Five Points – Good Start to 2007
25th March 2007
The 1st race of the FIA GT season in 2007 took place on the 25th of March
in Zhuhai, China.
After an unsettled Saturday at the Zhuhai International Circuit the No. 23
Aston Martin Racing BMS of Fabio Babini and Jamie Davies was sixth on the grid
behind two Maserati’s and three Corvettes.
The race was expected to be different to an FIA GT race of last year not only
because of the shortening to two hours instead of three but also because of
new strategies of the teams regarding the pit stops and driver changes. Every
driver has to drive for minimum continues 35 minutes and all teams have to
do two mandatory driver change pit stops.
It was a sunny Sunday in the south of China and 24 cars were waiting for the
first start of the season.
There was a lot of trouble at the start and the grid was mixed after the first
corner.
In lap 26 Fabio Babini in ninth place gets to the pit to get fuel and change
to Jamie Davies. Jamie tries to gain one position after another and gets up
to P2 before he comes back to the pit in lap 49 to get new tyres, fuel and
change to Fabio. The No. 23 Aston is hunted by two Corvettes, one of Peter
and the other one of Kumpen and both take their chances to overtake Fabio in
the last 4 laps of the race and the BMS Aston finishes 4th behind the Lamborghini
Murcielago (Bouchut/Mücke), Corvette C6R (Peter/Hines) and Corvette C5R
(Kumpen/Longin).
Jamie: “I am happy with my stint and the points we get for the 4th place
but the circuit didn’t suit the car this time which made our weekend
harder. Pirelli did a very good job for the weekend especially with the variable
weather for the first race of the season. We never had a chance on the Saturday
to test our slicks due to the weather conditions and therefore we didn’t
know precisely what to expect on the Sunday. I am glad to be team mates with
Fabio because we have a similar driving style and like a similar set up for
the car which helps developing it from race to race.
I am really looking forward to the next race which will be in Silverstone
beginning of May.”
|
