Bucharest: CR Scuderia preview

RACE AROUND THE PALACE

The FIA GT Championship will be racing around the streets of Bucharest in Romania this weekend and if the weather forecast is to be believed it's going to be a hot one! The Bucharest track has a magnificent backdrop in the form of the 'People's Palace', the second largest building in the world, built during former dictator Ceausescu's regime.

The format has changed for this event; instead of the usual two-hour race on the Sunday the Bucharest meeting will stage a one-hour race on Saturday evening and another one-hour race on Sunday. Points will not be awarded during race one but the result still counts as it will set the grid for race two. Both of the races will feature a mandatory pit-stop which must take place between the 23rd and 37th minute of each race and each driver must complete a minimum stint of 25 minutes.

Chris Niarchos likes the Bucharest track and thinks that he and Tim Mullen can get a good result this weekend.

I really enjoyed Bucharest last year," said Chris. "It's a scary track but it really suited me and I was quick during testing. Street circuits like this put me at an advantage as it's a short, squirt track where you have to muscle the car around. We're still in the fight for second in the Teams' Championship; it's going to be very tough catching BMS after their victory at Spa but I love a challenge!"

Andrew Kirkaldy also believes he and Rob Bell are in for a good result at Bucharest as the positive momentum builds within the team.

"We've been getting better and better as we go through the FIA GT season," he said. "The team works incredibly well now so we've no reason to think we can't get a good result here. It will be interesting with the one-hour race format. We'll have to be very careful in race one to make sure we still have a car for race two when the points are scored."

The weekend kicks off on Thursday evening when the GT cars will take to the city streets for a parade around Bucharest.

TELEVISION SCHEDULE

The FIA GT Championship is broadcast in the UK on Motors TV with highlights programming on Sky Sports and Channel 4. Please check TV listings on the day for up-to-date transmission times.

-credit: crs