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Brno: Race quotes

GT Race Winner : Uwe Alzen - nr 5 Vitaphone Racing Team Saleen S7 : "That was absolutely unbelievable! When I saw what happened to the wheel, I spoke to the team and told them. So I had to come in and we put a new wheel on, and then there was a ...

GT Race Winner : Uwe Alzen - nr 5 Vitaphone Racing Team Saleen S7 : "That was absolutely unbelievable! When I saw what happened to the wheel, I spoke to the team and told them. So I had to come in and we put a new wheel on, and then there was a 12-second-gap to the leader. But the Pirelli tyres were in great condition and the car was good, so it was not too hard to overtake them. For me, this is a great victory, and a great job from the team and Pirelli!"

GT Race Winner : Michael Bartels - nr 5 Vitaphone Racing Team Saleen S7 : "When I came up the hill towards the start/finish line, I saw this big fight between five Porsches. I didn't know how to get through. It was difficult to pass them, but eventually I managed to squeeze through. It was a very pleasant race weekend overall. There was a tough moment when we saw the wheel rolling into the gravel. We were not sure how much damage there was to the car, because to drive on three wheels is very hard on the brakes and the suspension. But we were lucky, and there was no major damage."

2nd in GT : Karl Wendlinger - nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello : "I'm happy with second place. We were a bit off the pace all weekend. Particularly in the qualifying, we didn't manage to get everything out of the car. But to start eighth and finish second is a very good result, I think."

2nd in GT : Jaime Melo - nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello : "I'm very happy. To come second is fantastic for my first time in the FIA GT. I tried to do everything well and have a constant stint. The car and the tyres were good all through the stint, and I could do good lap times. I was fighting with a Ferrari for about seven laps and lost some time behind it, but after I overtook it, I started to push really hard. It was a great race, and I hope I can continue with the Championship."

3rd in GT : Fabrizio Gollin - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello : "This is the third time in a row that I finish third on this track. In 2002, I lost the lead on the last lap because of a technical problem and dropped back. Then last year I came third again. This time, we were lucky because Bobbi and Gardel had a problem. We will now go to Donington with 100 kg ballast. By now, that's almost normal for us! It's very difficult to do all the races with that much weight, though. It's causing problems on the tyres and during braking. It will be very difficult for the brakes in Donington, I think, but we'll see how it goes."

3rd in GT : Luca Cappellari - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello : "We had some problems with the brakes, so I tried to go a bit slower to cool them. The race was very hard on the tyres as well. They were okay during the first fifteen or twenty laps, but then there was a lot of understeer. In the end, we were very lucky. Now we have to try to score points, because it's important to stay in front in the Championship. We go to Donington as the leaders, but when it comes down to it, we want to be leading in Zhuhai, not in Donington--"

N-GT Race Winner : Christian Pescatori - nr 62 GPC Giesse Ferrari 360 Modena : "It was a race without problems for us, so I'm very happy. Happy for me, for Fabrizio, for the team, and for Pirelli. They all did a lot for this victory. This is a good circuit for Pirelli, particularly the new Pirelli tyres. I hope the situation will be similar in Donington!"

N-GT Race Winner : Fabrizio de Simone - nr 62 GPC Giesse Ferrari 360 Modena : "My stint was okay. I tried to conserve the tyres and didn't push too hard at the beginning. It paid off -- I could do good lap times at the end of my stint, so I think I did a good job. I'm very happy. The new Pirelli tyres are very fast and consistent. I'm looking forward to Donington."

Giampaolo Coppi - team owner, GPC Giesse: "This is the first win for the team, and quite honestly we are very pleased, even if we missed out on the overall win at Hockenheim. It should not be forgotten that this team only started in January."

2nd in N-GT : Sascha Maassen - nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "We have the same car as Stephane and Emmanuel and we were both on the same weight, so I expected a close fight. It had already been close in the qualifying, and it was even closer in the race. There weren't any major problems, apart from a small issue with a wheel nut during the second pit stop. The only problem was that the Ferrari in front was a lot quicker than us, really."

2nd in N-GT : Lucas Luhr - nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "We fought like it was a sprint race. I really enjoyed it; it was fair, close racing. Like Sascha said, the Ferrari was too fast for us. But I'm happy for them. They were already quick in Hockenheim and had a lot of bad luck. We were struggling with the ballast all weekend. We already had 50 kg when we came here, and that didn't really help. I hope we'll be closer in Donington!"

3rd in N-GT : Stephane Ortelli - nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "It was a very exciting race. I had to push a lot to catch Lucas. It took me about 20 minutes until I could finally catch him and pass him, and then we were fighting again. Unfortunately, I lost a lot of time in the pits and when Emmanuel came back on the track, he was already eight seconds behind. It was a good fight, but it didn't really help us catch the Ferrari, and I would have preferred to have a fight with them as well."

3rd in N-GT : Emmanuel Collard - nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "We had a good fight with the nr 99 car, but I lost too much time in the traffic. I tried to do my best, but in the end, I was a little bit slower than Sascha."

Marco Streparava -- Sporting Director, BMS Scuderia Italia : "The nr 1 car had an engine problem which affected the fuel consumption. So in two laps, we lost around 20 litres of fuel. We could not go on, we tried to make a splash and dash, but the car stopped just at the pit-lane entry. But we reached a very good result with a great race from Cappellari and Gollin. Also Stefano Livio, in the nr 3 car, did a very good stint, and was able to stay in front of the nr 2 car for quite a while, and then keep up with it."

4th in GT : Fabio Babini -- nr 11 GPC Giesse Squadra Corse : "Fourth is a good result for us, and the team also had a great result in the N-GT class, with a win for the 360 Modena. We had a fuel problem, as the car was using more than usual, so my stint was shorter by three laps. I nearly ran out, but managed to get back to the pits. We had got down to a three-second gap between us and the nr 17 car, so we could perhaps have finished on the podium."

5th in GT : Jamie Campbell-Walter -- nr 27 Creation Autosportif Lister Storm : "We had a bit of luck, due to people running out of fuel. It was pretty slippery out there, and not much grip. We started too far back, which was our main problem, but I got up to 6th, getting past two Saleens and two GPC cars, and then Jamie did an OK stint, and then my last stint was quite good. Good pace, more points, and we'll take all the points we can at the moment."

7th in GT : Enzo Calderari -- nr 3 BMS Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : "We had a throttle problem, and it was very hard to push, and wouldn't come back. So we did the best we could. Later on, Lilian thought she had a puncture, but she didn't, so I got into the car. At the end, she was missing laps to score points, so I had to get out and she got in again. Towards the end, the throttle stuck and she spun. We're in the points, which is better than nothing, but it is a pity, as we could have done a lot better today."

10th in GT : Anthony Kumpen -- nr 28 Graham Nash Saleen : "It was OK, we had a bit of bad luck in the first lap when Paolo had to take avoiding action and went into the gravel trap, so we lost time. Then Luca had a problem too, so we were in 13th or 14th. My first five or six laps were really good, then I lost pace as we had problems with the pick-up. Once I started passing cars, I had problems. But we finished the race, we have a lot of useful data and had more experience with the car. And I got to the finish line of an FIA GT race ! It's been quite a while ! I enjoyed racing with the team, and the car is good."

-fia-

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