Round 10 – San Luis, Argentina QUALIFYING 05 November 2011 Luhr and Krumm Claim Crucial Debut Pole in JRM Nissan

Round 10 – San Luis, Argentina

QUALIFYING

05 November 2011

Luhr and Krumm Claim Crucial Debut Pole in JRM Nissan

Pos	Car	Drivers	Car	Time	Laps	Gap
1	23	Lucas Luhr / Michael Krumm	Nissan GT-R	02:14.152	4
2	11	Francesco Pastorelli / Yelmer Buurman	Corvette Z06	02:14.604	3	0.452
3	21	David Brabham / Jamie Campbell-Walter	Nissan GT-R	02:14.787	3	0.635
4	22	Richard Westbrook / Peter Dumbreck	Nissan GT-R	02:14.812	5	0.660
5	37	Dominik Schwager / Nicky Pastorelli	Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-S	02:14.891	4	0.739
6	4	Christian Hohenadel / Andrea Piccini	Aston Martin DB9	02:15.059	3	0.907
7	20	Enrique Bernoldi / Nicky Catsburg	Nissan GT-R	02:15.452	3	1.300
8	3	Clivio Piccione / Stef Dusseldorp	Aston Martin DB9	02:15.463	3	1.311

Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr in the JRM Nissan No.23 moved a step closer to the drivers' championship title by claiming their first pole position of the 2011 season for this afternoon's Qualifying Race in San Luis.

Second was the No.11 Team China Corvette of GT1 debutants Francesco Pastorelli and Yelmer Buurman with the Sumo Power GT No.21 of David Brabham and Jamie Campbell-Walter.

Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the All-Inkl Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini No.38, also among the title contenders, failed to progress beyond Q2 and will start this afternoon's Qualifying Race from 10th position.

The sister car of Dominik Schwäger and Nicky Pastorelli will start fifth while the Hexis Aston Martins line up in sixth and eighth.

The big news of the day was the retirement overnight of the Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 of Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke, the closest challengers to Krumm and Luhr for the drivers' title.

The car sustained a broken chassis after Mücke struck the wall at T21 in yesterday's Pre-Qualifying thus ending the championship hopes of the pair.

The Qualifying Race starts at 13:45 local time.

CLICK HERE for the Results from the three Qualifying sessions

CLICK HERE for the Facts from the three Qualifying sessions

Lucas Luhr

nr23 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R

"I really like this track. It is a very beautiful part of the world and a really unique circuit, a lot of ups and downs while surrounded by walls, which makes it a little bit special. I struggled with the car yesterday and we did some changes overnight; obviously we both liked them. I could've gone quicker in session 1 but I was held up by one of the Lamborghinis. It was in sector three, in the uphill part and it is easy to lose two or three tenths. But I knew we had a good shot at Pole. Michael did a fantastic job in Q2 and then I had a big moment in my second flying lap, I pushed too hard, got sideways and that really got my attention. I'm not really an early morning guy, so it was good for the wake up call. The next lap was brilliant, so I'm pretty happy."

Michael Krumm

nr23 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R

"We won’t be approaching this afternoon’s race any differently than any other one and we will try to win. It didn't look very likely yesterday but as Lucas said, we made the right changes to the car and the Nissan was absolutely amazing. The race is going to be a different story, it's long and the surface is changing all the time and not making a mistake is very, very important. If you go off line there is a lot of sand, so the race is going to be a huge challenge. The aim is to finish in the top three today so we will be in a good position for tomorrow’s race and we can go for the win, which is the safest way to win the World Championship."

Francesco Pastorelli

nr11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette Z06

"It's nice to come here and be on the front row for the start. It's been a good weekend so far and we hope we can keep this pace for the race. Yelmer proved he was faster than the rest in Q2 and let's hope we can do that later today. My brother gave me some tips about this circuit but I don't think he will be giving me anymore."

