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the PIT LANE
FIA GT Round 6 ... |
The 6th round in the 2007 FIA GT Championship wasn't a regular round, this time it was a 24 hours race held on the famous Belgian Formula One circuit at Spa
Francorchamps. Officially named the Total 24 Hours, this race saw two Murciélago R-GT's specifically prepared for the race by Reiter Engineering and a trio of
Gallardo GT3's entered by S-Berg Racing into the innovative 'Coupe du Roi' format.
On Thursday the first test sessions would be held, and I drove down to Spa Francorchamps to get first hand experience of this amazing race. The thundering sound of
the V8, V10 and V12 engines was amazing, with cars like the Chevrolet Corvette, the Aston Martin DBR9, the Maserati MC12 and naturally the Lamborghini Murciélago
that would go head to head on the challenging circuit of Spa Francorchamps to score as much points as possible.
For this 6th round in the FIA GT some changes happened in the teams, the two Murciélago R-GT's now raced under separate names, the number 7 car remained under the
All-Inkl.com team with Christophe Bouchut (FIA GT champion in 2000. 2001 and 2002), Stefan Mücke and Frank Stippler behind the steering wheel. But the nr 8 car now
became the nr 28 car and was entered by Reiter Engineering, driven by Jos Menten, Peter Kox and Jeroen Bleekemolen.
| The number 28 Murciélago R-GT took 6th position with only 6 tenths of a second behind the Pole |
A first qualifying round was held on Thursday evening, doubling as a night qualifying round at the same time, a great opportunity to get a feel of the circuit
in the dark. The provisional pole after the first two night sessions was taken by Karl Wendlinger in an Aston Martin DBR9, putting down 2:14.935 as the fastest time in
cool and dry conditions.
The number 28 Murciélago R-GT took 6th position with only 6 tenths of a second behind the Pole, while the nr 7 Lamborghini managed to reach the 11th grid place.
Hans Reiter quoted : "It is a great success for us to be so near to the Pole on a long and fast track like this, especially as we have never been here before and had to
learn a lot about the circuit."
During the fourth hour of the race, Bleekemolen couldn't avoid some tire pick up, one of these pieces of rubber went straight through the front fender and activated
the emergency switch for the electrical system. But the mechanics could repair the damage as it happened again at the entry of the pit lane, and he could continue
the race on full power.
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The photographs from this article can be found on the wallpaper selection |
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