Reiter Lamborghini wins at Spa
Former grand prix driver Ricardo Zonta and Frank Kechele claimed victory for the Reiter Lamborghini team in the main event at the Spa round of the FIA GT1 World Championship
Zonta led from the front row in his Lamborghini Murcielago R-SV, but eventually lost out to Xavier Maassen in the DKR-run Mad-Croc Chevrolet Corvette and Peter Kox in the Reiter sister car.
Kechele overtook team-mate Christopher Haase, who was struggling with engine problems, straight after their pitstops and was able to take the lead from the Matech Ford GT driven by Thomas Mutsch after a late-race safety car - by which time Maassen and Jos Menten had retired the Mad-Croc Chevy with a puncture.
Zonta conceded that it was unlikely he would have been able to beat the Chevrolet but described the victory as "very important for the team".
Second place went to the Vitaphone-run Hegersport Maserati MC12 driven by team boss Altfrid Heger and late stand-in Alex Muller, which qualified in last place. They finished 12th in the qualifying race and then an early pitstop in the championship race vaulted them up the order in the main event.
Mutsch and team-mate Richard Westbrook ended up third after Peter Dumbreck retired the best of the Sumo Power Nissan GT-Rs in the closing stages. Enrique Bernoldi and Miguel Ramos finished fifth in their Vitaphone Maserati.
Pos Drivers Car Time/Gap 1. Zonta/Kechele Lamborghini 1h01m.200s 2. Heger/Muller Maserati + 3.253s 3. Westbrook/Mutsch Ford + 6.675s 4. Bernoldi/Ramos Maserati + 7.074s 5. Makowiecki/Accary Aston Martin + 7.936s 6. Enge/Turner Aston Martin + 8.274s 7. Bertolini/Bartels Maserati + 9.741s 8. Longin/Verdonck Maserati + 10.591s 9. Pastorelli/Schwager Lamborghini + 10.784s 10. Hirschi/Piccione Aston Martin + 13.921s 11. Hughes/Campbell-Walter Nissan + 14.140s 12. Wendlinger/Moser Nissan + 14.346s 13. Hezemans/Hennerici Corvette + 15.056s 14. Grosjean/Jani Ford + 15.354s 15. Palttala/Kuppens Ford + 19.486s 16. Ara/Nilsson Nissan + 23.695s 17. Gavin/Kuismanen Corvette + 33.139s Retirements: Krumm/Dumbreck Nissan 22 laps Nygaard/Mucke Aston Martin 19 laps Kox/Haase Lamborghini 15 laps Basseng/Bouchut Lamborghini 11 laps Martin/Leinders Ford 10 laps Maassen/Menten Corvette 8 laps Piccini/Kumpen Corvette 3 laps
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