SPANISH GT: Albacete 23rd - 24th June 2007

The Spanish GT arrives in Albacete for its last race before the summer break.

The Motor Competicion Mosler gets off to a flier, with Gutierrez and Villalba setting the fastest lap times in the free practice sessions.
Sergio Garcia got a new partner for this race; Fernando Navarrete replacing Robero Murhi in the number 22 Mosler.

The first qualifying session saw some strong performances and an all-Mosler front row;

Gutierrez: pole position
Navarette: second
Manuel Breyner: 11th
Ian Flux: 12th

The second session wasn't as good but still promising:

Pedro Breyner: fourth
Villalba: 12th
Garcia: 13th
Riley: 30th

The first race saw Gutierrez establish a lead from pole. After the driver changeover, Villalba battled with Busnelli who eventually got passed and went on to take the win in the Playteam Ferrari 430. The Breyners were the top Mosler team, sixth place being their highest finish of the championship this season.



Results:

Breyner/Breyner: sixth
Gutierrez/Villalba: seventh
Garcia/Navarette: ninth
Riley/Flux: 27th


Race Two:

Disappointing for the Moslers; the only ones to finish were Motor Competicion; Villalba bringing the car home in sixth place.

Peter Sundberg and Domingo Romero (RSV Motorsport) led the race from pole to consolidate their lead at the top of the championship

Spanish GT now takes a break until September 29th when the championship visits Valencia.

Photos (c) www.gtsport.es

BELCAR: Spa-Francochamps June 9th-10th 2007

Another round of Belcar, another Mosler win!

Honours this time went to Guino Kenis and Michael de Keersmaecker in the G&A car.


The 'DHL' Gravity Mosler held the lead for a while early on. With most teams changing tyres after the first rain shower, a few teams including G&A stayed out until the mandatory driver change. That single stop was instrumental in taking the lead and holding it to the finish, taken under the yellow flag as a thunderstorm raged.

Radermecker was convinced that their car had the pace to win the race; 'DHL' eventually finishing third.

An unsuccessful day for Kelders and Lambert though; qualifying in 30th place they finished 31st.

Photos (c) sro-belgium.be

BRITISH GT: Snetterton June 2nd - 3rd 2007

Whilst I was filming Caterhams at their Golden Jubilee meet at Donington, the British GT were away in Norfolk for round 5.

Some promising Saturday qualifying sessions put the Eclipse Mosler onto fourth spot, behind the blistering pace of the Cocker/Drayson Aston and a pair of Ferrari 430's.


Craig Cole started the race for Eclipse and took the Mosler from fourth to first within two laps. The third placed CiM Ferrari started from the rear of the grid; the second placed VRS Ferrari span off on the first lap. With the pole position Aston carrying a heavier fuel load, the Mosler was able to nip past to take the lead and steadily build on it. By lap 17, Cole's lead was up to twenty seconds.

After the pit stop and driver change, the Mosler still held the lead, but Johnny Cocker was clipping up to a second a lap from Elliot Cole.

With 45 minutes to go, the Mosler was still out in front even with the Aston's rapid progress. But then it all went base over apex.

Elliot Cole span at Riches where there had been a recent oil spill. Rejoining the race in fourth, he made a pit stop and tried to continue but then lost control and slammed into the tyre wall.


The two incidents had been reported as an oil spin and contact with a Viper, but the team later confirmed that the rear left hub had sheared off. The loose wheel had been responsible for the first spin, the shearing hub then leaving the Mosler to plough into the tyres.



Johnny Cocker went on to claim the Barwell bio-fuelled Aston's maiden British GT victory.

A disappointing day for the Mosler - the race showed how supremely competitive it is. It looks like they just need to find that mechanical reliability to become race winners.

Pictures (c) Gary Parravani, www.the-paddock.net