2011 FIA GT1 Abu Dhabi round

The 2011 FIA GT1 Abu Dhabi round was an auto racing event held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Taking place over 25–26 March 2011, Abu Dhabi was the opening round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season. It is the second consecutive year that FIA GT1 has opened its season in Abu Dhabi, although the 2011 event will be held on a shorter 4.730 km (2.939 mi) layout of the Yas Marina Circuit. Marc Hennerici is the only returning driver who won during the event last season, while Corvette and Ford both are defending victors. The event is also unique on the FIA GT1 calendar as it is the only one held over a two day period rather than the normal three; Qualifying is held following Practice on Friday while the Qualifying Race and Championship race are both held on Saturday. The weekend is shared with a trio of local racing series: The UAE Sportscar series, the Cytech UAE GT series, and the Total UAE Touring Cars series.

Münnich Motorsport earned pole position in the qualifying session, only to be penalized for an infraction and handing pole to the Young Driver team of Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner. Early incidents in the Qualifying Race led to Marc VDS Ford winning their first GT1 race with Maxime Martin and Frédéric Makowiecki driving. Marc VDS was unable to hold the lead after starting from pole in the Championship Race as a quick pit stop vaulted Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione's Hexis Aston Martin into the race lead, fending off the Nissan of JR Motorsports but less than half a second at the finish.

Contents

Background

Following the announcement of an entry list featuring twenty cars from ten teams for the full 2011 season, only eighteen were entered for Abu Dhabi. The two Corvette squads of Team China and DKR Engineering both entered only a single car due to each team lacking a second chassis. All eighteen cars participated in a pre-season test held at the circuit on 23 March, with the No. 37 Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini of Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager setting the fastest lap of the day, followed by their second team car.[1]

Qualifying

Qualifying result

For qualifying, Driver 1 participates in the first and third sessions while Driver 2 participates in only the second session. The fastest lap for each session is indicated with bold.

Pos No. Driver 1 Team Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Grid
Driver 2
1 37 Nicky Pastorelli All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 1:52.705 1:52.006 1:51.668 61
Dominik Schwager
2 8 Stefan Mücke Young Driver AMR 1:52.521 1:52.183 1:52.113 1
Darren Turner
3 41 Maxime Martin Marc VDS Racing Team 1:52.820 1:52.603 1:52.197 2
Frédéric Makowiecki
4 7 Alex Müller Young Driver AMR 1:53.107 1:52.010 1:52.547 3
Tomáš Enge
5 11 Mike Hezemans Exim Bank Team China 1:52.892 1:52.521 1:52.750 4
Nicky Catsburg
6 22 Peter Dumbreck JR Motorsports 1:53.189 1:52.223 1:52.866 5
Richard Westbrook
7 20 Enrique Bernoldi Sumo Power GT 1:52.909 1:52.631 1:53.191 7
Ricardo Zonta
8 23 Lucas Luhr JR Motorsports 1:53.332 1:52.786 1:53.336 8
Michael Krumm
9 21 David Brabham Sumo Power GT 1:52.667 1:52.804 9
Jamie Campbell-Walter
10 5 Karl Wendlinger Swiss Racing Team 1:53.355 1:52.907 10
Peter Kox
11 3 Clivio Piccione Hexis AMR 1:53.037 1:52.914 11
Stef Dusseldorp
12 40 Marc Hennerici Marc VDS Racing Team 1:53.114 1:53.159 172
Bas Leinders
13 47 Michaël Rossi DKR Engineering 1:53.830 1:55.549 12
Jaime Camara
14 38 Markus Winkelhock All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 1:53.486 No Time 13
Marc Basseng
15 4 Christian Hohenadel Hexis AMR 1:54.178 14
Andrea Piccini
16 10 Martin Matzke Belgian Racing 1:54.274 15
Miloš Pavlović
17 9 Antoine Leclerc Belgian Racing 1:54.564 16
Fabien Giroix
18 6 Max Nilsson Swiss Racing Team 1:54.570 18
Jiří Janák
  1. ^ The No. 37 Münnich Lamborghini was given a penalty of five grid spots for the Qualifying Race for ignoring a marshal's flag requiring the car to pits after illegally starting from an external battery during Qualifying 1.[2]
  2. ^ The No. 40 Marc VDS Ford was given a penalty of five grid spots for the Qualifying Race for changing an engine during practice.[3]

