FIA Sportscars, Brno: Dome's first first
John Nielsen and an emotional Hiroki Katoh took victory in the Brno round of the FIA Sportscar series, giving Dome its first victory in a major international series. The win also marked the first victory at this level for a Japanese driver in a Japanese car
Jean-Marc Gounon's BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari had taken pole, but with a damp track at the start, the outcome rested to a great extent on tyre choice. Gounon took soft Goodyear front wets; Nielsen took the harder option.
As Gounon dropped to fifth, Nielsen was able to pull away from the pack for a lead he would only briefly lose during the pit stop cycles.
By the first stops, the track had dried enough for slicks. The Ascari of Ben Collins and Werner Lupberger had risen from seventh to second overall, but refuelling problems dropped it to an eventual fourth, behind Gounon and the Alex Caffi/Mauro Baldi Riley & Scott.
In the SR2 category, an inspired mid-race stint by Bjork in the SRTS Lola-Nissan put it in the perfect place to benefit when early race-leaders Nobili and Monti retired their Tampoli with a spectacularly blown engine on the hour mark.
Nielsen/Katoh, Den Bla Avis Goh Dome-Judd, 74 laps, 2h31m57.509s
Gounon/M Zadra, BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 333SP, +14.055s
Baldi/Caffi, R&M Riley & Scott-Judd, + 1 lap
Lupberger/Collins, Team Ascari-Judd, + 1 lap
Lammers/Hillebrand, Racing for Holland Dome-Judd, + 1 lap
Hancock/Formato, Kremer Lola Roush, + 1 lap
Bjork/Oberto, SRTS Lola-Nissan, 71 laps
Francioni/Raimondi, Lucchini Engineering, 71 laps
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