Anderstorp: Round five practice report

FIA-GT Championship Round 5 Free Practice

WEATHER ... Patchy cloud with a threat of rain.

LAST TIME... The last time an international GT race was held at Anderstorp, in 1996, the Ferrari F40 of Luciano della Noce and Anders Olofsson scored a major upset by winning the race, beating the dominant McLaren F1GTRs...It could have been a Ferrari 1-2, but the leading Ferrari of Paul Belmondo, Eric Bernard and Jean-Marc Gounon retired with just 50 minutes to go and with a lap lead when an oil pipe split and the car caught fire...Ray Bellm and James Weaver were third, to maintain their lead in the series in the Gulf McLaren...Andy Wallace and Olivier Grouillard were fourth in the Harrods-backed McLaren, delayed when Wallace had a chunk of rubber fly up and break his windscreen ...

JARAMA RESULT PROVISIONAL
The result of the GT class of the Jarama round of the FIA GT Championship remains provisional, pending an appeal. The decision issued by the Stewards of the Meeting on June 21st 2002 reads as follows: "Following examination of the front wishbone of Car 3 (Team Carsport Holland) which was sealed at post-race scrutineering, the part did not conform with the technical regulations of the Championship. After hearing from the team manager on the telephone, the Stewards decided to exclude the Car 3 from the results of the Jarama race." Carsport Holland team manager Toine Hezemans immediately appealed this ruling, suspending the decision until the appeal is heard by the FIA. The nr 3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R will therefore run at Anderstorp with penalty weight ruling including the 30kg for second place at Jarama.

FORCE ONE ABSENT
The Force One Racing team of Philippe Alliot and David Hallyday, will not race this weekend, the team having obtained special dispensation from the Stewards of the meeting. After their problems in the previous races, they have made a number of changes to the car and are testing in order to return with a more competitive car for the Oschersleben round.

PADDOCK UPDATE
Four teams have joined the FIA GT Championship this weekend from Sweden, including two in the GT category and two in the N-GT class. Bo Jonasson, Anders Levin and Claes Lund will drive the nr 28 Porsche 996 Turbo, while Henrik Roos and Magnus Wallinder will drive a Chrysler Viper GTS-R. Podium Racing has entered two Porsche 996 GT3-Rs, for Johan Sturesson and Hubert Bergh, and another for Marcus Gustavsson and Tomas Nystrom. Team Eurotech Scandinavia has entered one Porsche 996GT3 R for Pontus Morth and Thomas Faraas. Tony Ring joins the JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena team, sharing with Pietro Gianni, while Dane John Nielsen and Scotland's Robin Liddell share the nr 62 Cirtek Porsche this weekend,with young Italian Thomas Pichler racing alongside Sangiuolo in the nr 64 car.

ROOS AIMING FOR 2003 FIA GT
Henrik Roos' Chrysler Viper team is hoping for a good result this weekend, to facilitate its entry into the full FIA GT Championship next season. The Swede runs a Chrysler Viper in the Swedish GT Championship with Magnus Wallinder, but hopes to spread its wings internationally.

The Chrysler Viper GTR-S, the ex-Parr Motorsport chassis that was raced in the British GT Championship, was modified for the FIA series this weekend, with minor changes to the suspension and lights. "We entered the championship this weekend to see how competitive we are," said Wallinder.

CARSPORT HOLLAND WITH WORK TO DO
The Carsport Holland team is faced with a race against time to repair the nr 3 Chrysler Viper GTS-R after a massive crash for Anthony Kumpen during the first session of the day. The team does not yet know what caused the Belgian to go off, but a failure in the left rear corner left Kumpen with no brakes at the end of the straight at more than 150mph.

HANDICAP WEIGHTS
The Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper GTS-R of Christophe Bouchut and David Terrien carries the most success ballast this weekend, 90kg after finishing in the top three every race so far this year. The Championship-leading nr 14 Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Nicolaus Springer carries 50kg, followed by the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello of Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz with 40kg following its win at the fourth round in Jarama. The JMB Racing nr 50 Ferrari 360 Modena carries the most weight in the N-GT category, while the nr 54 Freisinger Porsche of Stephane Ortelli, joined this weekend by Emmanuel Collard, carries 40kg of ballast .

FIRST FREE PRACTICE
Bobby Verdon-Roe set fastest time in the opening session on Friday morning, the Portugal-based Briton setting a time of 1:32.432s in his nr 15 Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm that he shares with Paul Knapfield. Anthony Kumpen was second fastest in the nr 3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R that he shares with Mike Hezemans, nearly four tenths of a second behind. Marc Duez and Fabio Babini were third in the Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R, a further tenth of a second down, while Jamie Campbell-Walter was fourth fastest in the second Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm, shared with Nicolaus Springer. The nr 1 Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper GTS-R of Christophe Bouchut and David Terrien was eighth fastest despite a misfire. Stephane Ortelli and Emmanuel Collard set the pace in the N-GT class behind the wheel of the nr 54 Porsche 996 GT3R with a time of 1m36.501s, just three-hundredths of a second faster than the RWS Porsche of Antonio Garcia and Michele Merendino. Jurgen von Gartzen was third fastest in the JvG Porsche, shared with Ian Khan.

