Subscribe

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA

Spa: 24-hour race quotes

1st in GT: Lillian Bryner - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "It was certainly a special day! I really have to thank my fellow drivers who did a wonderful job, and also the team!" 1st in GT : Fabrizio Gollin - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 ...

1st in GT: Lillian Bryner - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "It was certainly a special day! I really have to thank my fellow drivers who did a wonderful job, and also the team!"

1st in GT : Fabrizio Gollin - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "Last year I finished second and now this year I won the race. It's a dream come true. Absolutely fantastic! We had to fight very very hard throughout all of the 24 hours, because we were always battling with the [nr 11 GPC Ferrari] 575, all through the race."

1st in GT: Luca Cappellari - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "The car was really fantastic. There were no problems at all. We were pushing very hard in every lap. It was very tough, and our competitors were really strong. As Fabrizio has said, it's just like a dream for us. We will wait till Zhuhai, though, before we will begin to talk about the title. The Championship is still very long; there are four races yet to go, and it's going to be very hard."

1st in GT: Enzo Calderari - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "I never saw a 24-hour race that was so close! Watching the car during those last couple of hours was nerve-wrecking. It happened more than once in the past that the car has stopped. But it all went well, the car was great, and Michelin also gave us the opportunity to go very quick during the night."

2nd in GT: Vincent Vosse - nr 11 G.P.C Giesse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "It was quite a nice race. We were leading most of the time. Before the race, no one would have believed that the Ferrari 575 would be able to fight the 550 for the whole race. I enjoyed that a lot. Of course, I'd prefer to be first, but it was a very good race."

2nd in GT: Philipp Peter - nr 11 G.P.C Giesse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "We tried as hard as possible, and I really have to thank the whole team, particularly Vincent and Mika for joining me and Fabio here even though they're not directly involved in the championship. Second place is a big achievement for us. We're a new team, we only came together in March. All of our sponsors and mechanics and everyone really did an excellent job!"

2nd in GT: Fabio Babini - nr 11 G.P.C Giesse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "I'm really happy! It was a fantastic race, we had a great strategy; and it's really amazing to finish second in a 24-hour race. That was very important for the Championship, as it allows us to push in the last four races. I'm very happy for our team and for Pirelli!"

2nd in GT: Mika Salo - nr 11 G.P.C Giesse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "The only other time I took part in a 24-hour race, my car lasted about two hours, so that was not really endurance racing. It was a good atmosphere here. It's quite difficult to drive on this circuit at nighttime. I hope I didn't do too badly. I'm happy for the team, but I'm honestly a bit diappointed for myself. We'd been leading and would have won if it hadn't been for a little problem, and that's really frustrating. It's a shame -- but maybe next year!"

3rd in GT: Gabriele Gardel - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "It was a good race in the end. We lost our chance to win with the crash we had in the first hour of the night. We then tried very hard to hold third position to keep the Championship open. I have to say, the team really did a great job. The car was really badly damaged and they managed to get it working again!"

3rd in GT: Stefano Livio - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "After our crash in the night, I only have to say thank you to the team, the tyres and the crew. They did a great job!"

3rd in GT: Matteo Bobbi - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "The beginning of the race was very good for us. The problems only started around midnight when we crashed the car. We lost about fifty minutes in the pits. The team did a great job to repair the car, and it was very fast during the night. If it hadn't been for the accident, we could have managed to win. But you win a race with the head, and not with the foot..."

3rd in GT: Miguel Angel de Castro - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "Things were working perfectly, and I expected to finish first. In 2002, I finished second with the Lister and I thought it would be possible with this car and those teammates to finish in first position. I just hope it'll work out better next time."

1st in N-GT: Stephane Ortelli - nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "I thought the race was much tougher than last year -- but we also had a much better car! We were very quick, and I enjoyed the race a lot. The competition in our category has grown this year as well. But I think everyone at Freisinger can be happy today -- we finished with three cars in the top five!"

1st in N-GT: Romain Dumas - nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "It was not an easy weekend. The race was okay. But all those drivers here are young and fast, and the competition was really strong. It's the third time we've won here on this track now. It just seems that we're a little bit more lucky than the others here at Spa."

1st in N-GT: Emmanuel Collard - nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "The result is great for us, especially for me and Stephane, because we could more points for the championship and increase the gap! I've very surprised how the race turned out, though -- I didn't seriously believe that we could be third overall!"

2st in N-GT: Timo Berhard - nr 77 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "This is my first time here at the 24 hours of Spa, and my first podium in only my second FIA GT event! The race was very nice, and the organisation was great. I'm very happy for my teammates, and also Alex, for whom this is his first GT podium too. I'm very happy!"

