2010 FIA GT World Championship round 2 from Silverstone, Championship race LIVE!

Time for the Championship Race from Silverstone, FIA GT 2010.

The new balance of performance allowed a even closer competition between all cars, so it will definitely be another excellent race.

Race is cheduled at 15:15 GMT, so just a few minutes and the race will start.
Enjoy the LIVE broadcast after the jump!

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2010 FIA GT World Championship round 2 from Silverstone, qualifying session and race and LIVE!

Tomorrow the second round of the FIA GT World Championship will start at Silverstone, inaugurating the new track's layout. Unfortunately I won't be at home watching it, but I thought it was nice to broadcast it nonetheless, so I had to post the video streaming now while I'm still at my place.

Feel free to enjoy the qualifying session and the qualifying race from The Italian Junkyard, see you on Sunday for the championship race.
Follow the jump for the live streaming.

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2010 FIA GT World Championship round 1 from Abu Dhabi, Champioship Race LIVE!

Da 2010 FIA GT World Championship round 1 from Abu Dhabi, Championship Race LIVE!

It's time to watch some LIVE action!

Finally the FIA GT is back, this time in world wide form.

Championsip race is about to strat in a few minutes, and while hoping this race will be accidents free I'd like to wish Natacha Gachnang a quick recovery from her accident during the previous race.

Enjoy the broadcast of the race after the jump!

Image Copyright: Nissan Motor Company Ltd
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2010 FIA GT World Championship round 1 from Abu Dhabi, Natacha Gachnang's accident

Due to a bit of confusion about the time schedule, I completely missed the first "qualifying race", only to discover it was stopped due to a massive accident involving one of the Matech Ford GT, precisely the one driven by the only female couple. At the moment of the accident Natacha Gachnang was driving.

A leak in the rear braking circuit was apparently the reason for a lack of braking power, so when she was approaching Turn 8 from a top speed of 260 km/h she had to apply more and more pressure on the brake pedal. It appears that doing so not only the braking power at the rear was reduced by the leak, but probably she also pressed in some way the accelerator pedal. At that point, with the front tires completely blocked (as the front circuit was apparently fine) and the rear tires still turning she had no control of the car which smashed against the ARMCO barriers at the end of the straight.

The cameraman who was positioned in that area was hit by his own camera, resulting in a suspected broken nose. On the other hand he was definitely luckier than Natacha Gachnang who has already been operated because of a double compound fracture at her right leg.

It is very unfortunate to start this important season this way, but once again we know we can rely on safe cars and circuits.

You can watch the video of the accident, waiting for the championship race to start in a few hours.

GET WELL SOON NATACHA!

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2009 FIA GT - Zolder, GT3 Race 2, LIVE streaming of the last event of the season

After Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels clinched the 2009 FIA GT1 title, and Richard Westbrook finally had his hands on the GT2 title, let's see how it ends in the GT3 category.
This series has been such a huge revelation, and just keeps getting better and better. After all the actions and crashes at Paul Ricard last time, this race is going to be as much interesting as they have always been.
Follow the jump for live streaming and timing.
Cheers.

LIVE timing HERE



Photo Copyright: DPPI - ERIC DE DONCKER (BEL) / FORD GT TEAM MATECH RACING
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2009 FIA GT - Zolder, race. This is it, LIVE streaming of the last race of the FIA GT Championship as we know it.

We'll talk later about what's going to change and what that will mean.
What you have to focus on now is the last race of the season, last time you'll see these rockets thundering on the track. Yes all of them received the green light to race even next year, but with their performance highly affected by the new rules.

Never mind, this is how the qualifying ended.
We have GT1championship leaders, Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini in 6th position on the starting grid in their #1 Vitaphone Maserati MC12, a bit disappointing. Right in from of them there is the #19 Luc Alphand Adventures Corvette Z06 driven by Xavier Maassen and Thomas Biagi. The #8 Sangari Corvette Z06 driven by last race winning Bernoldi and Streit couple is 4th.
Third spot is owned by #33 Vitaphone DHL Maserati MC12 driven by Alex Pier Guidi and car mate Matteo Bobbi. Second place has been take by the #2 MC12 driven my Ramos and Muller, while the title contenders of Pekaracing, Anthony Kumpen and Mike Hezemans, took the pole position in their #4 Corvette Z06.

