Entry List
Cls. Car# Team Nat Car Type Driver 1 Nat. Driver 2 Nat.
GT1 1 Vitaphone Racing Team GER Maserati MC 12 Michael Bartels GER Andrea Bertolini ITA
GT1 2 Vitaphone Racing Team GER Maserati MC 12 Miguel Ramos POR Alex Müller GER
GT1 3 SRT BEL Corvette C6R Bert Longin BEL James Ruffier FRA
GT1 4 PK Carsport BEL Corvette C6R Mike Hezemans NED Anthony Kumpen BEL
GT1 11 Full Speed Racing Team AUT Saleen S7 Stephane Lemeret BEL Luke Hines GBR
GT1 13 Full Speed Racing Team AUT Saleen S7 Michel Orts FRA Ferdinando Monfardini ITA
GT1 14 K plus K Motorsport CZE Saleen S7 Karl Wendlinger AUT Ryan Sharp GBR
GT1 18 K plus K Motorsport CZE Saleen S7 Adam Lacko CZE Mario Dominguez MEX
GT1 19 Luc Alphand Aventures FRA Corvette C6R Xavier Maassen NED Thomas Biagi ITA
GT1 35 Nissan Motorsports JPN Nissan GT-R Michael Krumm GER Darren Turner GBR
GT1 40 Marc VDS Racing Team BEL Ford GT Bas Leinders BEL Renaud Kuppens BEL
GT1 44 Matech GT Racing SUI Ford GT Thomas Mutsch GER Marc Hennerici GER
GT2 50 AF Corse ITA Ferrari 430 GT2 Toni Vilander FIN Gianmaria Bruni ITA
GT2 51 AF Corse ITA Ferrari 430 GT2 Alvaro Barba Lopez ESP Niki Cadei ITA
GT2 55 CRS Racing GBR Ferrari 430 GT2 Chris Niarchos CAN Tim Mullen GBR
GT2 56 CRS Racing GBR Ferrari 430 GT2 Andrew Kirkaldy GBR Rob Bell GBR
GT2 59 Trackspeed GBR Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Tim Sugden GBR David Ashburn GBR
GT2 60 Prospeed Competition BEL Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Emmanuel Collard FRA Richard Westbrook GBR
GT2 61 Prospeed Competition BEL Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Sean Edwards GBR Marco Holzer GER
GT2 77 BMS Scuderia Italia ITA Ferrari 430 GT2 Matteo Malucelli ITA Paolo Ruberti ITA
GT2 78 BMS Scuderia Italia ITA Ferrari 430 GT2 Kenneth Heyer GER Diego Romanini ITA
GT2 80 Hexis Racing AMR FRA Aston Martin V8 Vantage Frédéric Makowiecki FRA Stefan Mücke GER
GT2 95 Pecom Racing ARG Ferrari 430 GT2 Luis Perez Companc ARG Matias Russo ARG
GT2 97 Brixia Racing ITA Porsche 997 GT3 RSR Luigi Lucchini ITA Martin Ragginger AUT
Report: Preview, Oschersleben 2009
Vitaphone and Prospeed lead on the road to Oschersleben
For the tenth time, the FIA GT Championship will be heading for Oschersleben, and the twisty, challenging Motorsport Arena. Obviously one of the Championship’s favourite tracks, it has seen all the eras and evolutions of the FIA GT Championship. On at least six occasions, the eventual Champion has won the Oschersleben round, making it a good predictor of the Championship as a whole.
The first visit took place in 1998, at Easter, when the FIA GT Championship became the first international series to race at the brand-new circuit. Witnessing the wonderful cars of the ‘old’ GT1 era, the Mercedes, Porsche and Panoz, eventual champions Klaus Ludwig and Ricardo Zonta became the first winners, with a Mercedes CLK GTR. That event also featured the FIA F3000 International series, with many future GT drivers taking part, such as Thomas Biagi.