Yelmer Buurman

nr11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette Z06

"I did a 6-hour GT race in Zolder this year but this is my first GT race at this level. I'm definitely enjoying it, I think this is the best track to start off with, in one of the best cars. Yesterday was the first time I'd driven the Corvette, we improved the car quite a lot and I'm really happy with the result. We're here for the win; we just want to go for the result today. So hopefully we'll have a good race."

David Brabham

nr21 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R

"It's been a pretty good couple of days, the GT-R has been very good straight out of the box. This is a fantastic race track, it reminds me of a mixture of Le Mans and the Bathurst 1000 and it's been an absolute pleasure to drive on. We've just been fine tuning the car because we weren't that far away, we've been in the top three most of the time. Obviously we'd have liked to have been a bit further up but P3 is a pretty good start to the weekend."

Jamie Campbell-Walter

nr21 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R

"Remembering last year's race it is very difficult to overtake here, there's no point barrelling up the inside of someone because you'll just go straight on. You've got to be patient and pick your moment. It's a great track, it's a great setting and I'm pleased the championship comes here, but it's not easy. P3 is a good result and it will be a good, but tough, race."

Nicky Pastorelli

nr37 All-Inkl Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV (5th)

“We expected to be higher. We had a good Q1 and Q2 then something went wrong in Q3 with the small adjustments we made and a couple of small driving mistakes, so the potential was there but we ran out of time. We needed one more lap really. We are confident for the race because our race pace is very good. My brother Francesco (Pastorelli, Corvette No.11, P2) did a really good job. So I’m really happy for him and Yelmer (Buurman).”

Andrea Piccini

nr4 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DB9 (6th)

“This is such a great circuit. Sometimes when you got to a circuit you say ‘who built this circuit, how can they have such strange ideas?’ But when you come here, it’s how it should be – a proper street circuit. Sure it’s bumpy in parts but the people here have done a tremendous job in putting it all together for the weekend.

"The layout is very challenging and not easy to put together a good lap here because you have so many corners and so many places where you can make mistakes. I think we have a good chance in the race to finish the season as strongly as the team deserves.”

Bas Leinders

nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT Matech (11th)

“We have felt all season we have been down on engine power due to the Balance of Performance and when we come to a circuit like this in San Luis we are really disadvantaged. The best result for the Ford was P11 for the local hero (Ricardo Risatti) who knows the track very well. I think that sums it all up.”

Darren Turner

nr8 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DB9 (Retired)

“We came here with only a long shot of the drivers’ title and a realistic hot of the team title as long as everything went our way and we got all the lucky breaks unfortunately that’s not the case with Stefan (Mücke) having his off yesterday. The car is not repairable while we are on site here.

"It makes things much harder for the team with just one car fighting for points that is not realistic particularly given what the Nissan No.23 has just done in Qualifying today. Hopefully we can put this behind us and come back stronger next year. The maximum focus is on the No.7 car to see what they can do in the two races and get the best result possible for the team.”

Jeff Carter

Media Delegate,

Photos: DPPI.

