By Tarek Ramchani
Circuit Zolder hosted the second round of both the FIA GT1 World Championship and the FIA GT3 European Championship last weekend. Audi teams are competing in both series, in the end it was some bad luck and disappointing results from a very rainy weekend.
FIA GT1 World Championship:
After dominating the opening round at Nogaro with double victories, the Belgian Audi Club WRT aimed high for their home race at Zolder. All started well on Satruday, with very strong qualifying sessions. The #33 of Oliver Jarvis and Frank Stippler was second, the sister #32 car of Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor, the double winners in France, were fifth.
Right before the qualifying race, the pole sitting Porsche GT3 R of Exim Bank Team China was penalized and that gave the #33 Audi the pole position. It was a wet start to the race and the second placed Lamobrghini Gallardo jumped the start, passing Oliver Jarvis. The track began to dry and the pit window opened for the mandatory pit stop. Jarvis had had placed the #33 in the lead before the pit stops. Most of the front runners opted for dry slick tires but the WRT team chose wet tires. It was later revealed that a communication problem had prevented the team from hearing the drivers ask for slicks on the clearly drying track. This resulted in both Audi struggling and dropping way behind. The #18 BMW Z4 GT3 of Vita4One Racing won the race. The R8 LMS ultra cars finished together but only eleventh and twelfth.
The main Championship Race, was a kind of revered deja vu. Tire choice was a gamble at the start of the race with possible rain. Many cars opted for wets while WRT chose slicks this time round. WRT got the gamble wrong and struggled for pace when it started raining shortly after the race start. The WRT team pushed the cars to their limits and as the track began to dry they began making up places. WRT was the last team to do their mandatory pit stops. This had allowed them to make up a lot of ground but when they rejoined the track their cold slicks were no match for the other cars that had pitted earlier and now had warm slicks. Both Audis dropped back in the field but were still running together. Stéphane Ortelli and Oliver Jarvis battled hard for positions on track, and collided, with the #33 Audi R8 LMS ultra spinning. In the end the #32 Audi of Ortelli and Vanthoor finished in sixth. The sister #33 with Jarvis and Stippler landed in tenth.
The Belgian weekend wasn't lucky for the WRT boys, however the team was able to keep the overall championship lead. Stéphane Ortelli and Laurens Vanthoor are the outright series leaders. Next time is at Portimao in Portugal. Last year WRT did very well there in the FIA GT3 European Championship by winning a race with their Audi R8 LMS.
FIA GT3 European Championship:
Things weren't different in the FIA GT3 European Championship. The same as in the World GT1 event, the Audis did very well in both qualifying sessions with great double pole positions but the races did not go as planned.
For Race 1, the new comers to the series Team Nova Driver were able to take their first pole position. The other two Audis from Sainteloc Racing were further back. Before the start the #14 Portuguese Audi was penalized and dropped to third. The race was very wet with the #14 involved in a titanic battle for the lead. The track began to dry and it came down to tire choice at the pit stops. The Audi team again opted for slick anticipating more imminent rain. The rain did not arrive and the three Audi cars weren't able to match the Ferrari and AMG SLS pace. The cars finished in lower positions, sixth was the #14 Audi of Team Novadriver, the Sainteloc cars were grouped in tenth and eleventh.
Race 2 was almost the same as Race 1. Sainteloc Racing's R8 LMS ultra had locked out the front row after a great 1-2 in the qualifying session. Again wrong tire choices combined with various spins resulted in the cars dropping back and they finished almost a lap behind the winning AF Corse Ferrari 458 GT3.
Overall it was a very difficult weekend for the Audi teams at Zolder. Next time both championships will head to Portugal and the challenging Portimao track. Belgian Audi Club WRT is leading in FIA World GT1 Championship and Sainteloc Racing is chasing the leaders in the FIA GT3 European Championship. We are hoping for better performances at the Algarve track, the Audi R8 LMS ultra is clearly among the best GT3 racers around, if not the best.
