Wendlinger leads home Aston one-two
Karl Wendlinger led home a perfect one-two for the JetAlliance Aston Martin team, as team owner/driver Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer took his first ever podium finish in round four of the FIA GT Championship at Oschersleben
But it wasn't plain sailing for former Sauber Formula One driver Wendlinger and his co-driver Ryan Sharp, as the pair lost the lead at the start to Lichtner-Hoyer's co-driver Alex Muller, and didn't regain it until the first phase of pitstops.
Once ahead, they effectively stayed there for the rest of the two-hour race on the German track, but the pair remained under constant pressure from the sister Aston, the two Vitaphone Maseratis and the Phoenix Corvettes.
Indeed a late-race spin cost the Michael Bartels/Andrea Bartolini Masereti a potential podium finish when Bartels tried to pass Marcel Fassler - who eventually finished third overall with co-driver Jean-Denis Deletraz in their C6.
Alexandre Negrao benefitted from his team-mate's spin to take fourth in the other Maserati, while Bartels took fifth ahead of Fabrizio Gollin and Mike Hezemans in the second Corvette.
The GT2 battle was a corker with Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander winning for AF Corse Ferrari, by less than three-tenths of a second from team-mates Thomas Biagi and Christian Montanari.
Third in class was Andrew Kirkaldy, whose CRS Ferrari he shared with Rob Bell finished less than a second further back.
Emmanuel Collard's Prospeed Porsche 997 GT3, which he shares with Richard Westbrook, was fourth a lap behind.
Pos Class Driver Make Time 1. GT1 Wendlinger/Sharp Aston Martin DB9 2:00:44.332 2. GT1 Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Aston Martin DB9 + 1.518 3. GT1 Fassler/Deletraz Corvette Z06 + 27.742 4. GT1 Ramos/Negrao Maserati MC 12 + 27.879 5. GT1 Bartels/Bertolini Maserati MC 12 + 38.836 6. GT1 Gollin/Hezemans Corvette Z06 + 47.464 7. GT1 Bouchut/Maassen Corvette Z06 + 1:27.262 8. GT1 Franchi/Vosse Saleen S7 1 lap 9. GT1 Aucott/Ferte Maserati MC 12 1 lap 10. GT1 Longin/Kumpen Saleen S7 1 lap 11. GT2 Bruni/Vilander Ferrari F430 2 laps 12. GT2 Montanari/Biagi Ferrari F430 2 laps 13. GT2 Bell/Kirkaldy Ferrari F430 2 laps 14. GT2 Westbrook/Collard Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 3 laps 15. GT2 Rigon/Camathias Ferrari F430 3 laps 16. GT2 Russo/Perez Companc Ferrari F430 3 laps 17. GT2 Del Monte/Moser Ferrari F430 3 laps 18. GT2 Ruberti/Malucelli Ferrari F430 3 laps 19. GT2 Forsten/Palttala Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 3 laps 20. GT2 Davies/Babini Ferrari F430 4 laps 21. GT2 Mullen/Niarchos Ferrari F430 6 laps 22. GT2 Williams/Ashburn Porsche 911 GT3 RS (997) 9 laps Retirements: Class Driver Team Laps G2 Heyer/Vojtech Mosler MT 900 67 GT1 Lopez/Basso Ferrari 550 Maranello 60 G2 Jirasek/Lacko Mosler MT 900 13 GT1 Kaufmann/Talkanitsa Corvette C5-R 8
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