FIA GT1: Aston Martin and Nissan Make Light Work of Hot Conditions

Aston Martin and Nissan Make Light Work of Hot Conditions

FREE PRACTICE Under clear blue skies and blazing sunshine Richard Westbrook, in the nr22 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-R, went fastest In the first session of the weekend at Paul Ricard with a lap time of 2:04.335. David Brabham, in the nr21 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R, went 2nd fastest with his best of 2:04.840. It looked like a Nissan 1-2-3-4 until Andrea Piccini, in the nr4 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DB9, split the four cars with a time of 2:04.863, which was good enough for third on the time sheet and pushed the nr20 Sumo Power GT and the nr23 JR Motorsports Nissan GT-Rs to 4th and 5th respectively. GT1 Pre Qualifying will take place at 14:25 (CET) this afternoon. CLICK HERE for the result from Free Practice PRE-QUALIFYING After another strong performance by the Nissan GT-Rs, led by the nr23 JR Motorsport Nissan of Michael Krumm as the air temperature soared to over 30 degrees, it was the nr8 Young Driver Aston Martin DB9 of Stefan Mucke that was at the top of the time sheets at the end of the 80-minute Pre-Qualifying session. In a last gasp lap Mucke posted a time of 2:03.897, the only GT1 driver to go faster than 2 minutes 4 seconds so far this weekend. Mucke's time was two tenths faster than Krumm's best effort and three tenths ahead of the third placed Andreas Zuber in the nr11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette. CLICK HERE for the result of Pre-Qualifying Qualifying will take place at 10:40(CET) on Saturday 16 July Stefan Mücke Nr8 Young Driver Aston Martin DB9 "We know that the hot conditions are not ideal for our car. We concentrated on a good Quali set-up and we seem to have found it. I'm also quite optimistic for the race as we know what to change and which way to go, we understand how the car works on this track quite well. We are really hoping that it’s not getting any hotter as that will affect our performance quite a lot. "In general the Aston is an aerodynamic car which is quite strong on aero circuits. But as soon as you have a higher air temperature you lose downforce and also engine power. We love the cold conditions but we have to make the best of it. The Nissans are strong in the straights so they are going to be hard to beat. So far, so good, I am looking forward to tomorrow." Richard Westbrook Nr22 JR Motorsport Nissan GT-R "It's been a good days' work. We were first in Free Practice, not quite top three in Pre-Qualifying but we are very close. We stayed in the window of the car on set-up. This is a good track for Nissan. It's definitely not as good for us as it was in the Algarve where it was really good but here it is going to very close. "Obviously you have the Aston which is strong, the Ford is very quick, particularly in the last sector, the Lamborghini is quick as is the Corvette. It is going to be very tight during the race." Mike Hezemans Nr11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette Z06 "We can't seem to get three good sectors together. We are both strong in the middle sector, but if you put my first sector together the last sector of Andreas (Zuber) then I think we can go for pole. It's very easy to lock up the fronts. If we can get it together and we get a good overall lap, then who knows. "This track for us is better for the tyres for sure. At least we have the speed. If you don't have the speed then you really want to go home and cry. It was another good Friday for us. So far this season we are competitive - starting with Friday but we just need to get it right for the race and stay out of trouble." Bas Leinders Nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT Matech "In the morning it was OK but we have lost our way a bit on set-up with the No.40 car. We don't know exactly what went from this morning (Free Practice) to this afternoon (Pre-Qualifying), but all of a sudden the car was undriveable. We changed some small things but it was completely the wrong direction. "The No.41 seems to be doing a lot better so maybe we will copy their set-up which will not be ideal for us but that is the only alternative we have at the moment." Nicky Pastorelli Nr37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV "We are not too bad. We weren't able to run with new tyres at the end because we had some technical issues with the engine which we can solve pretty easily for tomorrow. We are looking OK considering the weight we have with the success ballast added. "It's too difficult to say on a Friday where we will end up for the race but we hope we can finish in the top five. That would be a great result for us. That is what we are aiming for." Jamie Campbell-Walter Nr21 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R "We had a good day today. We did all we needed to do and I’m happy with the car. I was a bit surprised as to how much the wind is affecting things on the long straight, you can really feel it pushing you into the corners, but overall I think we’re in a good position for tomorrow." Jeff Carter Media Delegate,

Last stop in Europe for Young Driver AMR Weather is everything for Young Driver AMR in the south of France

Last stop in Europe for Young Driver AMR

Weather is everything for Young Driver AMR in the south of France

Paderborn, 13.07.2011 [GT1 World Championship]

For the last time this season, the two Young Driver AMR-Aston Martin

DBR9 are transported to the racetrack by the bright yellow Young

Driver AMR-trucks. Before the second season of the GT1 World

Championship concludes with three races overseas, to which the cars

will be shipped by boat, the French round at the Paul Ricard HTTT

(High Tech Test Track) in Le Castellet at the French Riviera marks

the last European stop of the championship. In the south of France,

Young Driver AMR and it’s four drivers Alex Müller (GER)/ Tomas

Enge (CZE) and Stefan Mücke (GER)/ Darren Turner (GBR) aim to

bring themselves in a good position in the championship, before the

GT1-tour heads overseas.

