Reiter Engineering on pole for both FIA GT3 races at Slovakia

Reiter Engineering on pole for both FIA GT3 races at Slovakia
VW Passat details and tips from VWvortex’s Jamie Vondruska
Flying Lizard qualifies fifth and ninth for Road America

Posted: 20 Aug 2011 07:30 AM PDT

FIA GT3 Slovakia

After two weeks off, Rounds 9/10 of the FIA GT3 kicked off at the Slovakia Ring. With that said, Reiter Engineering headed straight to the front with pole positions in both qualifying sessions. Albert von Thurn und Taxis laid down a 02:02.058 to Federico Leo’s 02:02.059 in the Corse Ferrari 458… yes thats a difference of 0.001. Top Porsche was down in seventh and top Audi was in eleventh.

In Q2, Stefan Rosina topped with a 02:01.076 in his first GT3 outing. In this session the top Audi was 7th and top Porsche was 14th.

The two qualifying sessions for Rounds 9 & 10 of the 2011 FIA GT3 European Championship at the Slovakia Ring belonged to the Reiter Engineering team as both their Lamborghini Gallardos took pole position.

In the first session Albert von Thurn und Taxis claimed his second pole of the season in the nr24 Reiter Lamborghini by the narrowest of margins, finishing just 0.001s ahead of championship leader Federico Leo in the nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458. Dominik Baumann will head the second row in this afternoon’s race in the nr44 Heico Racing Mercedes Benz SLS AMG, with the nr4 Graff Racing Mercedes of Gregoire Demoustier lining up alongside the Austrian.

The second qualifying period Slovakia’s Stefan Rosina took pole position in the nr25 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo in his first ever FIA GT3 race. Rosina finished 0.027s ahead of Jarek Janis in the nr11 Gravity Charouz Racing Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG, the Czech driver and team enjoying racing so close to home. Nick Catsburg posted the third fastest time the nr36 Faster Racing by DB Motorsport BMZ Z4 after posting the provisional pole time on the first flying lap of the session. Catsburg will line up on row 2 alongside the nr50 AF Corse Ferrari 458 of Francesco Castellacci.

Both sessions were interrupted by red flags. The first qualifying period was halted to clear debris from the track after the nr21 MTECH Motorsport Ferrari of Duncan Cameron went off at Turn 9, bringing gravel onto the circuit as he made his way back to the pits. In the second session Joe Osbornes United Autosports Audi R8 ended up in the tyre wall at the same corner and had to be recovered before the session could resume.

Qualifying 1

Nr24 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600

Albert von Thurn und Taxis: “It’s a difficult but exciting track. I’m here for the first time, so I’m really happy about it. It was incredibly close. The three of us are in the same hundredth, so I think that’s pretty impressive. I’m very happy to have this second pole of the year. The track looks more difficult than it is. The first time you go around, you think, okay this is going to be my downfall, but once you get into the rhythm of it, the more difficult looking sessions become quite intuitive, but you do need to be careful not to underestimate a couple of corners, because there are a couple of very fast corners where, if you do make a mistake, you end up hurting the car badly, and therefore, I think it’s quite an exciting track, and I think the jump just gives it something that you don’t have in other normal tracks around Europe. We’ve been looking at the data and learning from Stefan Rosina, who’s an old pro, and knows his way around here like his home. It was definitely a good help for us.”

Qualifying 2

Nr25 Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Gallardo LP600

Stefan Rosina: “I think that it’s a privilege for me to be a part of this championship, because it’s really competitive. I also have to thank the team, because if you start for your first time in qualifying or on a new set of tyres, the car is really difficult to handle, there is no chance to be able to fight for the top three. I also have to thank our team mate, because they helped us a lot with our driving style. We are pretty happy, but this is just the beginning. The race is one hour long. There are still a lot of things needed to be successful. I would say that all the Slovakian drivers have done 100% more mileage than the others around this track, so I think that all of us sitting here will be quick in the race and that it will be a tough fight. We have to be really happy, because, two years ago there was not circuit here, so I’m really happy that this is happening here and to be a part of it. I’ve been racing outside of Slovakia for some time now, so I’m happy to be at home and actually sleep in my own bed.”

Qualifying Results: Round 9 | Round 10

Round 9 of the FIA GT3 European Championship will take place at 14:45 (local time) this afternoon, with Round 10 due to start at 11:15 on Sunday morning.

FIA GT3 heads to the Slovakia Ring circuit

Reiter Engineering on pole for both FIA GT3 races at Slovakia

VW Passat details and tips from VWvortex’s Jamie Vondruska

Posted: 20 Aug 2011 06:34 AM PDT

ONEIGHTURBO

VWvortex Passat

Video after the jump!

VWvortex’s managing editor Jamie Vondruska talks about his favorite features, and what to ask about when test driving the all-new Passat.

Innovation At Work: All-New 2012 Passat

VW Passat details and tips from VWvortex’s Jamie Vondruska

Flying Lizard qualifies fifth and ninth for Road America

Posted: 19 Aug 2011 02:16 PM PDT

ONEIGHTURBO

DPerceptions Road America

Joerg Bergmeister qualified the No. 45 fifth in GT for Saturday’s four-hour Road Race Showcase at Road America with a time of 2:06.379 on the four-mile circuit. Teammate Marco Holzer was ninth in the No. 44 with a 2:06.838. Dirk Mueller of the No. 56 BMW is on the GT pole with a time of 2:05.447, a new class track record.

Bergmeister commented on the session, “Well, P5 wasn’t exactly what we were looking for today. Unfortunately, I didn’t get to run much in the session before qualifying because of all of the reds so that affected our qualifying setup. We’ll use tomorrow’s warmup to finish our setup; I’m optimistic that we’ll have a solid car for the race.”

Holzer added, “In the No. 44 we also have some more work to do before race start tomorrow. On my fast qualifying lap, I was feeling really good about the lap until I missed the apex on the last corner and lost a few tenths.” This is Holzer’s first time running at Road America. He added, “Of the American tracks that I’ve run, Road America is my favorite by far. There is everything here: fast corners and slow ones, blind corners, long straights. I’m really looking forward to being able to race here tomorrow.”

Five races into the nine-race ALMS season, Joerg Bergmeister and Patrick Long are currently seventh in the standings in the No. 45 Flying Lizard Porsche, with 36 points. Teammate Seth Neiman is tenth in the No. 44 Flying Lizard Porsche. Neiman will be joined by Marco Holzer this weekend for ALMS round five: the Road Race Showcase at Road America. Holzer is twelfth in the drivers’ championship. Dirk Mueller and Joey Hand of the No. 56 BMW lead with 90 points. Flying Lizard is fourth in the team championship.