Beat the Heat in Italy
24th June 2007
The 4th race of the FIA GT Championship held in Monza on the 24th June was
the opposite of all previous FIA GT races this season so far. It was sunny
and very hot during the whole weekend in Italy. With up to 38°C it was
hard work for all the teams, drivers and tyres.
Jamie Davies and his team mate Fabio Babini took another three points for
the Championship with a 6th place finish.
Fabio qualified the car in 8th position on Saturday and started the race on
Sunday. The race in Monza was a home race for Fabio as well as for the Aston
Martin Racing BMS team which comes from Brescia (30miles) and the tyre manufacturer
Pirelli which is based in Milan (5miles) from Monza. A lot of Italian fans
came to watch their local hero’s race. Jamie is not Italian and also
the only non Italian member in the team but he’s started to learn the
language and the fans supported him like he was one of them.
Fabio Babini started from 7th position because one of the Maserati’s
was given a penalty for changing the engine after qualifying. On lap 24 Fabio
comes in for a pit stop because he has got a puncher and he hands the car over
to Jamie Davies. Jamie is fighting really hard to gain one position after the
other and on lap 45 he is up to 3rd place behind the Aston Martin of Ryan Sharp
and the Corvette of Bert Longin. On lap 52 Jamie comes to the pits for the
second driver change and Fabio gets back into the car. The race finishes after
66 laps (2 hours) with Jamie Davies and Fabio Babini in 6th place. The race
was won by Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp with the Austrian Jet Alliance team.
Jamie Davies: “I am not happy with the result. We could have been much
better but the car had some problems with the brakes. I hope we will find the
problem during the next three days which we will spend here in Monza for testing
the tyres and the car. Next week we will have another test day in Spa-Francorchamps
(Belgium) to test for the 24 hour race which will be at the end of July. But
before the race in Spa we have the 5th round of the FIA GT in Oschersleben
(Germany) on the 8th July. I have a good feeling for Oschersleben. Last year
I finished the race on the podium (2nd) and I would like to do it again. So
please keep your fingers crossed!”
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