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Hockenheimring: Post-race quotes

GT Race Winner : Matteo Bobbi - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello : "We've been working very well during the whole weekend. It was a hard week for us because we arrived here after we lost our appeal, and our motivation had dropped ...

GT Race Winner : Matteo Bobbi - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello : "We've been working very well during the whole weekend. It was a hard week for us because we arrived here after we lost our appeal, and our motivation had dropped rather low after that. We were lucky when Babini had a problem with his tyre and we could win the race. I'm very happy for the team - they did an unbelievable job today, with three cars in the top three positions."

GT Race Winner : Gabriele Gardel - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello : "For me, this is a dream come true! We've done a really good job here. During my stint, it was mostly my job to preserve fuel, because we couldn't push as I would have liked to just to have a splash and dash in the last five minutes of the race. And I managed to gain two laps in my stint, so I think I did a really, really good job, and I'm really happy. The best is, we finished first, second and third with the team - it's a dream day!"

2nd in GT : Luca Cappellari - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello : "We were also very lucky. I think we did a great race, and to come out on second is just unbelievable. This morning, we only thought about scoring some points for the championship. The result is great for Scuderia Italia! And you know, you always need some luck in motor sport. We've had a fantastic car today, even though the 100 kg ballast made it very tough during braking. I enjoyed the race a lot."

2nd in GT: Fabrizio Gollin - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello : "I'm very surprised with the second place! The weekend has not been so good for us. The engine broke on Friday and we had to start from the pitlane. And it's very hard to drive with 100 kg weight on board. But we managed to find a good set-up for the weight in qualifying, and in the end, we were very lucky^Å all four of us, actually!"

3rd in GT : Enzo Calderari - nr 3 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : "We made a little mistake yesterday, because we changed the set-up, and that was not a very good idea, apparently. We were too soft and it was very very difficult to drive the car with a full tank. Then the problem was that we knew we were short of fuel and I just tried to do as many laps as possible. In the end, I managed to do two more laps than we originally planned and we could finish the race without a final splash. It was very surprising for us when we finished third, because we couldn't believe we could finish on podium! But after all the problems we had in the last races, I think we dese rved it!"

3rd in GT : Lilian Bryner - nr 3 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : "Like Enzo said, we've had some problems on a full tank. After half the stint, the car was much better, though. I did a 360° and lost about 16 seconds, so we could have been up to second in this case with the pace car. Nevertheless, I'm really happy with the result!"

3rd in GT : Stefano Livio - nr 3 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : "I'm not really happy, actually. The set-up is my responsibility. So while I'm very happy with the third position, I'm unhappy at making a mistake with the set-up. I'll try to do better next time."

N-GT Race Winner : Lucas Luhr - nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "I had a great fight with Fabrizio and Stéphane during my first stint. They were really strong! Sascha did an excellent job on the middle stint, but we knew we couldn't keep the times as low as the Ferrari guys. When I went back into the car, I was suddenly told that they were stuck in the pit. - It's a little bit funny, because I had the same problem. When I first hit the start button, it wouldn't work. But I did it a second time and then the car started. Of course it's good for us, it's good for Freisinger, and it's good for Porsche to win here in Germany, but I honestly feel sorry for these guys. If they hadn't had the problem, we wouldn't have won the race."

N-GT Race Winner : Sascha Maassen - nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "At the end of the stint, I had a funny feeling at the right rear of my car. I thought I might have a puncture. Because of that, we decided to have the pit stop earlier than planned. It turned out to be not the tyre, but some other thing at the right rear, but I was worried a bit. But Lucas did a fantastic job on the last stint! I feel sorry for the Ferraris, too, though. But next time, they will have an advantage because we'll carry 50 kg ballast."

2nd in N-GT : Stéphane Ortelli - nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "I think we got the front splitter broken. At the end, I was really close, but we were lacking downforce in the right-hand corners. And there are quite a lot of them here, unfortunately. But I could feel that the car was good, and I was able to follow Lucas - and believe me, I was pushing like hell to catch him. We were fighting like crazy at the beginning of the race, the three of us, but with the bent front-splitter, I wasn't able to follow them anymore. In the end, Ferrari deserved a much better result than third position, and I feel really sorry for them as well. There might not be so many cars in N-GT, but I think we put on a good show!"

2nd in N-GT : Emmanuel Collard - nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "Because of the splitter problem, we damaged our left front tyres at each lap. So it was really difficult. I tried to do my best with this problem, but it was not enough. We lost about one tenth of a second to Sascha each lap. But we're very happy to finish the race - especially to finish first and second!"

3rd in N-GT : Fabrizio de Simone - nr 62 GPC Giesse Ferrari 360 Modena : "Well, the car was performing really well; the tyres were perfect, from the beginning to the end of my stint. So I was able to keep the lap times very consistent. I'm very happy because the first laps, we had a good time and a good fight with the Porsches. Everything was looking good, Christian made a great stint. But then during the second pit stop, we couldn't restart the engine for about 45 or 50 seconds, which cost us the lead. I don't know what happened, really. But that's racing. Things like that happen. The car was well-balanced, though, so we know we're on the right way."