After a tough weekend in Spain only ten days ago, the Paul Ricard

HTTT in Le Castellet will be another challenge for Young Driver AMR.

“The weather will play a major part this weekend”, Young Driver

AMR-team principal Hardy Fischer says. “If it’s hot down there, like at

Navarra, it can be difficult for us. Last year we had a good speed at

Le Castellet, but had some technical issues. If it isn’t too hot, I hope

for a good result, that will keep us in contention to the championship

leaders.”

Before the French round of the GT1 World championship, Young

Driver AMR is fourth in the team championship. Mücke/Turner are

sixth in the driver’s championship with Müller/Enge one spot behind.

Driver quotes before the race:

Alex Müller (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “Paul Ricard is

a really nice track, I raced there with Young Driver AMR in April. My

teammates, who raced there last season with Aston Martin, told me

it’s not an ideal track for our Aston Martin DBR9. After a tough

weekend with much bad luck in Spain, I hope for better luck in

France. In Spain we also had 30kg ballast on board, in France we

now run ballast-free and should be more competitive. I hope for a

clean race and looking forward to improve our position in the

championship.”

Tomá! Enge (#7 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “As we know

from the past, the car works very good in cool conditions and we

hope for cool weather in France. We have a very good aero and good

power, but this is effect by the weather. If it’s hot at Paul Ricard it will

be difficult for us. Otherwise I hope that we can grab some points.”

Stefan Mücke (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): “Some parts

of the track really suit our Aston Martin, but there are also some very

long straights, which are not so good for us. Tire performance will be

an issue, too. There are some very fast corners at Paul Ricard where

it’s not possible to save the tires. In Spain we struggled with the very

high temperatures, but if it’s cool in France, we might have a have

chance for a podium finish, if we have two trouble free races.”

Young Driver AMR GmbH

Max-Planck-Str. 3a

D-33104 Paderborn / Germany

phone: +49 5254 93 06 295

email: info@youngdriver-amr.com

www.youngdriver-amr.com

Darren Turner (#8 Young Driver-Aston Martin DBR9): „Paul Ricard

is not the strongest circuit for us, but we will do the best we can. It

would be very nice to get some points there after a tough weekend in

Navarra, which really dented our chances in the championship.”

###

Follow GT1 World:

Both races and the qualifying are streamed live in the internet with

English commentary at www.gt1world.com/gt1tv

Timetable:

Friday 15th July

09:00 - 10:20 FIA GT1 World Championship Free Practice

14:25 - 15:45 FIA GT1 World Championship Pre-Qualifying

Saturday 16th July

10:40 - 11:40 FIA GT1 World Championship Qualifying

16:15 - 17:15 FIA GT1 World Championship Qualifying Race

Sunday 17th July

09:00 - 09:30 FIA GT1 World Championship Warm Up

15:15 - 16:15 FIA GT1 World Championship Championship Race

Young Driver is on Twitter

Follow all the action @YoungDriverAMR

Schedule GT1-World 2011

24. – 25. March Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi (VAE)

08. – 10. April Zolder (B)

06. – 08. May Algarve, Portimão (P)

13. – 15. May Sachsenring (D)

03. – 05. June Silverstone Supercar 2011 (GB)

01. – 03. July Navarra (E)

15. – 17. July HTTT Paul Ricard, Le Castellet (F)

02. – 04. September Ordos (CN)

21. – 23. October Curitiba (BR)

05. – 06. November San Luis (ARG)