That's not how the race is going to start thoug, as Pole-setter Anthony Kumpen and second-fastest qualifying man Alex Müller both received grid penalities due to setting their best times under yellow flags during yesterday's qualifying session.
So the new starting grid now is: the nr 33 Vitaphone Racing Team DHL Maserati MC 12 starting from first position, alongside the nr 8 Sangari Team Brazil Corvette. The second row will be the nr 19 Luc Alphand Aventures Corvette, alongside Championship leader nr 1 Vitaphone Maserati MC 12. The third row will be Longin and Ruffier in the nr 3 SRT Corvette, alongside Championship contenders Hezemans and Kumpen, with the nr 2 Vitaphone Maserati on the fourth row alongside the nr 35 Nissan GT-R.
The #1 MC12 is leading by a tight 4 points gap over the #4 Corvette.

In GT2, #50 AF Corse Ferrari F430 GT2 driven by Gianmaria "Jimmy" Bruni took the pole position, ahead of Bergmeister in his Porsche 997 GT3 RSR. Championship contender Richard Westbrook is third in once another Porsche 911, while former his team mate and now opponent Emanuel Collard is 9th in his new #97 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, albeit qualifie by his new car mate Ragginger.

On a final note, next year GT1 cars, the Matech Ford GT1 and the Nismo GT-R R35, barely managed to qualify ahead of GT2 cars. I'd have expected some better results by the end of this experimental season. I'm more interested in good action and motorsports rather than pure speed and performance, so we'll next year how it'll be.

Follow the jump for the usual live streaming and live timing of this last thrilling FIA GT event from Zolder.

Live timing HERE

The Italian Junkyard

Photo Copyright: DPPI - Michael BARTELS (GER) - Andrea BERTOLINI (ITA) / MASERATI MC12 GT1 N°1 team VITAPHONE RACING
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2009 FIA GT - Zolder, qualifying. LIVE streaming!

So the wet track allowed for some funny and scary moments.
It isn't that frequent that GT2 cars manages to be faster or as fast as GT1 cars, but the lighter and more compact cars managed to take some glory this time.
Let's see if how the starting grid will be with the live streaming of the qualifying session.
So far Luc Alphand Adventures and Prospeed had the best times in GT1 and GT2 categories respectively.
Follow the jump for streaming and live timing as usual.

Live timing HERE

The Italian Junkyard

Photo Copyright: DPPI - Xavier MAASSEN (NED) - Thomas BIAGI (ITA) / CORVETTE C6R GT1 N°19 team LUC ALPHAND AVENTURE
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2009 FIA GT - Zolder, pre-qualifying, LIVE streaming!

Here we go, this is the last round of the 2009 FIA GT Championship and it's taking place at Zolder, Belgium.
Things are going to change pretty heavily for next year, but we'll talk about that later on.
The Maserati #1 crew has a small but important lead on the #4 Corvette, the battle is very tight and so is in GT2.
Now make the jump and enjoy the live streaming of the practicing session.
Cheers.

Live timing HERE

The Italian Junkyard

Photo Copyright: DPPI - Miguel RAMOS (POR) - Alex MULLER (GER) / MASERATI MC12 GT1 N°2 team VITAPHONE RACING
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2009 FIA GT - Paul Ricard HTTT Race, GT3

Follow the jump for once another live streaming at The Italian Junkyard from Paul Ricard.
The FIA GT3 is probably the funnier category of them all!

LIVE timing HERE



Photo source: here
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2009 FIA GT - Paul Ricard HTTT Race, LIVE streaming is on!

The race will start in 40 minuts or so at 13:15 (UK time), so you still have some time to gather some chips and beer/coca cola/sprite whatever you may prefer.
Seat comfortably on the sofa, turn off the phone and enjoy once another hopefulyl eventfulfrom r one of my favourites motorsports.
The battle for the tittle could be tighter with both Hezemans, Kumpens in their #4 Corvette C6.R and Bartels, Bertolini in their #1 Maserati MC12 at 45 points and the same placements over the season, with just to more races to go.
GT2 category looks as busy as the GT1, with Bruni, Villander on the recently updated Ferrari F430 Gt2 leading by just one point over Collard, Westbrook in their Porsche 997 GT3 RSR.

