The AF Corse Ferrari 458 Italia of Toni Vilander (FIN) and Filip Salaquarda (CZE) scored a maiden Championship Race victory at the penultimate round at the Nürburgring in a race which saw the drivers’ championship lead change hands.
Second place for Marc Basseng and Markus Winkelhock in the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Mercedes No.38 enabled them to take the lead of the drivers’ classification by a single point over Vita4One’s Michael Bartels (DEU) and Yelmer Buurman (NLD) who finished fourth.
So often this season Vilander and Salaquarda have been the pacesetters in Free Practice and Qualifying only to fall short come race day.
“We have been world champions in Free Practice but have not been able to quite get the race win but today we did and it is a great feeling,” Vilander said.
Vilander, who is likely to miss the final round at Donington, added: “I probably won’t be at Donington for the final race of the season because of schedules so I just wanted to say a huge thank you to all the teams and organisers. It’s been a pleasure to be part of this championship, the racing has been really fair.”
Basseng, the All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Mercedes team boss, was delighted to be heading to England with the lead of the drivers’ championship and an extended lead in the teams’ standings.
After a feisty battle in today’s race, he was also relieved to get to the flag in second place.
“The start of the race was very critical, I had a small tap with the Audi but luckily nothing happened to the car. I managed to secure third position and fought to find some speed. The car had good traction but, like times before, the car was too slow, I’m surprised we managed to be on the podium,” he said.
“At the pit stop we were very quick and Markus took over and did a fantastic job. He managed to stay in front of the Reiter Lamborghini which was great.
“With this finish we now lead the drivers’ championship, only by one point but it’s good. We go to final race at Donington in front but it’s going to be really stressful.”
Third today was the Reiter Lamborghini of Peter Kox (NLD) and Stefan Rosina (SVK), the Qualifying Race winners of the previous day.
“We made a mistake with pit stop and we had to do another lap before coming in which lost us track position, it was a mistake,” Kox said.
“Anyway it was a fantastic result for the Retier Engineering team, I think they needed that.
“I am looking forward to Donington, I know the track well. I set the Formula 3000 lap record there before it was resurfaced. It’s a really great circuit and I have a feeling it will suit the car well.”
The battle goes to the wire at Donington next weekend with Basseng and Winkelhock on 143 points with their BMW rivals on 142. Meanwhile, the Hexis Racing McLaren pair of Fred Makowiecki (FRA) and Stef Dusseldorp (NLD) in the Hexis McLaren No.1 completed a dismal weekend by finished 10th after an eventful race in which Makowiecki was handed a drive-through after a tangle with a GT3 car.
Having been title contenders ahead of Nürburgring following a Championship Race victory at the previous round in Russia, they added just one point to their tally, and are out of the reckoning on 111. In the teams’ battle, All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport (234) extended their advantage over Vita4One (198).
Belgian Audi Club Team WRT are third on 179. So Donington Park in England will be the scene of both championship deciders from 29-30 September.
