2009 Budapest City Challenge

The 2009 Budapest City Challenge was the fifth round of the 2009 FIA GT Championship season and was organised by City Challenge GmbH. It took place at the Hungaroring, Hungary on 30 August 2009. Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini won for the Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati after the disqualification of the K plus K Motorsport Saleen. Richard Westbrook and Emmanuel Collard of Prospeed Competition won in the GT2 category by passing the AF Corse Ferrari on the final lap of the event.

Report

Qualifying

Qualifying was led by the No. 2 Vitaphone Maserati of driver Alex Müller who recorded a lap time over a tenth of a second faster than Karl Wendlinger in the K plus K Saleen. Enrique Bernoldi, in only his second FIA GT event, qualified the Sangari Corvette on the second row alongside the third Vitaphone Maserati.

The GT2 category was led by the No. 60 Prospeed Porsche of Richard Westbrook at the end of the qualifying session but Westbrook later had his lap times excluded after the Porsche failed a stall test during technical inspection. This promoted Álvaro Barba of No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari to his first pole position, followed by Tim Mullen's CRS Racing Ferrari. Westbrook's exclusion demoted the Prospeed Porsche to 24th and last on the grid.[1]

Qualifying results

Class winners are highlighted in bold.[2]

Pos Class Team Driver Lap Time Grid
1 GT1 No. 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Alex Müller 1:41.815 1
2 GT1 No. 14 K plus K Motorsport Karl Wendlinger 1:41.929 2
3 GT1 No. 8 Sangari Team Brazil Enrique Bernoldi 1:42.166 3
4 GT1 No. 33 Vitaphone Racing Team DHL Alessandro Pier Guidi 1:42.375 4
5 GT1 No. 19 Luc Alphand Aventures Xavier Maassen 1:42.563 5
6 GT1 No. 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Andrea Bertolini 1:42.870 6
7 GT1 No. 4 PK Carsport Mike Hezemans 1:43.255 7
8 GT1 No. 3 Selleslagh Racing Team Bert Longin 1:43.520 8
9 GT1 No. 18 K plus K Motorsport Adam Lacko 1:44.092 9
10 GT1 No. 11 Full Speed Racing Team Stéphane Lémeret 1:44.551 10
11 G2 No. 112 Autoracing Club Bratislava Andrej Studenic 1:45.399 11
12 GT1 No. 44 Matech GT Racing Thomas Mutsch 1:45.580 12
13 GT1 No. 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Renaud Kuppens 1:46.545 13
14 GT2 No. 60 Prospeed Competition Richard Westbrook 1:47.043 24
15 GT2 No. 51 AF Corse Álvaro Barba 1:47.262 14
16 GT2 No. 55 CRS Racing Tim Mullen 1:47.347 15
17 GT2 No. 50 AF Corse Gianmaria Bruni 1:47.405 16
18 GT2 No. 97 Brixia Motorsport Martin Ragginger 1:47.683 17
19 GT2 No. 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Paolo Ruberti 1:47.797 18
20 GT2 No. 95 PeCom Racing Team Matías Russo 1:47.866 19
21 GT2 No. 59 Trackspeed Racing Tim Sugden 1:47.884 20
22 GT2 No. 56 CRS Racing Andrew Kirkaldy 1:47.890 21
23 GT2 No. 61 Prospeed Competition Darryl O'Young 1:48.067 22
24 GT2 No. 78 BMS Scuderia Italia Diego Romanini 1:50.599 23
† – The No. 60 Prospeed Competition Porsche had its qualifying times disallowed after the car failed post-qualifying technical inspection. The No. 51 AF Corse Ferrari took over GT2 pole position.

Race

The winning GT2 class Porsche of Richard Westbrook and Emmanuel Collard
The overall podium immediately after the race but prior to the exclusion of Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp

The race was led into the first turn by Enrique Bernoldi's Sangari Corvette which managed to jump from the third place grid position to first, followed by Karl Wendlinger's No. 14 K plus K Saleen and the No. 2 and No. 33 Vitaphone Maseratis. The four held this position in the early laps but Alex Müller in the No. 2 car braked too late for the first turn at the start of the fourth lap and jumped the inside kerbs before impacting the leading Corvette and spinning in front of the second place Saleen. This allowed the No. 33 Vitaphone car into second but Bernoldi continued to lead despite the damaged car.[3]

This damage would however hamper the Corvette as the first pit stops took place and the Sangari Team Brazil crew had difficulties refueling the car.[4] The No. 1 Maserati inherited the lead following its pit stop but had to relinquish it after the team was penalized for speeding in the pit lane.[3] This allowed the No. 14 Saleen, now driven by Ryan Sharp, to take the lead which it held until the second round of pit stops where the No. 33 Maserati took over at the front of the field. Karl Wendlinger returned to the cockpit and was able to overcome the deficit and retake the lead from the Maserati in the last ten minutes of the race. On the final lap the No. 33 was passed by the No. 1 team car to complete the podium.[3]

In the GT2 category the No. 97 Brixia Racing Porsche of Martin Ragginger led the field at the end of the first lap after passing the three Ferraris which had qualified ahead of it. The Porsche however made its first pit stop earlier than the rest of the GT2 competitors and allowed the No. 50 AF Corse Ferrari to lead the class. The No. 60 Prospeed Porsche of Richard Westbrook and Emmanuel Collard, which had started from last on the grid, was able to climb through the GT2 field and eventually challenge AF Corse's Gianmaria Bruni in the latter half of the race. Westbrook was able to outbrake Bruni's Ferrari entering the first turn of the final lap and hold the lead for the rest of the lap. The No. 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari completed the GT2 podium.[4]