About Young Driver AMR

Young Driver AMR was founded by Hardy Fischer and his friend and

long-time associate Jan Struve in late 2009 and is representing Aston

Martin as one of only two teams in the FIA GT1 World Championship

with two Aston Martin DBR9. The abbreviation AMR in the team

name stands for Aston Martin Racing, Young Driver AMR is the only

official German partner team of Aston Martin Racing. Young Driver

AMR is a sister-team of Fischer Racing and based in Paderborn. In

it’s first racing season 2010, Young Driver AMR took three victories in

the FIA GT1 World Championship and finished on the class podium in

it’s first ever outing in the legendary 24 hours of Le Mans in France.

Young Driver Team presse.

FIA GT1: Paul Ricard Hosts Last Euro Round of 2011 Season

Paul Ricard Hosts Last Euro Round of 2011 Season

FIA GT and FIA GT1 have been racing at Paul Ricard for many years and it is the fitting venue for the final European races before the GT1 World Championship jets off to China and South America for the final three rounds of the 2011 season. Last year Paul Ricard saw a double win for Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini on their way to becoming the inaugural FIA GT1 World Champions but with the Maserati MC12 not on the grid this season the way is open for a crew from another manufacturer to step onto the top step of the podium. The Nissans and Lamborghinis took top 3 finishes last season, while the Corvette, Aston Martin and the Ford were always in the running for a podium finish.

At the last round at Navarra in Spain the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghinis were dominant, taking a 1-2 in qualifying and both races, while Dominik Schwäger and Nicky Pastorelli secured the fastest laps. Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock took the honours in the Qualifying Race ahead of their teammates but in the Championship Race it was Schwäger and Pastorelli who secured their first win of 2011 ahead of Basseng and Winkelhock. The Marc VDS Ford of Bertrand Baguette, who was standing in for Fred Makowiecki, and Maxime Martin took third in the Qualifying Race, while David Brabham and Jamie Campbell-Walter fought their way to third in the Championship Race in the Sumo Power Nissan GT-R.

Aston Martin is represented by French team Hexis AMR and German team Young Driver AMR. Up until the last event the Hexis team were leading the Team Championship after wins for both the cars of Stef Dusseldorf /Clivio Piccione and Christian Hohenadel/Andrea Piccini, however after the dominant showing by the All-Inkl Team in Spain, Hexis are looking to close the 20-point gap to their rivals and retake the lead at their home race at Paul Ricard. The Young Driver AMR team continue to score valuable points with Tomas Enge / Alex Müller taking two 3rd places in Belgium and this was followed by two further top 3 finishes at Silverstone.

The Corvette teams consist of Exim Bank Team China and DKR Engineering. In the Exim Bank Team China Corvette Dutch drivers Mike Hezemans and Nicky Catsburg started the season well with a second place finish in the Qualifying Race and a fighting 5th in the Championship Race at Zolder. Catsburg was replaced by Andreas Zuber for races in Great Britain and resulted in pole position and two top 3 finishes at Silverstone, while Nico Verdonck joined Hezemans in Spain but retirements brought no points for the drivers or the team.

French driver Michael Rossi in the DKR Engineering Corvette has also had a couple of co-driver changes and was joined by Dimitri Enjalbert at Silverstone. Two strong performances in Spain saw the driver pairing collect their first Championship points of the year in Navarra.

Both Ford teams are based in Belgium, with the Marc VDS Racing Team starting the year well with Maxime Martin and Frederic Makowiecki winning the Qualifying Race in Abu Dhabi. Germany also proved to be a good track for Makowiecki and Martin when they added their second Qualifying Race win of the season to their tally. Bertrand Baguette replaced Makowiecki in Spain and he and Martin scored well with a 3rd place in the Qualifying Race followed up by 4th in the Championship Race. Makowiecki will return to the Ford for the rest of the season. The Belgian Racing team is new to GT1 World this year and their two cars run in the black, red and yellow national colours. Two top 10 finishes at Silverstone was their best result of the season so far as the brand new team continues to improve race by race.

