Cloudburst Over Mugello
17th September 2006
The 7th round of the FIA GT Championship 2006 was conditioned by heavy rain
showers in the first part of the race.
The two cars of the Vitaphone Racing Team started the race under totally different
circumstances. During qualifying Andrea Bertolini set car no. 1 on pole position
and Thomas Biagi put car no. 2 8th place on the grid. The race was started
on the Sunday although it was raining so hard that most of the driver’s
couldn’t see anything through their windscreens. The cars in the front
row had problems with heavy rain but all the other cars had heavy rain and
the spray of the cars in front as another problem.
However the race finished successful for both cars of the Vitaphone Team.
Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels finished 2nd behind the Aston Martin with
Karl Wendlinger and Phillip Peter. Jamie Davies who did the first stint in
the race in car no. 2 and his team mate Thomas Biagi finished 3rd.
Jamie Davies: “It was not easy starting from eighth on the grid, just
because of the water on the circuit. On the green flag lap I was talking to
the team on the radio telling them that I had troubles keeping up with the
safety car. The light went green and we accelerated, but as soon as you touched
the throttle, the car started aquaplaning. You lift off, and there’s
nothing you can do, you couldn’t see anything; it’s just a matter
of survival for the first couple of laps. If I got somebody who wanted to get
past I just let them go because it’s a long race and you have to be here
at the end to take the points. I decided to just keep it safe for a couple
of laps; Karl did the same thing, keeping quite steady. Once the circuit began
to dry, I was able to pick up the pace, looking for the grip and still watching
for any standing water. The Pirelli tyres were working very well for us; they
were very consistent throughout my stints. The team overall has done a great
job for this weekend."
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