2st in N-GT: Jorg Bergmeister - nr 77 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "The decision that I would race here. I only got the call on Thursday last week, so I didn't really have that much time to prepare. It was good fun, a really nice race."

2st in N-GT: Alexei Vasiliev - nr 77 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "I'm very happy as well. For me, this is the first time that I have shared a car with so big stars. They're all incredibly professional!"

3rd in N-GT: Sascha Maassen - nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "It seemed that all the problems hit us! Every little piece in the car that wasn't doing the job it was supposed to be doing. Considering all that, I'm very happy and rather surprised that we finished 5th overall and 3rd in N-GT. That's something I really hadn't expected after the first few hours. I have to thank the crew and my team mates. Everyone was doing what was in their power. There was no one to blame for those problems!"

3rd in N-GT: Marc Lieb - nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "This was one of the toughest 24-hour races I did so far. I, too, want to thank my team mates. They never gave up, even when the situation seemed hopeless. 5th is not so bad, but I'm still rather disappointed. I had expected a little bit more. So I have rather mixed feelings at the moment."

3rd in N-GT: Lucas Luhr - nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS: "There's not much to add. If your car is good and you can roll away without problems, you can easily stay in front. That's why they're better, so congratulations to them."

1st in G2: Hans-Joachin Stuck -- BMW M3 GTR: "It was pretty difficult for us. The M3 GTR is normally a car that runs without problems. And here, there were problems! In total, we spend more than two hours in the pits. But we finished the race -- that had been our main target! I hope we can be back next year and finish a bit higher."

1st in G2: Dirk Muller -- BMW M3 GTR: "It was a very busy weekend, with the ETCC races and the 24-hour race. I'm really a bit unhappy the way things worked out. The costs of the parts on the car that broke amount to about... 5 Euro, I'd say. It was really rather unfortunate. I would really like to come back and maybe aim for the overall victory."

1st in G2: Jorg Muller -- BMW M3 GTR: "I have to say I really enjoyed this race. Going up the Eau Rouge in the M3 GTR is not just a lot of fun, it's also great to watch from the outside. We showed at the Nurburgring that the car can run error-free. We proved that we can win, so I hope we will do better next year."

1st in G3: Peter Wyss -- Muhlner Motorsport Porsche 996: "It's really strange. Usually, I'm working as a journalist, and I'm the one asking the questions. But being here as a drivers gives me a completely different perspective on things. To win is never easy, even when it looks as if it is. As the saying goes -- first you have to finish to win."

1st in G3: Jean Francois Hemroulle -- Muhlner Motorsport Porsche 996: "I have to thank the whole team. We did all the race without any problems, which was very important. It's not easy to finish a rac like this one, and I'm very very happy."

1st in G3: Vanina Ickx -- Muhlner Motorsport Porsche 996: "I really enjoyed the race. It's always something special to be on the podium. In the endurance racing, it's not one person's job but it's the teamwork that counts, and Muhlner Motorsport has really been doing very well! There were two girls on podium in G2, and with Lilian Bryner in GT, this is a really big day for women in motorsport."

Bernhard Muhlner -- Team owner: "This is our Porsche Supercup car, and there's normally no chance to win with that car in a field like this. But these drivers here managed it. They were very fast without taking too much from the car, particularly going very easy on the gearbox. This is a great result for Muhlner Motorsports."

DNF: Jamie Campbell-Walter - nr 27 Creation Autosportif Lister Storm: "I'm not really sure what happened. Bobby was in the car, and apparently, it just locked at the rear when he was in the breaking area in one of the corners after Eau Rouge. There was some oil leak, but I don't know if it was the fact that something was broken that caused the accident or if Bobby crashed and that did the damage. I'm really disappointed -- to get so far and retire after 20 hours. I mean, we knew we weren't going to win, but it would have been good to finish!"

DNF: Fabrizio De Simone - nr 62 GPC Giesse Ferrari 360 Modena: "It's really terrible for the race and the Championship. We were very well prepared. But the car is almost destroyed, so it's finished."

DNF: Antonio Garcia -- nr 143 BMW M3 GTR: "During my first stint, I just had four or five laps to go when suddenly, coming out of Eau Rouge, I felt something had happened to the steering. But I didn't realise that the wheel had come off until I turned to the right... I had to go back to the pits, really carefully, at about 40 or 50 km/h. After that, all the stints went well. We didn't push, we were able to maintain the gap and keep the pressure on the leaders. At the end, however, at around 4 am, the car just died. It was the electrics -- suddenly it just all switched off, and for a couple of minutes I had no lights or anything, which was rather worrying."

-fia-

Be part of Motorsport community

Join the conversation
Previous article Spa: 24H race results
Next article Spa: Jamie Derbyshire race report

Top Comments

There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Motorsport prime

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Edition

USA