Hari Proczyk (AUT) and David Mengesdorf (DEU) in the No.11 Rhino’s Leipert Motorsport Lamborghini recorded their maiden 2012 season victory in a thrilling Race Two of the FIA GT3 European Championship at Autódromo Internacional do Algarve in Portugal. The win extended a sequence of podium finishes at every round the Lamborghini pair have competed in this season – having missed the first round at Nogaro. The victory also elevate them to third in the drivers’ standings.
Proczyk was delighted to finally reach the top step. “We have been on the podium each race weekend so far – six podiums in all, so it is nice to get the win at last,” he said. “To be honest I didn’t really expect this result here as the Mercedes has been very strong all weekend. For the championship, who knows, but we are consistent so that is the positive thing.”
Mengesdorf, who took over for the second stint after Proczyk had grabbed the lead momentarily at the start and was running second by the pit stop, paid tribute to his co-driver. “We had an amazing start thanks to Hari and we moved up from P4 to P1 and then he held a good pace until the pit stop,” he said. “The race was really hard actually, the tyres started to get quite slippery by the end of the race so the car was hard to drive. But we won so we’re very happy.”
To the delight of home fans, the Portuguese pair of Ni Amorim and Cesar Campanico brought the TeamNovadriver Audi R8 No.14 home to second place. “The race was very difficult for me because I had to start from P9 so we were fairly well back and I had to fight a lot to gain places,” Campanico said. “The good thing was I didn’t lose much time in my stint before the pit stop, then we had a good pit stop which was critical for us. Then Ni took the car and fought for second place. It was a great team job today because we had some difficulties in the last few days with set-up but today we were very competitive so it’s good for us.”
Amorim added: “This is a great result for us at our home track, we were third at the last track, second here so hopefully we’ll get first at the next race. The car was OK, the balance was perfect for the circuit and it was delivering the right laps times and consistency.”
Gaetano Ardagna Perez (VEN) and Giuseppe Ciro (ITA) were third in the AF Corse No.50 Ferrari 458 Italia just ahead of the sister Ferrari of Michael Lyons (GBR) and Stefano Gai (ITA). “The race was very difficult because the Lamborghini was so fast and the Audi did a very good performance,” Ardagna Perez. “We had a problem with the gearbox yesterday so that didn’t help but overall I think we did well, being on the podium is always good.”
From a position of being utterly dominant in Free Practice and Race One, there was a tale of woe for the Heico Gravity-Charouz Mercedes team. The drivers’ championship leaders Maximilian Buhk (DEU) and Dominik Baumann (AUT) in the No.1 Mercedes SLS AMG had been untouchable in Race One and from pole position assumed a comfortable lead of the second race. Baumann handed over to Buhk with a gap to Proczyk in the Lamborghini of over 11 seconds as the pit window opened.
However, a battery issue with the No.1 car at the pit stop cost Buhk a bundle of time and several places. With the additional 15-second podium handicap, the No.1 car dropped to 10th place – 37 seconds off the lead of the race. Buhk eventually worked his way to fifth at the finish in an excellent display of damage limitation.
“We had a problem with the pit stop when the car didn’t start. It was something to do with the electricity and the clutch,” Buhk said. “We don’t know exactly what happened until we look into it. But it’s really annoying to lose so much time like that. We could have been on the podium for sure without the problems. At least for the championship we are still in good shape. At least this weekend we have proven that we have a very good race pace so I’m quite optimistic for the rest of the season.”
The No.2 Mercedes of Mika Vahamaki (FIN) and Max Nilsson (SWE), starting second, had been challenging for fourth place after the pit stop but a left rear puncture entering the main straight sent Nilsson into a spin with seven minutes remaining. The duo had to settle for 10th place after the unscheduled pit stop to change the tyre.
“We had a good pit stop and I tried to push as hard as possible. Then unfortunately I got the puncture just before the last quick corner. I was lucky I didn’t hit the wall. It was a bit scary facing the wrong direction with cars coming towards me,” Nilsson said. “It was disappointing but since it was a puncture it was out of my control. We are still quick but it’s sad that we lost so many points today.”
Russia’s Natalia Freidina, who partnered Albert von Thurn und Taxis (DEU) in the Reiter Engineering Lamborghini No.24 was on a steep learning curve – quite literally given the roller-coaster nature of the Autódromo Internacional do Algarve.
“It was my first time in the Reiter car, the first time with Albert and the first time on the track so it was difficult but I really enjoyed the weekend,” she said. “It is very challenging and demanding for a driver because it’s up and down and has some fast corners. This is my first year in GT3 so I am learning a lot every race.”
In the championship battle, despite their troubles today, Buhk and Baumann lead the way on 129 points from Ardagna Perez and Ciro (110) while Race Two winners Proczyk and Mengesdorf move to third (109) just ahead of AF Corse Ferrari’s Michael Lyons (GBR) and Stefano Gai (ITA) on 108.
AF Corse (243) regained the lead of the teams’ standings over Heico Gravity-Charouz (231) and Rhino’s Leipert Motorsport on 114.
Source : SRO