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Viper wins Hungarian GT round

The fifth round of the FIA GT Championship saw Vincent Vosse and Boris Derichebourg give Paul Belmondo Racing its first win of the season, while championship leaders Julian Bailey and Jamie Campbell-Walter failed to finish after a first corner accident, which also ended the race of the second Belmondo Viper

Starting from third on the Hungaroring grid, Derichebourg passed Bailey into the first corner, while the Chrysler Vipers of Mike Hezemans and Paul Belmondo tried to squeeze through the gap.

"He hit me, it was not my fault," Bailey said afterwards. "We cannot afford to drop points like this."

With the Carsport Hollard Viper recovering to finish sixth, the Lister team of Bailey and Campbell Walter still have a 7.5 overall points lead.

Philippe Favre, who had captured pole in the second Lister Storm, started well and kept the lead until after the first round of pit stops, when Vosse, continuing Derichebourg's good work, moved into first place. After the second pit stop, Favre returned the Lister to the track on old tyres, proceeding to set the fastest lap of the race. However, the lead Vosse had opened up for Derichebourg was too great, and the Lister had to settle for second place.

"I had to push really hard to keep up with Philippe at the start," former F3000 driver Derichebourg said afterwards. "And then I had to do the same to keep him behind me at the end."

Vosse was pleased with the win, despite a long hot race. "The win is as much for the team as for us," he said.

Third place was taken by the Chamberlain Motorsport pairing of South Africa's Stephen Watson and Hungary's Tamas Illes. The duo had an eventful race, dropping to seventh at the start before rising as high as second. Fuel problems, with first a surge and then a forgotten gauge reset, lost them time, and Watson spent the final hour chasing Franz Konrad, who was trying to complete the race on one stop. The Porsche finally pitted with just 20 minutes remaining, elevating the Chamberlain car to third. Konrad finished fifth, behind the Freisinger Porsche of Hane and Palmberger.

In the N-GT class, Christophe Bouchut and Patrice Goueslard gave Larbre Competition their fourth win of the season, further extending their Championship lead. Both the leading N-GT cars were involved in the first corner chaos, with the number 77 RWS Porsche retiring with a broken radiator.

"Riccitelli braked too late, and pushed me before he hit Belmondo," Christophe Bouchut explained. "The aerodynamics of the car at the rear were destroyed, but we were able to cope with it."

Bouchut did most of the hard work for the team today, Goueslard having been involved in a big crash in the morning's French GT race. "I had no confidence in the car after that crash, so it was good to get back." Second and third places in class went to the G-Force Porsches, with Nearn and Neugarten ahead of Wallinder and Smith.

"The track was dirty, so it was not easy to drive," Neugarten said. "The front left tyres were a problem, so I could not fight against Bouchut."

The next round of the Championship will be at the Belgian circuit of Zolder, on July 23rd.



Pos, Class, Drivers, Team, Car, Laps

1 GT Derichebourg/Vosse, Belmondo, Chrysler Viper, 104
2 GT Springer/Favre, Lister, Lister Storm, 104
3 GT Watson/Illes, Chamberlain, Chrysler Viper, 102
4 GT Hane/Palmberger, Freisinger, Porsche 911, 101
5 GT Konrad/von Gartzen, Konrad, Porsche 911, 101
6 GT Hezemans/Hart, Carsport, Chrysler Viper, 101
7 GT Kaufmann/Wollek, Freisinger, Porsche 911, 100
8 NGT Bouchut/Goueslard, Larbre, Porsche 996, 100
9 NGT Nearn/Neugarten, G-Force, Porsche 996, 100
10 NGT Wallinder/Smith, G-Force, Porsche 996, 100
11 GT Reid/Reid, Proton, Porsche 911, 98
12 NGT Höfer/Peter/Quester, RWS, Porsche 996, 98
13 GT Thiel/Jurasz, Konrad, Porsche 911, 98
14 GT Wieth/Wieth, Wieth, Porsche 911, 98
15 NGT O'Rourke/Sugden, EMKA GTC, Porsche 996, 98
16 NGT Collini/Mancini, MAC, Porsche 996, 97
17 NGT Frigerio/Rapetti, MAC, Porsche 996, 95
18 GT Felbermayr/Felbermayr, RWS, Porsche 991, 89



19 NGT Bertuzzi/Masselli, ART, Porsche 996, 64
20 GT Cappellari/Matteuzzi, Racing Box, Chrysler Viper, 33
21 NGT Ahrlé/Bourdais/Chereau, Larbre, Porsche 996, 15
22 GT Sabatini/Spinelli/Villa, Autorlando, Porsche 911, 13
23 NGT Riccitelli/Willems, RWS, Porsche 996, 1
24 GT Bailey/CampbellWalter, Lister, Lister Storm, 1
25 GT Gosselin/Belmondo, Belmondo, Chrysler Viper, 0

Philippe Favre, 1:39.708, Lister Storm

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