P1 and P2 in Qualifying,” Parente
said.
“We
used the two Free Practice sessions well this morning to engineer the
car and get the maximum performance which is what we showed this
afternoon.”
Dusseldorp
said he expected overtaking to be difficult on the 3.931 km circuit.
“It is definitely going to be a challenge to overtake that’s for sure,”
he said.
“But
I like the circuit, it has a big long straight and the twisty part is
challenging. We will do our best to keep the car up the front and score
some good points this weekend.”
Conditions
were cold and cloudy at Moscow Raceway with the air temperature
reaching just 13C. The sun had broken through briefly by the end of the
session and track conditions remained dry throughout.
Third
was the No.3 AF Corse Ferrari of Toni Vilander (FIN) and Filip
Salaquarda (CZE) with a best lap time of 1:34.188. The Ferrari duo had
set the pace in Free Practice but Salaquarda says the change in weather
conditions accounted for a slight drop-off in performance.
“In
the Free Practice I were very fast and I was expecting a good
Qualifying but I was struggling to heat the tyres and fighting the car
this afternoon,” he said. “Maybe the weather changed a bit for us and
that affected us.”
Misfortune
struck the drivers’ championship leaders Michael Bartels (DEU) and
Yelmer Buurman (NLD) who suffered an engine failure on the No.18
Vita4One Racing BMW.
Buurman
limped the ailing Z4 backed to the garage, leaving a trail of oil on
the back straight and the pit lane and causing a delay of over 30
minutes while an absorbent powder was applied to the track surface. The
engine also caught fire and damaged the car’s right-hand side tyres.
The
pair will start tomorrow’s Qualifying Race from the back of the grid.
The sister No.17 BMW of Mathias Lauda (DEU) and Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof
(AUT) will start just one place ahead after an indifferent session.
“The
problem with no.18 car was the engine, it exploded and it causes us a
lot of work to do now,” Vita4One Racing team manager Bartels said.
“We
have to replace the engine and investigate and fix the damage caused by
the fire. It will be a long night. We are trying our best to be in the
fight for tomorrow.
“With
our other car we are analysing what happened at the moment, it’s
unclear why we lost so much performance. Hopefully we will find a
solution so that we can put both our cars not at the back but in the
front.
“The
Russian track is very challenging, very technical with tight turns so
we have to work hard to find the right set-up and get the balance
right.”
Laurens
Vanthoor (BEL) and Stephane Ortelli (MON) led the charge for the
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audis with fourth place in the No.32 R8 just
ahead of the No.33 car of Oliver Jarvis (GBR) and Frank Stippler (DEU).
“We’ve
had a good day, I did Q2 today and managed P3, we ended up P5 which
keeps us in a competitive position for the race,” Jarvis said. “Our
team-mates are in P4, so not a perfect result but it could be worse.
“The
Russian track is really cool I have to say, there’s lots of tight
sections, left right left right, and a great straight which may not be
too great for us but it’s a nice feature.”
All-Inkl.com
Münnich Motorsport Mercedes, the teams’ championship leaders, were
sixth and seventh – the No.37 of Nicky Pastorelli (NLD) and Thomas Jager
(DEU) ahead of their German team-mates Marc Basseng and Markus
Winkelhock in the No.38.
Francesco
Castellacci (ITA) and Enzo Ide (BEL) in the second AF Corse Ferrari
were eighth and the Sunred Ford GT No.10 of Armaam Ebrahim (IND) and
Benjamin Lariche (FRA) ninth.
The Qualifying Race starts at 11:15 local time tomorrow followed by the Championship Race at 15:15.
How to follow the FIA GT1 World Championship:
Online:
Visit the new FIA GT1 World Championship website (www.gt1world.com)
to watch both timing and streaming from live race events and keep up to
date with news, interviews, features and results during the week.
Youtube: Live streaming and our feature series GT1-LIFE will be available on the GT world Youtube channel. http://www.youtube.com/gt1world. For viewers in Germany, please visit our German live streaming service.
Television:
There
will be live television coverage of every round of the FIA GT1 World
Championship. For a full rundown of the TV channels visit www.gt1world.com.
Cameron Kelleher/Media Delegate.
Photo: © Petr Gabriel/SRO
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