Be my guest for this event and enjoy the race.
Follow the jump for the live streaming of the race and the live timing as usual.

Live timing HERE

The Italian Junkyard

Photo Copyright: DPPI - Miguel RAMOS (POR) - Alex MULLER (GER) / MASERATI MC12 GT1 N°2 team VITAPHONE RACING
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2009 FIA GT - Paul Ricard Warm Up ... in 6 hours, check back for the action!

As I'm pretty sure I won't wake up in time, here is the live streaming of the warm up session for the 7th round of the FIA GT Championship.
It will start at 8.00 am (UK time), so be sure to check back in 6 hours for the actual action.
Follow the jump for the streaming and the live timing.

Live timing HERE

Photo Copyright: DPPI - Thomas MUTSCH (GER) - Henri MOSER (SUI) / FORD GT GT1 N°44 team MATECH GT RACING
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IT'S RACING TIME, again! 2009 Paul Ricard HTTT Fia GT

While all the attention is gathered by yet another Formula 1 race, the Suzuka GP, and all the usual rumors about the future of what appears more and more of a soap opera rather than the pinnacle of motorsports, Paul Ricard is about to host the seventh, out of eight races, round of the FIA GT Championship.

Poleman Enrique Bernoldi will start from the 6th spot as he caused an accident in the pre-qualifying session, so all the three Maserati MC12s will take the first three spots, respectively, Muller, Pier Guidi and Bertoloni, with title contenders Ruffier and Hezemans right behind them.
This round will see 10 GT1 cars, including an old but strong Ferrari 550 Maranello driven to the 8th position by ex Formula 1 race winner Olivier Panis, and two Ford GT under the 2010 regulations. Ironically, the Fords proved to be slower than the 550 Maranello.

In GT2, the updated F430 GT2 gave to Jimmy Bruni his 8th FIA GT pole position, looking good to improve the AF Corse leadership in the championship, now consisting in just one point.
11 GT2 cars will take part to the race.

The warm up will start at 8.00 am (UK time), with the race taking place at 14.00 (UK time).
Expect the usual streaming, but I'm not sure if I'll cover the warm up as well, that depends on when I'm going to wake up, you know, it's Sunday after all...

Feel free to enjoy the race here at The Italian Junkyard. :)

Photo Copyright: DPPI - Battle for the title
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2009 FIA GT Algarve 2 Hours - LIVE streaming!

So the race should have started at 14:20 but due to a red flag in the previous support race, the result is a delayed start.
The battle is agoing to be as tight as the contenders are in the overall classification so far, with Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini leading at 41 points on their Maserati MC12 against Mike Hezemans and Anthony Kumpen at 37 in their Corvette C6.R.
Starting from pole position is Enrique Bernoldi on once another Corvette C6.R.

Follow the jump for the LIVE streaming and timing and enjoy the Show!

Live timing HERE

Streaming Source: FIA GT
Photo credit: DPPI
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If you've had enough of Formula One then...

Ready for some live action?
The racing season is going to finish soon, summer is over and for some weird reason we won't see F1 and GT cars fighting each other on icy roads and cold tracks, not this year, but give Bernie Ecclestone a bit more spare time and a new assistant I'm pretty sure he will end up with a dangerously similar idea.

While Formula 1 is stormed by yet another scandal, actual racing seems to loose some of its appealing side, with few action on the track, and more involving happenings off the track.
If you want my opinion, this new crash-gate thing, involving Renault F1 Team, Briatore and Symonds, trough sacked and poor performing driver Nelson Piquet Jr, stinks, a lot.
Follow the jump to know why.