Races

Qualifying Race

Race result

Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired
1 41 Marc VDS Racing Team Maxime Martin
Frédéric Makowiecki
Ford 31
2 22 JR Motorsports Peter Dumbreck
Richard Westbrook
Nissan 31 -1.476
3 23 JR Motorsports Michael Krumm
Lucas Luhr
Nissan 31 -18.069
4 20 Sumo Power GT Enrique Bernoldi
Ricardo Zonta
Nissan 31 -21.514
5 3 Hexis AMR Clivio Piccione
Stef Dusseldorp
Aston Martin 31 -22.460
6 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Marc Basseng
Markus Winkelhock
Lamborghini 31 -23.049
7 11 Exim Bank Team China Mike Hezemans
Nicky Catsburg
Corvette 31 -37.828
8 21 Sumo Power GT David Brabham
Jamie Campbell-Walter
Nissan 31 -43.637
9 4 Hexis AMR Christian Hohenadel
Andrea Piccini
Aston Martin 31 -48.575
10 5 Swiss Racing Team Karl Wendlinger
Peter Kox
Lamborghini 31 -49.454
11 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Bas Leinders
Marc Hennerici
Ford 31 -55.779
12 10 Belgian Racing Martin Matzke
Miloš Pavlović
Ford 31 -1:07.877
13 6 Swiss Racing Team Max Nilsson
Jiří Janák
Lamborghini 31 -1:08.866
14 9 Belgian Racing Antoine Leclerc
Fabien Giroix
Ford 31 -1:49.703
15
DNF
8 Young Driver AMR Darren Turner
Stefan Mücke
Aston Martin 15 Broken wheel
16
DNF
7 Young Driver AMR Tomáš Enge
Alex Müller
Aston Martin 1 Damage
17
DNF
37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Nicky Pastorelli
Dominik Schwager
Lamborghini 0 Collision
18
DNF
47 DKR Engineering Michaël Rossi
Jaime Camara
Corvette 0 Collision

Championship Race

Race result

Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired
1 3 Hexis AMR Clivio Piccione
Stef Dusseldorp
Aston Martin 31
2 22 JR Motorsports Peter Dumbreck
Richard Westbrook
Nissan 31 -0.474
3 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Marc Basseng
Markus Winkelhock
Lamborghini 31 -14.539
4 4 Hexis AMR Christian Hohenadel
Andrea Piccini
Aston Martin 31 -15.296
5 8 Young Driver AMR Darren Turner
Stefan Mücke
Aston Martin 31 -15.934
6 7 Young Driver AMR Tomáš Enge
Alex Müller
Aston Martin 31 -16.713
7 5 Swiss Racing Team Karl Wendlinger
Peter Kox
Lamborghini 31 -17.277
8 41 Marc VDS Racing Team Maxime Martin
Frédéric Makowiecki
Ford 31 -22.053
9 21 Sumo Power GT David Brabham
Jamie Campbell-Walter
Nissan 31 -32.952
10 11 Exim Bank Team China Mike Hezemans
Nicky Catsburg
Corvette 31 -39.805
11 37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Nicky Pastorelli
Dominik Schwager
Lamborghini 31 -46.478
12 10 Belgian Racing Martin Matzke
Miloš Pavlović
Ford 31 -1:23.319
13 47 DKR Engineering Michaël Rossi
Jaime Camara
Corvette 31 -1:38.366
14 23 JR Motorsports Michael Krumm
Lucas Luhr
Nissan 30 -1 Lap
15
DNF
6 Swiss Racing Team Max Nilsson
Jiří Janák
Lamborghini 24 Retired
16
DNF
20 Sumo Power GT Enrique Bernoldi
Ricardo Zonta
Nissan 20 Retired
17
DNF
9 Belgian Racing Antoine Leclerc
Fabien Giroix
Ford 16 Retired
DNS 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Bas Leinders
Marc Hennerici
Ford - Did Not Start

Standings after the race

Drivers' Championship standings
Pos Driver Points
1= Clivio Piccione 27
1= Stef Dusseldorp 27
3= Peter Dumbreck 24
3= Richard Westbrook 24
5= Marc Basseng 16
5= Markus Winkelhock 16
Teams' Championship standings
Pos Constructor Points
1 Hexis AMR 39
2 JR Motorsports 28
3 Young Driver AMR 18
4 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 16
5 Swiss Racing Team 6

References

External links

FIA GT1 World Championship
Previous race:
None
2011 season Next race:
Zolder