Following the race the No. 14 K Plus K Motorsports Saleen was excluded from the race after the car failed post-race technical inspection. The car's engine did not stall as required when its air restrictors were blocked. This promoted Bartels and Bertolini to the race win as well as Enrique Bernoldi and Roberto Streit to their first GT1 podium.[5] Müller was also penalized after the race for avoidable contact when he collided with the No. 8 Corvette and No. 14 Saleen, earning a five grid spot penalty for the No. 2 Vitaphone Maserati at the next FIA GT event.[4]

Race result

Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 75% of winner's distance are marked as Not Classified (NC).[6]

Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps
Engine
1 GT1 1 Germany Vitaphone Racing Team Germany Michael Bartels
Italy Andrea Bertolini
Maserati MC12 GT1 M 67
Maserati 6.0 L V12
2 GT1 33 Germany Vitaphone Racing Team DHL Italy Alessandro Pier Guidi
Italy Matteo Bobbi
Maserati MC12 GT1 M 67
Maserati 6.0 L V12
3 GT1 8 Brazil Sangari Team Brazil Brazil Enrique Bernoldi
Brazil Roberto Streit
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 67
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
4 GT1 19 France Luc Alphand Aventures Netherlands Xavier Maassen
Italy Thomas Biagi
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 67
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
5 GT1 4 Belgium PK Carsport Belgium Anthony Kumpen
Netherlands Mike Hezemans
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 67
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
6 GT1 3 Belgium Selleslagh Racing Team Belgium Bert Longin
France James Ruffier
Chevrolet Corvette C6.R M 66
Chevrolet LS7.R 7.0 L V8
7 GT2 60 Belgium Prospeed Competition France Emmanuel Collard
United Kingdom Richard Westbrook
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 65
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
8 GT2 50 Italy AF Corse Italy Gianmaria Bruni
Finland Toni Vilander
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 65
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
9 GT2 77 Italy BMS Scuderia Italia Italy Paolo Ruberti
Italy Matteo Malucelli
Ferrari F430 GT2 P 65
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
10 GT1 40 Belgium Marc VDS Racing Team Belgium Renaud Kuppens
Belgium Bas Leinders
Ford GT1 M 65
Ford 5.0 L V8
11 GT2 61 Belgium Prospeed Competition Germany Marco Holzer
Hong Kong Darryl O'Young
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 65
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
12 GT2 51 Italy AF Corse Spain Álvaro Barba
Italy Niki Cadei
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 64
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
13 GT2 56 United Kingdom CRS Racing United Kingdom Rob Bell
United Kingdom Andrew Kirkaldy
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 64
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
14 GT2 95 Argentina PeCom Racing Team Argentina Matías Russo
Argentina Luís Pérez Companc
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 64
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
15 GT2 55 United Kingdom CRS Racing Canada Chris Niarchos
United Kingdom Tim Mullen
Ferrari F430 GT2 M 64
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
16 GT2 97 Italy Brixia Racing Italy Luigi Lucchini
Austria Martin Ragginger
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 64
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
17 GT2 78 Italy BMS Scuderia Italia Italy Diego Romanini
Germany Kenneth Heyer
Ferrari F430 GT2 P 64
Ferrari 4.0 L V8
18 GT2 59 United Kingdom Trackspeed Racing United Kingdom Tim Sugden
United Kingdom David Ashburn
Porsche 997 GT3-RSR M 63
Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
19
DNF
GT1 18 Czech Republic K plus K Motorsport Czech Republic Adam Lacko
Sweden Max Nilsson
Saleen S7-R M 59
Ford 7.0 L V8
20 GT1 44 Switzerland Matech GT Racing Germany Thomas Mutsch
Switzerland Jonathan Hirschi
Ford GT1 M 59
Ford 5.0 L V8
21
NC
G2 112 Slovakia Autoracing Club Bratislava Slovakia Miro Konopka
Slovakia Andrej Studenic
Saleen S7-R M 48
Ford 7.0 L V8
22
DNF
GT1 11 Austria Full Speed Racing Team Belgium Stéphane Lémeret
United Kingdom Luke Hines
Saleen S7-R P 23
Ford 7.0 L V8
23
DNF
GT1 2 Germany Vitaphone Racing Team Portugal Miguel Ramos
Germany Alex Müller
Maserati MC12 GT1 M 5
Maserati 6.0 L V12
DSQ GT1 14 Czech Republic K plus K Motorsport Austria Karl Wendlinger
United Kingdom Ryan Sharp
Saleen S7-R M 67
Ford 7.0 L V8

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2009 Budapest City Challenge.
  1. "Barba Lopez inherits GT2 pole". FIA GT Championship. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  2. Steve Groom (2009-08-29). "Qualifying". FIA GT Championship. Archived from the original on 2009-09-07. Retrieved 2009-08-29.
  3. 1 2 3 "K plus K takes Hungaroring win". Autosport. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  4. 1 2 3 "Vitaphone and Prospeed win the Budapest City Challenge". Planet Le Mans. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2009-08-31.
  5. Steve Groom (2009-08-30). "Bartels and Bertolini inherit GT1 win". FIA GT Championship. Archived from the original on 2009-09-07. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
  6. "Race Result". FIA GT Championship. 2009-08-30. Retrieved 2009-08-30.
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