Gardel champion as Aston win
Gabriele Gardel captured the FIA GT drivers' championship at Bahrain on Friday after a thrilling title showdown - even though he could manage no better than fourth overall
As Christophe Bouchut and Antonio Garcia captured the first win of the season for the Russian Age Racing Aston Martin DBR9 with a dominant performance ahead of Philipp Peter and Jamie Davies in the Maserati, all eyes were on a close shoot-out further down the field between seven drivers for the FIA GT crown.
There was early heartbreak for Maserati's Karl Wendlinger and Andrea Bertolini, who had gone into the race as championship leaders. Their title hopes evaporated with suspected gearbox failure as their car ground to a halt just a few laps in.
Thereafter there was a mammoth fight for third place between the main title contenders - which was only resolved in the closing stages. Thomas Biagi and Fabio Babini were forced out of contention by late mechanical dramas that eventually dropped them to ninth overall.
That left Michael Bartels and Timo Scheider looking on course for the necessary points to overhaul Wendlinger and Bertolini in the title standings, but they had not accounted to a brilliant strategy call from Gardel and team-mate Pedro Lamy.
The Larbre Ferrari duo opted for a two-stop strategy, one less than their rivals, and it helped them take the title with fourth place - even though they were beaten to third place by the Corvette of Anthony Kumpen, Bert Longin and Mike Hezemans.
Pos Class Drivers Car Time
1. GT1 Bouchut/Garcia Aston Martin DBR9 3:01:36.661
2. GT1 Peter/Davies Maserati MC12 GT1 + 26.209
3. GT1 Longin/Kumpen/Hezemans Corvette C5R + 1:33.423
4. GT1 Lamy/Gardel Ferrari 550 Maranello + 1:53.982
5. GT1 Bartels/Scheider Maserati MC12 GT1 + 1 lap
6. GT1 Cioci/Montermini Ferrari 575 Maranello GTC + 1 lap
7. GT1 Lechner/Ruberti Saleen S7 R + 2 laps
8. GT1 Zacchia/Narac/Berville Ferrari 550 Maranello + 2 laps
9. GT1 Babini/Biagi Maserati MC12 GT1 + 3 laps
10. GT2 Lieb/Rockenfeller Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 3 laps
11. GT1 Fomenko/Vasiliev Ferrari 550 Maranello + 4 laps
12. GT1 Lacko/Konrad Saleen S7 R + 5 laps
13. GT2 Drudi/Pirri/Pregliasco Ferrari 360 Modena + 6 laps
14. GT2 Rapetti/Moccia Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 6 laps
15. GT2 Moro/Kaufmann Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 7 laps
16. GT2 Collard/Sugden Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 7 laps
17. GT1 Deletraz/Piccini Ferrari 575 Maranello GTC + 8 laps
18. GT2 Waaijenberg/Kutemann Ferrari 360 Modena + 9 laps
19. GT2 Konopka/Rosina Porsche 996 GT3 RSR + 9 laps
20. G2 Kuppens/Leinders/Ickx Vertigo Streiff + 9 laps
21. GT2 Ried/Jaber Al-Khalifa Porsche 996 GT3 RS + 10 laps
Not Classified:
Class Drivers Car On lap
GT1 Keen/Halliday Lister Storm GT 57
GT2 Vonka/Casadei Porsche 996 GT3 RS 32
GT1 Bertolini/Wendlinger Maserati MC12 GT1 9
GT2 Bleekemolen/Crevels Spyker C8 Spyder GT2 R 3
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