First of all I don't see why on heart they should give Piquet immunity if he collaborates, he he would be as involved and guilty as the others. If his excuse was to be in a delicate position, waiting for a new contract, and that he was the young and helpless driver threatened by those old and bad men, well, grow up kid.
Then it's amazing how people call this the worst scandal ever in F1.
No one crashed at 300 km/h against a brick wall with no helmets, it was actually a pretty "safe" crash and i don't see nothing to be so upset about.
I'm not saying I'm fine with such a fact, at all, it's just that I can't see why this should be worst than Nigel Stepney stealing all the data and papers of the latest Formula One car from Ferrari, and bring it to Woking, McLaren, and specifically to Mike Coughlan.
Not be forgot, Stepney was also found guilty of sabotaging the Massa's car adding a chemical salt in the fuel tank, absorbing some of the lubricant substances present in the fuel.

On the other hand, I'm of the opinion that this could be just one case among many others, which we just don't know yet. I don't think this three people are the only one capable of such a decision, and I think many others have already happened.
I can't remember which year it was, but I remember that in the 250 cc Motorcycle World Championship, there was a Spanish rider, one of the Nieto' perhaps, who won the title by just one point over Italian rider Marco Melandri.
Want to know how he got that point?
previously that year he was about last during a race, but his team mate was in the points. A quick calculation showed that if the team mate would have stopped, the Spanish driver would have arrived 15th, which incidentally is the last spot to take one single point.
The other driver didn't crashed on purpose, but he did something even more humiliating I think. he stopped at one meters from the finish line, and let pass all the other riders, including his Spanish team mate, which got that point.
So, how was that?
Want to talk the million times Barrichello or Irvine slowed down evidently to let Schumacher pass when he was driving for Ferrari?

The weird part is Renault initially backing Briatore, moving forward for a legal action, and then saying it doesn't want to contest the charges it will face on Monday. Another couple of days and Briatore and Symonds left Renault after life-long careers there. Fishy, to say the least.

If you think Formula One is more and more about politics rather than motorsports, than wait for this.

BMW said it won't take part to the 2010 season. Fair enough, even if it's a bit weird after all the fights for breakaway series, FOTA VS FIA and so on. I don't think the decision to withdraw was taken in the last few days, but perhaps it was in the interest of all the other car makers to have things going right, even if one of them, BMW in this case, was about to leave a few weeks later.
But that's not the point.

The point is BMW putting the team up for sale, a no one apparently buying it. Former team founder and manager Peter Sauber tried to buy it back, but his offer was considered a bit short on money (as if 10 Million $ less are a problem when you already lost hundred of them and are looking to drop the deal as soon as possible).
Rumors started circulating about a group of investors from Malaysia. Why from over there? Petronas, one of the main sponsors and also a supplier (fuel) of the team since the days of Sauber, is the national petroleum company. To give to the whole deal a bit more credit, Proton, the national automaker, owns Lotus, the English sportscars maker. To be honest the trademark "Lotus F1 Team" was actually bought some years ago by another English company, so that wouldn't in the end have led to the come back of the formerly great English team.

Eventually the FIA opened a new contest to find the new 13th team for the 2010 season, and this new team from Malaysia won. The thing is they didn't buy the ex-BMW team, but created a new one.
At this time being, there isn't not only a car, but even a factory, a team, technical personal if not Michael Gascoyne, who joined Lotus a year ago or so.
The ex-BMW team on the other hand was bought by an Arab-European consortium of investments. They won the 14th spot on the grid, so they are basically the first reserve.

What is funny is that so far Manor, USF1, Campos and now this new Lotus team, which are the ones chosen to enlarge the grid for next year, lack of the technical infrastructures and even background in some cases, while much more credited entries have been turned down.
Eventually Campos will be backed by Dallara, so it should be ok.
But how they decided to leave Epsilon-Euskadi, Prodrive and now the former BMW team in the dust is simple incomprehensible. Epsilon-Euskadi proved its value the LMS championships, and they have a vast and powerful technical knowledge. Lola even had an F1 car ready this summer by the time the 24 Hours of Le Mans was on.
Then there was also N.Technology, a company perhaps unknown to a lot of people, but whit a successful background. They were behind all the recent racing efforts of the Fiat, Abarth and Alfa Romeo brands, especially for what regards the all-conquering Alfa Romeo 156 which dominated various touring championships since its debut in 1998. They were ignored as well.

