Aston Martin takes rainy Mugello win
Victory at Mugello went to the RaceAlliance Aston Martin DBR9 of Karl Wendlinger and Philipp Peter, with the seventh round of this year's FIA GT championship held in difficult weather conditions
The opening 30 minutes saw heavy rain, with the Playteam Maserati of Toni Vilander the early race leader.
The MC12 ended up in the wall after the first round of pitstops, however, and as the weather dried out, the RaceAlliance team fought off a strong challenge from championship leaders Vitaphone Racing to claim the first win this season for Aston Martin.
"It was very difficult at the beginning there was so much aquaplaning," said Wendlinger, who did the first and last stints. "When the water got less our car worked very well, the tyres were very consistent."
The Vitaphone MC12s came home in second and third positions, the No. 1 car of Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini ahead of teammates Thomas Biagi and Jamie Davies.
The Zakspeed Saleen of Sascha Bert, Jarek Janis and Andrea Montermini fought back to fourth position after falling from second to eighth on the first lap and having to make an unscheduled stop to change to slicks in the final hour.
The GT2 win went to the Porsche of Emmanuel Collard and Luca Ricitelli, which finished eighth overall, but had run as high as fourth place in the opening few laps.
The Porsche No. 8 finished ahead of the Ferraris of Jamie Melo and Iradj Alexander-David, pole-sitter Andrew Kirkaldy having put his 430 into the wall on the straight during the race start.
CLASSIFIED:
Pos Cl. Drivers Make Time
1. GT1 Wendlinger/Peter Aston Martin DBR9 3h00:43.799
2. GT1 Bertolini/Bartels Maserati MC12 GT1 + 4.723
3. GT1 Davies/Biagi Maserati MC12 GT1 + 5.149
4. GT1 Bert/Montermini/Janis Saleen S7R + 5.510
5. GT1 Babini/Pescatori Aston Martin DBR9 + 34.079
6. GT1 Piccini/Deletraz Aston Martin DBR9 + 1:03.602
7. GT1 Hezemans/Longin/Kumpen Corvette C6R + 1:23.496
8. GT2 Riccitelli/Collard Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 3 Laps
9. GT2 Melo/Bobbi Ferrari 430 GT2 + 3 Laps
10. GT2 Sugden/Alexander Ferrari 430 GT2 + 4 Laps
11. GT2 Aguas/Salo Ferrari 430 GT2 + 4 Laps
12. GT2 Mullen/Niarchos Ferrari 430 GT2 + 5 Laps
13. GT1 Balfe/Taylor Saleen S7R + 5 Laps
14. GT2 Ried/Felbermayr Jr Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 6 Laps
15. GT2 Moccia/Busnelli Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 7 Laps
16. G2 Kuppens/Leinders Gillet Vertigo + 8 Laps
17. GT2 Rosina/Konopka Porsche 996 GT3 RS + 9 Laps
18. GT2 Kutemann/Gosse Ferrari 430 GT2 + 9 Laps
NOT CLASSIFIED:
Cl. Drivers Make Laps
GT1 Bouchut/Leuenberger Lamborghini Murcielago 49
GT1 Vilander/Pierguidi Maserati MC12 GT1 35
GT2 Felbermayr/Ried Porsche 996 GT3 RS 32
GT1 Gollin/Ramos Aston Martin DBR9 4
GT2 Gruber/Lichtner-Hoyer Porsche 996 GT3 RSR 1
GT2 Kirkaldy/Kinch Ferrari 430 GT2 0
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