The Championship looked quite different when it returned the next year. The new GT category featured the former GT2 cars, led by the all-conquering Chrysler Viper Team Oreca and their mighty Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars. Karl Wendlinger and Olivier Beretta won the race, going on to win the title. After a two-year gap, the FIA GT Championship returned within the Super Racing Weekend multi-series platform between 2002 and 2004, along with the European Touring Car Championship and the Renault Formula V6 Eurocup. After three successful years, during which BMS Scuderia Italia, with the Ferrari 550 Maranello won all three races, Oschersleben witnessed the start of the Maserati era, when the car won its first race, shortly before its homologation. Although that victory did not count towards the FIA GT Championship, the next three years saw Vitaphone Racing Team take three consecutive victories on home ground, until 2008, when the Jetalliance Aston Martin dominated proceedings. As for the GT2 category, the current score at Oschersleben is Porsche three, Ferrari four. But over the last three seasons, it has been the Ferrari 430 GT2 which has claimed victory.
So what about 2009 ? The first round, in Silverstone, saw new Czech team K plus K Motorsport reign supreme, their Saleen S7 in the hands of successful duo Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp, whose Aston Martin DBR9 won the Oschersleben round last year. With the Vitaphone Maserati second and the Luc Alphand Corvette C6R third, three different makes on the podium got the season off to a great start. The Saleen S7R had received smaller restrictors for Adria, but still managed a blistering time in qualifying, before a technical infringement relegated it to the back of the grid, where a broken driveshaft quickly took it out of the race. This left the way open for Vitaphone, whose Maserati MC 12 cars finished first and third, separated by the PK Corvette C6R of Hezemans and Kumpen. So after just two races, four-times Champions Vitaphone Racing Team, with their drivers Bertolini and Bartels, have taken an early lead in both the Teams and Drivers classifications, before heading for their home round in Oschersleben. Alex Müller has put in a strong performance in his first two races for the team, and will be sure to want to do well on home soil.
Competition is likely to be fierce in GT1. The two Vitaphone Maserati MC 12s are up against at least four Saleen S7R cars, two from Czech team K plus K Motorsport – victorious in Silverstone - and two from Austrian-British collaboration Full Speed Racing, who claimed the best Saleen finish in Adria. Not forgetting the Corvette C6R, still looking for a win in 2009, but with cars from SRT, PK and Luc Alphand Aventures on the grid, all with experienced drivers and bigger restrictors from Oschersleben onwards, the fight will definitely be on. Moreover, double FIA GT Champion Thomas Biagi, who has won three times at Oschersleben, has recently joined French team Luc Alphand Aventures in the nr 19 Corvette C6R. The Italian has won the Oschersleben round in 2003, 2005 and 2007. 2009 would seem to be the next in the sequence… As well as the familiar GT1 cars, this year also brings the first cars built according to the new 2010 technical regulations. Nissan Motorsport enter their Nissan GT-R, while Matech GT Racing and Marc VDS Racing both enter Ford GT cars. A chance to see tomorrow, today…
The GT2 category has grown increasingly competitive and professional in recent years, and 2009 is no exception. After a number of years of Ferrari domination, Porsche has claimed victory in the first two rounds of the season. Belgian team Prospeed Competition claimed victory in both Silverstone and Adria with the ultra-rapid pairing of Emmanuel Collard and Richard Westbrook. However, the duo will be up against a total of 90 kg penalty weight around the Oschersleben circuit, which could slow them down. Second behind them in the Drivers classification are the AF Corse drivers – but not the reigning Championship Vilander and Bruni, but the new boys Niki Cadei and Alvaro Barba Lopez. With consistent results and a first podium in Adria, they are currently ahead of their team-mates, who claimed their first non-finish in Silverstone after a fault-free 2008. Bruni and Vilander are joint third with Pecom Racing drivers Perez-Companc and Russo, who missed Adria but should be back behind the wheel of the Argentine Ferrari for Oschersleben. Other stars this season so far in GT2 have included Porsche Carrera Cup graduates Martin Ragginger and Marco Holzer. Driving for Brixia Racing and Prospeed Competition respectively, Ragginger became the youngest-ever pole setter in Adria, while Holzer’s consistent results with Hong-Kong driver Darryl O’Conner places him fifth in GT2. For Oschersleben, however, Holzer will be accompanied by Sean Edwards, the first-ever FIA GT3 European Champion.
The perennial GT2 battle between Porsche and Ferrari will see a third party join in at Oschersleben, with the return of the Hexis Racing AMR Aston Martin Vantage V8. In the hands of Stefan Mücke and Frédéric Makowiecki, the car was extremely fast and competitive in Silverstone, and proved a worthy rival for the other two makes.
Oschersleben has provided ideal conditions over the years for some excellent FIA GT Championship races, and this year is sure to be no different !