The All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini started the year well, with three pole positions in the first five races and was the dominant force in Belgium when the nr38 car of Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock which took the chequered flag in both races. A dominant weekend at Navarra gave the drivers one win and a second place each and gave Basseng and Winkelhock a 15-point lead over Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr after six rounds.

Swiss Racing switched to the Italian manufacturer from the Nissans they ran last season. The Swiss Racing team boasts the services of the highly experienced Karl Wendlinger and Peter Kox had their best ever GT1 World Championship finish by finishing 4th in Belgium and then 5th in Portugal, but a first corner accident in the Championship Race in Germany eliminated both of the Swiss Racing Lamborghinis, causing the team to miss the last two rounds in the UK and Spain. The team will be aiming to get back to claiming more points in France and will be aiming for their first podium finish.

2010 team Sumo Power GT are joined by JR Motorsports this season running the Nissan GT-R. JR Motorsports have been strong for most of the season with Germany’s Michael Krumm and Lucas Luhr collecting a fighting third in the qualifying race in Yas Marina. They followed this up by stepping onto the top step of the podium in Portugal and Great Britain and while the Navarra weekend was far from the best for the team, Krumm and Luhr took some more points to keep them in the title hunt. British duo Richard Westbrook and Peter Dumbreck had a disappointing outing in Spain with a 7th and 9th in th etwo races and just 2 championship points. 2010 race winner Enrique Bernoldi has been joined by Nicky Catsburg, who moved from the nr11 Corvette to the nr20 Nissan last time out in Spain. Australia’s David Brabham and Britain’s Jamie Campbell-Walter finally tasted the champagne in Portugal with two third place finishes, while in Spain they finished4th in the Qualifying Race and podium finish in the main event in Navarra.

Jeff Carter/ Media Delegate.

