Race win for Aston Martin after action packed race.
Photos: SRO Media
Clivio Piccione and Stef Dusseldorp scored a maiden victory in the Championship Race at Yas Marina after the Hexis AMR team produced a lightening pitstop that leapfrogged the No. 3 Aston Martin DB9 from fifth into the lead. Dusseldorp had to soak up immense pressure from former FIA GT2 Champion Richard Westbrook for most of the second half of the race but the 21-year-old former single seat driver didn't put a wheel wrong in his first ever GT race. At the chequered flag the No. 22 JR Motorsport Nissan GT-R was less than a second behind to record their second top three finish of the weekend. After a rollercoaster weekend the All-Inkl.com Muennnich Motorsport Lamborghini Murcielago of Marc Basseng and Marcus Winklehock finished in third place to record the team's first ever podium finish in the FIA GT1 World Championship.
The race began with the No. 41 Marc VDS Racing Team Ford GT of Maxime Martin on pole position, with Peter Dumbreck in the JR Motorsport Nissan alongside on the front row. At the start the Sumo Power Nissan of Enrique Bernoldi shot through from the second row to take the lead at the first corner, with Dumbreck getting into T1 before Martin. Further back, Stefan Mucke in the No. 8 Young Driver AMR Aston Martin was storming through the field from 15th, ending the opening lap in eighth place.
At the front Dumbreck was pressurising the leading Nissan of Bernoldi, while Martin was close behind the second placed JR Motorsport Nissan. For lap after lap the three cars circulated in formation, each trying to push the other into a mistake. Their battle allowed Winklehock and Piccione to close up to make it a five way battle for the lead as the pitstops approached. On lap 13 Martin finally got past Dumbreck's Nissan at T18 for second place just as the pit window opened.
Bernoldi, Martin, Piccione and Mucke all pitted together. The Sumo Power pitcrew went to work and got their car, with Ricardo Zonta now at the wheel, turned round in quick time. However the Marc VDS crew were even quicker and as the Nissan approached the Ford pit Makowiecki dived out in front but the two cars collided. They rubbed wheels for several metres before the Ford went through the tunnel ahead of the Nissan but Zonta's Nissan was damaged and had to return to the pits for a new tyre. Makowiecki was given a drive through penalty for the incident.
Meanwhile the Hexis pit crew had turned the No. 3 car round and when the pit stops finished Stef Dusseldorp found himself leading the race, six seconds ahead of Richard Westbrook in the JR Motorsport Nissan. Westbrook then closed the gap and spent the next 20-minutes trying to pass the flying Dutchman in vain. At the chequered flag it was Dusseldorf and the rest of the Hexis team who celebrated a unexpected but very welcome victory.
