FIA GT race: Dutch Viper wins through

With the N-GT Porsche of Antonio Garcia on pole, thanks to a rain shower in qualifying, the action was always going to start early. In a chaotic start, Anthony Kumpen's Belmondo Viper struck the N-GT Porsche of Philipp Peter before the first corner, sending it into the pit wall, before careering on into Garcia, who unwittingly took out his RWS Motorsport team mate Luca Riccitelli - ending the latter's chances of the N-GT title and giving it to David Terrien and Christian Pescatori.

After a few laps behind the pace car, the race was restarted as the first spots of rain began to fall with a fantastic six-car battle for the lead on a damp circuit, which was then soaked by a real downpour prompting a safety car period.

The race developed into a battle between the two Listers of Jamie Campbell-Walter/Bobby Verdon-Roe and Julian Bailey/Nicolaus Springer, and the Prodrive Ferrari 550 of Rickard Rydell/Alain Menu. Intermittent rain showers made the teams earn their corn in the pit lane too, as cars alternated between slick, intermediate and full wet tyres throughout the event.

The Ferrari dropped out of the reckoning with 30mins remaining due to a lengthy stop to repair bodywork damage, while Springer's leisurely pace negated all Bailey's hard work and the car dropped to 10th. This allowed the Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper of Hezemans/Jeroen Bleekemolen into the frame, and they inherited victory when the Campbell-Walter/Verdon-Roe Lister was caught out on the wrong tyres in the last half hour and its extra stop cost them valuable time.

Christophe Bouchut/Jean-Philippe Belloc finished third in their Larbre Viper, but only after a late fuel stop gave second back to the lead Lister. Thanks to the driving skills of Oliver Gavin and Peter Kox, the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini finished an amazing fifth in a car normally accustomed to languishing at the tail of the field.


Mike Hezemans/Jeroen Bleekemolen, Chrysler Viper, 90 laps
Jamie Campbell-Walter/Bobby Verdon-Roe, Lister Storm, +27.370s
Christophe Bouchut/Jean-Philippe Belloc, Chrysler Viper, +1m52.515s
Michael Bleekemolen/Sebastiaan Bleekemolen, Chrysler Viper, +1 lap
Oliver Gavin/Peter Kox, Lamborghini Diablo, +1 lap
Thierry Perier/Michel Neugarten, Porsche 996 GT3-R, +2 laps