3rd in N-GT : Christian Pescatori - nr 62 GPC Giesse Ferrari 360 Modena : "On the first stint, the car was very fast, and there weren't any problems. But after the second pit stop, the car didn't start. It was very strange, really. I just hope we won't have this problem in Brno^Å"

4th in GT : Jamie Campbell-Walter - nr 27 Creation Autosportif Lister Storm : "We had a bit of luck for once. I knew the car was good this weekend. We had a good start, I made up a few places. The car suited the track, and a lap before I pitted, we were only 21 seconds behind the leaders, which I think showed we were on the pace. Then Jamie [Derbyshire] had an OK stint, quite honestly the best stint he's done all season, and set his best lap time of the weekend, brought it back home with no problems. We were lucky with the safety car, as we had to make a splash and dash, so we effectively got it for free. It was a bit of luck, but we'll take all the points we can get. Now on to Brno, which is also a good circuit for us. Very happy !"

4th in GT : Jamie Derbyshire - nr 27 Creation Autosportif Lister Storm : "I enjoyed the race today - I was much more consistent than I have been, doing the sort of times I did in practice, which is much closer to the average pace, about two seconds off Jamie (CW). I've made a real step forward this weekend, getting plenty of time in the car. If we can keep this up for the rest of the season, I think I can continue making strides forward and be contending for the podium before the end of the season. We weren't far off it today. It's a good result for us !"

5th in GT : Mike Hezemans - nr 13 GPC Giesse Squadra Corse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "It was a strange race out there today. It was so difficult to drive the car, we had so much oversteer. Sometimes the car was very fast, sometimes not. There was a lot of pickup after the pace car, and then it went again on the last lap. It was just too difficult to drive. At least we finished, which is something. Naspetti said the same thing. We had to gamble a bit as we weren't fast enough. I spun on oil in my stint, and lost a bit of time, but with the pace car that didn't matter. We have some speed now, but not consistently enough. But it is always a disaster when you have to start so far behind."

6th in GT : Philipp Peter - nr 11 GPC Giesse Squadra Corse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "Honestly, I don't know what to say. It was an excellent race, I had an excellent second stint. It was fun out there, and fair. And then 39 seconds before the end ^Å It still has not really sunk in yet. There is no if or when or what ^Å that's motor-racing. It's unbelievable. There are no words. We do not have the speed in qualifying yet, but in the race, we are on the pace. We will get there."

7th in GT : Christophe Bouchut - nr 10 Zwaan's Racing Chrysler Viper GTS-R : "That was a great stint. The car was excellent, and I could have taken the lead of the race, which would have been really exceptional in this car. But I was blocked by Wendlinger, who kept on closing the door on me. I am quite satisfied with the car, which worked well. But we finished the race and got two points, which is positive. However, I have decided not to continue with the team, and I will not be in Brno; I will be concentrating on other things. There will be other opportunities before the end of the year, and I still hope to be at Spa for the 24 Hours."

9th in GT : Bert Longin : "Punctures ! We had them on our car, and on the other car - maybe some part of the bodywork was rubbing the tyres, but we do not have an explanation yet . Karl's stint and mine, at the start, were quite good, and the lap times were good. But then it was a bit disappointing. For my side, I could keep up the pace with Hezemans, overtake him and keep the nr 3 Ferrari behind me, with lap times in the 39's. If we could keep up that pace, we could go for the top five, for sure."

11th in GT : Karl Wendlinger - nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello : "This weekend we showed the best performance so far this year. We had a problem with the fuel lamp, which was not working right, and so there was no warning. Then we had two punctures; we don't know why, but maybe something touched from the wheel rim. And that was it. But the pace was OK, and I had not reached the limit during the first stint; the car has made some steps forward. I hope to do some testing before Brno, and then we will be even better."

5th in N-GT : Antonio de Castro - nr 56 AB Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS : "We had a collision with the nr 69 Proton in the stadium section. The other car was fine, but it broke our suspension. It was a shame, as we were doing well. We were so unlucky this weekend, with cooling problems, gear-box ^Å We hope to be back for Imola and then Dubai later in the season."

DNF : Franz Konrad - Konrad Motorsport & Vitaphone Racing : " It was not a very successful day. We don't yet know the problem with the nr 4. First we broke the driveshaft, which was damaging the output flange on the gearbox, apparently. We tried to fix it quickly; I don't know if the gearbox failed by itself or it was due to the driveshaft. We will inspect it and see what is going on. The nr 5 was running perfectly, until the starter motor broke during the final stop. We already had a starter motor fail this morning in the warm-up, and we changed it to a new one, which was working fine, but the second one collapsed. We need to find out what was going on. It's a shame; it was our race. The cars were fast and have improved. We will sort it out !"

DNF : Mike Newton - RML Saleen S7 : "We had a problem with the brakes. We were running an experimental material, and we had to make extra stops because the brakes were breaking up. That's the penalty for running at the leading edge; things are going to go wrong occasionally. Then our car stopped with what we suspect is transmission failure. The number 8 car was doing really well; but by the end the brakes were too much of a problem, which is a shame because I think they had the potential to be somewhere between fourth and the podium at the end. But we are on the pace now, and we're looking forward to Brno."

DNF : Tom Coronel - nr 14 Lister Storm : "There was a part on the fuel injector that broke, so it filled up the airbox, and as it is 45 PSI, within one minute there was four litres of fuel in there. It overheated and caught fire, and I just jumped out of the car, before it had even stopped, as it was on fire. I had no choice, I wanted to turn everything off, but as the engine is at the front, I had so much fire there inside the window, that was it. I had already said I was pitting as something did not feel right. But before then we did some set-up changes with the Lister and it was really good. I did 1:39, and I caught up with the nr 2 car that finished second. The car felt a lot better than when we arrived here, getting better by small steps, which is normal with a new car. It just needs testing mileage, which is why we were here. And this was not even with the new engine, because we took that one out and started from the back. The car has a lot of potential."

-fia-

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