FIA GT1: Hexis Aston Takes the Spoils in Germany

Hexis Aston Takes the Spoils in Germany

Andrea Piccini and Christian Hohenadel took their Hexis Aston Martin No.4 to victory in the Championship Race at Sachsenring. The Hexis pair started from fifth on the grid and stayed clear of a spate of early incidents to secure their first win of the 2011 season. Second place went to the No.37 All-Inkl Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini of Dominik Schwäger and Nicky Pastorelli while third was the Young Driver Aston Martin No.8 of Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner. The nr 41 Marc VDS Ford of Maxime Martin led the field into the first turn with Stef Dusseldorp in the nr3 Hexis AMR Aston Martin on the outside of the Ford as the pair vied for the lead. The nr3 was pushed wide and onto the gravel by the Ford, allowing the nr8 Young Driver Aston of Stefan Mücke to nip through and take the lead. At Turn 2 the nr5 Swiss Racing Lamborghini of Karl Wendlinger and the nr7 Young Driver Aston Martin of Tomas Enge collided, tipping the Lamborghini into a spin. The unfortunate Max Nilsson in the nr6 Swiss Racing Lamborghini t-boned his teammates car and was left stranded on the circuit with severe front end damage. Both the nr5 and nr7 cars pulled off the circuit into retirement two corners later and the safety car was deployed to recover the stricken Nilsson car. The race was restarted at the end of lap 5 just as rain began to fall on to the circuit. Christian Hohenadel in the nr4 Hexis Aston was challenging the nr8 Young Driver Aston for the lead. However it wasn't until lap 10 that Hohenadel took the lead into Turn 1 but as soon as he was free he opened up a gap to Mücke's car. Meanwhile the nr41 Marc VDS Ford slowed with a punctured right rear tyre, with damage to the bodywork. Martin pulled into the pitlane but the car retired and took no further part in the race. Mike Hezemans was making progress in the Exim Bank Team China Corvette from 14th on the grid, moving up to 8th and challenging the nr21 Sumo Power GT Nissan of Jamie Campbell-Walter for 7th. On lap 11 Stefan Mücke lost another place as he was passed at Turn 1 by Dominik Schwäger in the nr37 All Inkl.com Lamborghini. Meanwhile the rain had stopped and the teams put away their Michelin wets and prepared for the pit stop window to open. The leaders came in and went back out in the same order, with Andrea Piccini now leading in the Hexis Aston from Nicky Pastorelli in the All-Inkl Lamborghini and Darren Turner in the Young Driver Aston. The main beneficiary of the pitstops was the nr3 Hexis Aston of Clivio Piccione, which emerged in 5th place in between the nr20 and nr21 Nissans. Piccini had a comfortable lead but Pastorelli was under pressure from Turner for the first few laps after the pitstops but the Italian started to pull away from the British driver by lap 23. Championship leader Marc Basseng's weekend finished on a low note when the nr37 All-Inkl.com Lamborghini went straight on at Turn 8 with a problem with the rear tyre. Back at the front of the field Piccini was managing to maintain a comfortable gap to Pastorelli's Lamborghini, who in turn was a comfortable two seconds ahead of the third placed Aston Martin of Darren Turner. Further back Nicky Catsburg in the nr11 Exim Bank Corvette was challenging David Brabham in the nr20 Sumo Power Nissan but the Australian just held his line and his position until the chequered flag. At the flag it was Andrea Piccini who took the first win for the nr4 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DB9, taking the lead in the Driver's Championship for himself and Christian Hohenadel in the process. Hohenadel and Piccini now have 61 points to Marc Basseng's and Markus Winkelhock on 57. Darren Turner and Stefan Mücke are third on 56 points. The result also means Hexis AMR extend their lead in the Team Championship to 17 points over All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport. Christian Hohenadel also becomes the first FIA GT3 European Champion to win an FIA GT1 World Championship race. 2008 FIA GT3 Champion James Ruffier won a race in the FIA GT Championship at the wheel of a GT1 class Corvette in 2009 but Hohenadel is the first GT3 Champion to win a GT1 World Championship race. The next race is at Silverstone on the 3-5 June when the drivers in the FIA GT1 World Championship will compete for the world famous Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy. The Championship will also be the first to use the new pits complex at Silverstone, which will be officially unveiled on Tuesday 17th May. CLICK HERE for the result of Round 4 CLICK HERE for the Race Facts CLICK HERE for the Championship Positions after Round 4 Christian Hohenadel nr4 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DB9 "I saw that there was a bit of a mess at the start and I ended up second. The car was very good and I was able to push a lot to get passed the No.8 (Young Driver Aston Martin) and then when I got the lead I pushed again to open up the gap as I was quicker than him. It's my first win in GT1, I didn't expect it so soon. To win in Germany with all my friends here is just fantastic." Andrea Piccini nr4 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DB9 "It's never easy when you are first because so many things can happen, and the weather was unpredictable. Christian did a good job and he did most of the work for me. The car was OK, the tyres were fine and the pit stop was fantastic. I just got the car to the end. It's very nice to be leading the (drivers') championship but there is still a long way to go." Dominik Schwäger nr37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV "At the start I just focussed on staying out of trouble, not hitting anyone but still making up positions. It's not that easy, you can see on TV that our starts are much closer than GT3 starts because everybody is really on it and its sometimes millimetres between being kicked out of the race or getting a good start. Under braking, I made two or three positions, then I had the two Astons in front of me. I made a move on the Young Driver car and it worked out perfectly. I was quite happy that the rain didn't come too heavy because with the slightest mistake in the wet and you're off on this track. I am happy that we finally have our podium. We missed so many I can't count them anymore. I'm not jumping for joy but it's a start, we collected decent points and I'm really looking forward to the next race." Nicky Pastorelli nr37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago 670 R-SV "It was easy because I didn't have to fight with any cars behind or in front of me but it was difficult because I had to really push on the limit to close the gap to the car in front (Hexis Aston Martin No.4). Some laps I could close a little some laps not. In the end we are happy with this result after all the bad luck we have had. Hopefully we can continue like this now." Stefan Mücke nr8 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DB9 "At the start, I tried to stay on the inside to avoid any contact. Initially the Ford (Marc VDS No.41) missed its braking point so he locked up his front tyres and he went a little bit wide and I was able to overtake both of the cars ahead (the No.41 Ford and the Hexis Aston No.3) and take the lead. After the safety car it was a struggle to get the tyres up to temperature. It was quite a tough race because we had some success ballast (20kg) but we are happy to be here on the podium and score some important points." Darren Turner nr8 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DB9 "We know that the Lambo (No.37) finds it quite difficult to warm up its tyres so I was pushing quite hard on the first lap out of the pits. But after that he was able to pull away. We could both see the Hexis car ahead but we weren't able to close it down but it was only really a car-length at a time. Being a German team, we had a lot of guests here. It certainly seemed quite active in the box, it was a busy place. Hopefully they all had a good day." Jamie Campbell-Walter nr21 Sumo Power Nissan GT-R “It’s nice to have a result, and while it’s not a win or a podium I think it’s a great result for the Nissan GT-R, the Sumo Power team and the JRM team to have all four cars in the top ten. Realistically it isn’t a great track for us so we’ve pulled out a really good result for ourselves. I’m personally really happy: Brabs has driven amazingly, the pit stop crews have done a fantastic job and we’ve produced a nice result and a good haul of points.” David Brabham nr21 Sumo Power GT Nissan GT-R “We knew coming in that it wasn’t going to suit us, especially with the extra weight we got from the Algarve. We had a few issues in Qualifying, but in the races we kept going, the guys did a great job in the pit stops and we gained a few places. The team has improved massively: they’re a brand new outfit for this year, but they have just got better and better and it’s been great to see. I think we got it right today, and Jamie did a great job towards the end. For Sumo Power, fourth and fifth is a great result.” Mike Hezemans nr11 Exim Bank Team China Corvette Z06 “The race was good, the car was good on new tyres but then towards the end we struggled with understeer on new tyres – like a lot of cars. We were a little bit quicker than the Nissan, especially at the beginning, but you cannot pass, it’s too difficult on this track. The pace was really good on new tyres and quite good on old. I should have been on pole (yesterday), and then the weekend looks a lot different – that’s the main problem.” Bas Leinders nr40 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT Matech “We should have been on the podium today, but we got hit on the first lap which completely knocked the suspension geometry on the right rear and made the car very tricky to drive. Actually we were quite lucky to finish the race because it made the tyre wear so badly. There are some positives: for us it was easy this morning to finish fourth fastest, and the No.41 car was fast all weekend. This track suits the Ford quite well though, and even here we had trouble fighting with other cars. Everything that could go wrong seems to – I just hope our luck changes soon.” Stef Dusseldorp nr3 Hexis AMR Aston Martin DB9 “We lost 25 points today. I had a good start and was on the outside, but then I don’t know what (Maxime) Martin did – he just pushed me off big time. After that we didn’t really have a chance: the car wasn’t straight and we had bad understeer. It was not easy, so I just tried to keep the gap and then we had a perfect pit stop, really fast so we went into P5. Then we had the puncture, which was caused by the first corner collision, and that was that.” Tomas Enge nr7 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin DB9 “I had a pretty good start, and going into turn one it was pretty tight. I think as Johnny Herbert says we are like a magnet to accidents. It was unfortunate, I didn’t know Karl Wendlinger was there and there was no space for two cars: he touched me once and then spun, and hit me on my rear wheel which completely broke the rim. It was a bad weekend for us, so now we just look forward to Silverstone, a track I have been fast at last year. I hope I can repeat that.” Jeff Carter Media Delegate, Fotos: DPPI/Fia GT1.