So with all these sop-opera-ish things going on, Formula One doesn't look anymore as the pinnacle of motorsports, just the link between a car and a gossip tv program.

Wat's my answer to this then?

In 30 minutes I'll embed the streaming of the 6th Round of the FIA GT Chmapionship from Algarve, Portugal. Start is set at 13:45, BST.
So stay tune for more.

The Italian Junkyard

Photo credit, Flavio Briatore and Elisabetta Gregoraci: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe
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24 Hours of SPA, LIVE at The Italian Junnkyard

Streaming removed as the show is over.

Classification:
GT1: #4 Corvette Z06
GT2: #50 Ferrari F430 GT
G2: #111 Audi R8 LMS
G3: #121 Matech Ford GT

Congratulations to all the teams who entered this massacring endurance race, thanks for the show!

Head here for live timing.

Video Streaming source
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24 Hours of SPA, LIVE

Silly me, FIA itself is providing full coverage of all GT rounds, and this race is no exception. I'm struggling to embed the video streaming on my blog, so right now just enjoy this free streaming directly from GT1Live.tv, CLICK HERE to open the page.
I'll let you know if I'll success in my task.
Enjoy the show,

HURRY UP THE RACE IS STARTING RIGHT NOW!!!

Video Streaming source
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Looking for a 24 Hours of Spa streaming

As suggested by the title, today it's the big one for GT racing, as the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps will start at 16 pm (GMT +1).
After some problematic qualifying sessions interrupted by heavy rain, it's time to show what each car and team can do. Maserati brought there three MC12s as opposed to the usual two cars fighting for the last GT Championship in which we could see this mighty car.
Next year as you may know rules will change drastically, and all of the present cars couldn't run anymore. Up to now there are only three cars eligible for the 2010 Championship, being the Matech Ford GT1, the Nissan GT-R GT1 and the yesterday unveiled right at Spa, Reiter Lamborghini Murcielago LP670 R-SV.
The Aston Martin DBR9, Masarti MC12, Reiter Murcielago R-GT, Corvette C6.R and Saleen S7-R won't race anymore.
It's a real shame I think, as they surely still have a lot of potential, but who are we to decide?
It's also an event in which to see Jacque Villeneuve racing again, this time in a Mosler MT900, and to assist to the racing debut of the Maserati GranTurismo MC GT4, entered by team AF Corse.

As a commemorative occasion, I'd like to "broadcast", or better to post a streaming video of the 24 of Spa, but since it seems the race isn't gathering much attention, I could need you help to find a streaming.

Let's see what we can do now, we still have 4 hours to the start of the race!

Photo Copyright: Royal Automobile Club of Belgium
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5.1 The 20 hours of The Italian Junkyard

No car was driven in this race, no engine screamed its last hps and no tires were changed.
But I ate 4 hamburgers and half a pizza, drank about 3 liters of various drinks and walked for many many miles.
Oh, and about 1.000 shots were taken.

You may remember I was in the position of going to watch the Mille Miglia passing trough Modena, or the second round of the FIA GT Championship in Adria. As previously posted, I took the second option.

I felt like the GT races could offer me a more direct contact with the cars and the racing environment, mainly due to the fact that with the Mille Miglia I would have had just to take a free spot along side the fence, and watch the cars passing by. Not a bad experience, but perhaps too passive and to fresh in my mind after last year's one.
Also, I just love GT cars and competition. The possibility to have a glance inside Maserati's box was enough to get my attention too.

Chronicle of the race ahead, much more pictures and thoughts in future posts.

My personal race started at 6:30 am in Modena. Together with friend working at Maserati Corse we left the motortown at 7 to reach the Adria Raceway, 152 km away or 1:50 hours.
Insert 45.044176,12.15163 in Google Maps for aerial view, sorry for the very low quality images.
We actually arrived at 9:10, took the free tickets (courtesy of Maserati Corse obviously) and entered the track while the first race of the GT4 European Cup was already on, with echoes of screaming tires and roaring engines welcoming us.

That's what I call an entry.

