THE BELGIAN AUDI CLUB TEAM WRT SECURES DRIVER’S TITLE WITH TWO PODIUMS AT NAVARRA

THE BELGIAN AUDI CLUB TEAM WRT SECURES DRIVER’S TITLE WITH TWO PODIUMS AT NAVARRA

29/09/2013

The main take-away from the Navarra round for the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT is that the team has secured the FIA GT Series Drivers’ title, as the crown will not escape one of its drivers. The Belgian squad has also made a step forward in the Teams’ standings, where it now enjoys a 28-point lead, with 34 points still to be awarded at the final round in Baku (Azerbaijan), whose date has been postponed to 22-24 November, due to organizational reasons. Navarra has been a weekend of mixed feelings for the Audis R8 LMS ultra. While Frank Stippler and Edward Sandström had a positive outing, collecting two podium finishes (3^rd in Qualifying race and 2^nd in the Main race), the championship leaders had a difficult day, their races being marred with a wrong choice tire in changing weather conditions in Race 1 and a brake problem in Race 2, where they had to perform a long pit stop in the closing laps. Still, the Belgian-Monegasque pair was able to salvage a 4^th and a 8^th position respectively, but see their points advantage in the overall standings reduced to 5 units. Niki Mayr-Melnhof a 9^th and a 4^th, paired in this occasion with Oliver Jarvis.

There was relative satisfaction in the Belgian camp at the end of the day. “We have secured the Drivers’ title and got closer to the Teams’ crown”, commented Team WRT Principal Vincent Vosse, “and this is certainly a good thing, but we also suffered some problems, therefore we cannot be entirely happy. In particular car #11 lived one of those days, with an unfortunate tire choice in Race 1 and the brake problem which caused a very long stop in Race 2. We don’t know what really happened, we will need to analyse everything thoroughly when we are back at home. For the rest, it was clear we could do nothing against the McLarens today, but the drivers and the entire team gave their outmost once again.”

In Qualifying, despite a top speed deficit, Stippler took a spot in the first row, thanks to his second-fastest time, right ahead of Jarvis, with Ortelli in 7^th overall, after spinning during his fast lap.

The Qualifying race, on Sunday morning, started with light rain, which prompted some drivers (including Jarvis) to start on slick tires, a choice that later would prove wrong. At the start,Parente took the lead followed by Sandström, with Vanthoor 5^th and Jarvis 19^th. In lap 5, Vanthoor was already in third and started a lively fight with Sandström, while at the back, Jarvis was struggling with the slick tires on a humid track. In lap 17, the Belgian passed the Swede after two attempts, and both Audis got into the pits together for the driver change, at the very end of the window. Stippler was out on wets and Ortelli on slicks, a choice that penalized the Monegasque as the rain resumed. While Stippler kept second without any trouble, Ortelli managed to salvage a 7^th overall (4^th in Pro) and Mayr-Melnhof concluded in P9.

The Main race went on a couple of hours later, with dry weather. At the start, Stippler had trouble to keep his position on the grid, stabilizing in P6, while Ortelli, probably hit by another car, suffered a spin and rejoined at the back of the field, right behind Mayr-Melnhof. The race in the top group was extremely lively, with a number of contacts and off-tracks. Fortunately, Stippler got clear of any trouble. “We knew this track was hard on brakes, but at the beginning it was very difficult, as it was like not having brakes at all”, admitted the German, “It only got better when brakes and tires eventually got to the right temperature”. Frank brought the car to the pit stop in an excellent 4^thposition, with the other two cars having climbed positions through the field. After the pit stop, which saw again the Team WRT crew winning the mechanics award, Vanthoor rejoined in 5^thand Jarvis in 8^th. The Belgian later passed Afanasiev and was closing on Sandström when he was forced back to the pits with a serious brake problems and flames coming out of the rear left. Once the problem was solved, he could take the track again, having lost 7 laps, to take the 4 points of P8 in the Pro Cup. While Sandström secured another podium finish by taking 3^rd, Jarvis concluded in 4^th position in the Pro Cup after a stunning end of the race and a masterful overtake on Basseng.

FIA GT Series - Round 5

Navarra, Spain

28-29 September 2013

Results Qualifying Race

1. Loeb-Parente (McLaren MP4 12C) 33 laps in 1h01m40s027

2. Sandström-Stippler (Audi R8 LMS ultra) +10s387

3. Zuber-Parisy (McLaren MP4 12C) +1m09s487

4. Vanthoor-Ortelli (Audi R8 LMS ultra) +1m17s302

5. Bueno-Khodair (BMW Z4) +1 lap

9. Mayr-Melnhof-Jarcis (Audi R8 LMS ultra) +2 laps

Results Main Race

1. Loeb-Parente (McLaren MP4 12C) 36 laps

2. Zuber-Parisy (McLaren MP4 12C) +21s087

3. Stippler-Sandström (Audi R8 LMS ultra) +29s855

4. Mayr-Melnhof-Jarvis(Audi R8 LMS ultra) +40s601

5. Day-Susseldorp (Mercedes SLS) +50s599

8. Ortelli-Vanthoor (Audi R8 LMS ultra) +7 laps

Drivers’ (Pro) Championship Standings after Race 10 of 12

1. Vanthoor-Ortelli 101 points

2. Sandström-Stippler 96

3. Mayr-Melnhof 75

4. Buhk-Day 63

Loeb-Parente

Rast

14. Jarvis 12

Teams’ (Pro) Championship Standings after Race 10 of 12

1. 1. Belgian Audi Club Team WRT 145 points
2. Loeb Racing 117
3. BMW Team Brazil 94
4. HTP Gravity Charouz 77
5. BMW Team Germany Vita4One 3

Next FIA GT Series round: Baku (AZ), 23-24 November 2013.