FREE PRACTICE TWO
Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz set fastest time in the dying moments of the second session in the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello, Piccini setting a time half a second faster than the nr 14 Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Nicolaus Springer. Campbell-Walter suffered a brake bias problem during the day, causing the Briton to flat-spot a front tyre. The second Lister Storm Racing Lister Storm of Paul Knapfield and Bobby Verdon-Roe was third fastest, despite Knapfield spinning and flat-spotting his tyres.

Marc Duez and Fabio Babini were fourth fastest in their Paul Belmondo Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R, ahead of the sole Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R, nr 4 of Luca Capellari and Fabrizio Gollin. The second car was under repair following Anthony Kumpen's accident during the morning session. Christophe Bouchut and David Terrien eventually took to the track, setting eighth fastest time having worked hard on correcting the misfire from the morning session.

Antonio Garcia set fastest time in the N-GT category in the RWS Porsche 996 GT3RS, the Spaniard sharing the car with Michele Merendino this weekend. His time of 1:34.984s was nearly half a second clear of the Freisinger Motorsport Porsche of Stephane Ortelli and Emmanuel Collard, the latter spending the second half of the session on a long run to acclimatise to the Porsche. The Autorlando Porsche of Walter Lechner and Toto Wolff was third fastest, the German replacing Phillip Peter this weekend alongside Wolff. Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Garbagnati were fourth fastest, the first of the four JMB Ferrari 360 Modenas.

FREE PRACTICE NOTES AND QUOTES

Anthony Kumpen, nr 3 Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper GTS-R: "I was 500m before the end of the straight when I heard an explosion from the left rear, and I saw some smoke in the mirror. I started to brake, but they didn't work so I went straight on into a bush. Beyond that, there was a ditch, and I flew high into the air. The jump was incredible..."

Enzo Calderari, nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "The circuit is still the same as it was when I drove here in 1996 in the Porsche. They changed the gravel traps now, and they have these sort of bubbles instead. They are very light, but they stop you quickly. The only problem is that if you go off, you never come out. It stops the car very quickly. We have a lot of understeer, so we are talking to Michelin about a harder compound on the left side. The long straight is good for us, the car is very quick, but I saw the Lister going around and it looks quick too. We need higher gear ratios -- I don't think that the team was expecting us to be travelling fast enough! We still don't have the new 6-litre engines, but we should for Spa."

Robin Liddell, nr 64 Cirtek Motorsport, Porsche 996 GT3-R: "I like this track. It is a bit bumpy at the first corner down the back straight into the braking area, but there are lots of nicely cambered, constant radius corners so it is nice, but you don't want to go off! My dad raced here when it was brand new in 1968, so it is a special track for me, but it doesn't appear that much has changed since then. We have got a slight gearbox problem that we will have to live with at the moment and change overnight. The car was not handling well this morning, but we were only a second away and our potential for improvement is probably better than some of the others out there. We have made some pretty dramatic changes on set-up. I have learned the track, but John is still learning the car which is a bit of an eye opener for him!"

Tony Ring, nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena: "The last time I raced here was in 1996 in a Ferrari. This morning it was a little bit difficult to make a comparison with my Challenge car because I was taking it a little bit easy. I didn't want to make a fool of myself and do anything stupid. This Ferrari has a lot more mechanical grip, and I have explored the limit from the right side -- starting with caution and building the speed! The biggest change from the challenge car is that we don't have ABS on these cars. This needs a lot more development on the engine. This is a very nice car to drive, but with a little bit more power it would be really competitive."

Stephane Ortelli, nr 54 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R: "The car is configured for a long distance race. We are not using the right pads, the engine mapping is different, we have to re-organise everything and then we can go quicker. Emmanuel is doing very well and I was very impressed. The last time that he drove a GT car was at Jarama last year. He did a good lap time on new tyres this morning, and I went a little bit quicker because I know the car a little better, but we are in good shape."

Walter Lechner jr, Autorlando Sport Porsche 996 GT3-R: "I did ten laps this morning, it was the first time that I have driven a Porsche and the first time that I have driven at Anderstorp. It was very easy. The car is very good to drive and I like the team. I have driven Volkswagens, Formula Ford and Formula Renault over the past few years, and the last time I drove in a race was the Noel del Bello prototype at Le Mans two weeks ago. The brakes are the biggest thing to get used to."

-fia gt-