As in 2007, my first time there, the parking lot was already showing some interesting sightings but I didn't pay much attention to them as the cars were already fighting on the track. Just the time to step on the tribune and a red 911 GT3 lost control under heavy braking at the first corner, hitting a Donkevoort G8 and casting the end of its race, while putting at risk the race of at least two other cars. Ironically, the 911 managed to start again and finish the race.

As the previous years, the tribunes still consisted of artificial and stair-shaped small hills, covered by a tick fabric. Smaller steps were added so the make it easier to climb them. Not very appealing or comfortable, but fair enough for the audience.

A short walk in the paddock, just to see the Gallardo SuperTrofeos getting ready for their first race ever. It was pretty obvious those were the very first miles of the cars when, in the first laps, a very strong smell of welding covered the whole track as handcrafted exhausts were reaching working temperatures.
Once the race was on, the Gallardos seemed pretty fast with the only good driver, Sanna, who also happens to be an Audi race driver (Italian Superstars championship with the RS4) and a Lamborghini tester, to perform some decent trajectories.
The race has been pretty uneventful, with drivers pretty busy studying both the car and the track, and probably even pretty worried of damaging the new toys.

Again in the paddock, with a short visit in the Maserati Vitaphone box. It seemed pretty calm and quite, but the guys were getting nervous, the qualifying was scheduled in about an hour and after the mistakes made at Silverstone, they wanted to show that was just a case.
Having an MC12 near you is always a pleasure, but the racing version is completely different beast. Too bad for the silly rear wing smaller than usual so to limit a bit its dominance.
Even the air restrictors for the engine are smaller than usual, 31,8 mm against 33, and so the underbody extractor. It's still incredibly fast and reliable nonetheless.

After that, we walked to a hot spot for watching the action going on on the track, which happens to be on the exact opposite corner of the paddock.
The tribunes right after the start (45.045563, 12.148132) are good to watch the first moment of a race when all cars are close to each other and with the first corner being quite slow after the main straight, but other than that, the view is quite limited.
The right spot is the tribune of the second corner (45.041811, 12.145386) from which you can enjoy the cars exiting the first corner and trough the second straight, second corner, third straight, a glance of the third corner, another straight and then the chicane, after which, they disappear behind advertising walls. As you can see it's a quite long walk, especially when you do it at least three time following the track route as it isn't possible to reach it from the back if not exiting the track itself. During this eternal journey we noticed also a very silly and pointless thing: in front of the actual second tribune (45.044146, 12.145665), along side the second straight, white sheets of plastic were positioned on the high fence so to avoid the audience to watch the track. Don't ask me why, but that means we couldn't see but just hear the cars passing by while moving from the paddock to the second corner.
For the record, it's impossible to see this other section of the track (45.042478, 12.149613) because there are no tribunes or spots on the walls.
It's not really a public-friendly track.

By the time we were there, time was come for the qualifying session of the GT3 European Championship.
The best thing about this category is both the large number of entries (31 in this event) and the variety of cars, from the title winning and awesome looking Ford GT to the nostalgic and incredibly fast Morgan Aero Super Sport.
Also it's the real deal if you are looking for entertaining, overtaking and battles during the whole race.
Considering the number of small and big accidents, it has to be pretty cheap to run too...

When the GT2s entered the track for their qualifying run, I could just think how few they were. 11 cars, among which 4 997 GT3 RS and the rest being F430 GT2. I don't think saying it was boring to watch would be correct, but it wasn't enough to keep my mate completely awake...
Then the GT1s came, with something more to add to the mix, with Corvette C6.Rs, MC12s, Saleen S7s and even an S7 Twin Turbo, according to the FIA official website, which also lists the Corvettes as Z06s though.
Interestingly, two Ford GTs were entered under 2010 regulations, both developed by 2007 GT3 Championship winning Matech Engineering.
Nissan on the other hand wasn't present after the unhappy debut of the GT-R in Silverstone.

Right after this part, silence fell on the track all of a sudden. The track is positioned somewhere in the middle of nowhere in the Venetian countryside, so you can imagine there isn't really something going on at noon on Saturday.
And here is when my mate fell asleep too. The Gallardo LP560s performing some demonstrative laps for potential owners weren't enough for him, but it should be said they provided the first power-oversteerings of the day.
This was also the only moment when something wasn't happening, which allowed for a come back in the paddock without missing some action on the track.
Right in time to spot a group of modern Lamborghinis which came to celebrate the start of the SuperTrofeo season and left right after lunch. Among them, an old and still attractive Diablo, unfortunately ruined by a Strosek body kit.

With the light of the day finally coming out from behind the clouds, cars started looking better, and so the pics. The Reventòn was really suffering from the cloudy weather, the color was really unexpressing, but also cleaning the after the rain of the night would have helped. It took them the whole morning to notice it.

I missed the second GT4 and SuperTrofeo races because we were chatting with one of the main Maserati tester, let's calling him Mr “O”, and later a Maserati Corse chief, Mr “M”.
I will talk about this in the dedicated posts I'm planning.

It was time for the first GT3 race though, so we all moved to the tribunes.
It has been very interesting and eventful, with an accident at the chicane knocking out three or four cars because of the oil/water leaked on the track and messing up the situation quite a bit.
The Ford GTs developed by Matech are definitely the quicker cars and the more stable too. The easiness with which the drivers were leading the race was incredible. They took the first two steps of the podium, promisingly looking at the second race.

The third and last race of the SuperTrofeo seemed to be, as the first, pretty uneventful, plus we had to go to the entrance of the track to met a couple of friends arriving for the main race during the evening. Incidentally, we missed the only serious competition or major error resulting in a Gallardo with the rear suspensions heavily damaged and that we later spotted in the paddock.

Waiting for those friends, the time separating us from the GT1 and GT2 race was expiring, so we had to run like mad to reach the infamously distant second corner. Once I climbed the tribune the MC12s were arriving leading the group after the #14 Sharp-Wendlinger Saleen's qualifying times were canceled due to an engine failure resulting also in the car not taking part into the race.
I was barely breathing, but the sounds of those screaming V12s and roaring V8s was worth the longest run I had since some years...

I also had to ask for a spare memory card for the photo camera to Mr M because mine was running out of free space during the first laps, and there still was the full evening ahead.

Unfortunately I didn't have my tripod with me, so taking pictures with the light of the day fading away was more and more difficult. I was very hypnotized by the shining red brake discs and did my best to capture them, it was so Le Mans I remembered myself that's another must-go-to event.

Right after the race the Maserati box was at first overcrowded with people trying to feel like a part of a winning team and trying to get some fame, while 30 minutes or so after it was completely empty, with the guys waiting for the cars to be scrutinized by the marshals. Their job wasn't finished yet.

Even better was the GT3 race, with the night surrounding the usual close fighting to the last corner for the perfect atmosphere. The Fords were again planning a dominated race, but some bad luck and a embarrassing race direction knocked them out.
Basically an Audi R8 LMS lost the front bonnet which fell on the track. The marshals were just yellow flagging, but after a couple or more laps, a group of 4 or 5 cars arrived on the main straight, one hit the bonnet which flew right against the Gts radiator.
Game Over, don't know why they say on the website that the car lost control due to some oil on the track.

It was almost midnight and after 15 hours on the track I was dead-tired. I had a lazy look at the parking lot checking if something pretty rare was there to be appreciated, as in 2007 while exiting, a Bentley Arnage appeared in front of our little Fiat Punto. Nothing was apparently there, and so we left the track as if we were heading directly to pour beds. But it wasn't over yet.

Driving home was the toughest part of the day. After 40 minutes my mate (who also owns the car) was too tired to keep driving, and therefore it was my turn. I was tired too, but I use to stand it better than him while driving, and so I though it was pretty safe.
At a certain point I was so tired I was going to stop at a gas station and sleep, when I saw the sign “Modena Sud” on the motorway, which meant we were 15 minutes away from home. I woke up my mate so to be sure I could stay awake. If I had to drive for an additional 5 minutes I would have ended up pretty badly probably.
2 am, time to sleep, for real this time.

When you are tired, don't drive. Seriously.
And when you have the occasion, go to a GT race, it's awesome!


All images Copyright: Damiano Garro
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