At Spa-Francorchamps Lamborghini has secured
its first FIA GT1 World Championship race victory. Former Formula One driver Ricardo Zonta and team-mate
Frank Kechele guided the Reiter Engineering #25 Lamborghini Murciélago 670 R-SV
around the historic race circuit to claim the team and the marque's first ever win in the
new championship, 3.253 seconds ahead of the #3 Triple H Team Hegersport Maserati
MC12.
Zonta set the second fastest lap time during Friday's Qualifying Race to put
the #25 Lamborghini Murcielago on the front row for today's Championship Race.
The #38 All-Inkl.com Muennich Motorsport Lamborghini, piloted by Nicky
Pastorelli, secured fifth place on the grid, while the second Reiter Engineering
Lamborghini Murciélago of Peter Kox and Marc A. Hayek lined up seventh.At the start, Brazilian driver Zonta's main goal was to pass the #11
Corvette: a feat that he accomplished on the first lap of the race. Having started the race
on used tyres, the Reiter Engineering driver had to look after degradation but
still managed to hold onto the lead for the opening laps before he was passed by
fellow Lamborghini driver Kox in the #24 Lamborghini Murciélago. In the All-Inkl.com
entry Dutchman Pastorelli made
his way through the field up to third, giving Lamborghini 1-2-3 in the order
with Kox in the lead.
During the pit-stops, Zonta handed the #25 over to team-mate Kechele, who
re-emerged with just the #5 Ford GT ahead. Kechele set off in pursuit, chasing
it down and passing for the lead with three laps of the race remaining. The
German driver maintained his position until the chequered flag to claim a
memorable victory for both Lamborghini and Reiter Engineering.
Zonta and Kechele celebrate their victory
"It's a great feeling to win," said Zonta. "This is a very important victory
for us. I feel very connected with the Reiter Engineering team and even more so
after this win. I was pushing very hard on the first few laps as I knew that the
other cars had new tyres. Mine were wearing down so I made an early pit-stop:
Frank took over and did a great job to finish first."
Lamborghini Director of Brand and Design, Manfred Fitzgerald,
added: "The team has put a huge amount of effort into this project and it has
really paid off today. They have done a fantastic job and we're extremely proud
of the result."
The #38 All-Inkl.com Muennich Motorsport Lamborghini, piloted by German
driver Dominik Schwager following the pit-stops, crossed the finish line ninth.
Meanwhile, the #24 Lamborghini Murciélago 670 R-SV was forced to retire from the
race following the driver change due to an engine problem.
Reiter Engineering team boss Hans Reiter, soaked in champagne, revelled in
the team's first win in 11 years of FIA GT racing and the first for Lamborghini
in the 2010 season. "Is was a great victory and it has been a long time coming," he said. "We've
never had the budget to do a full season before and it feels really good. Ricardo's pit stop was a disaster, but he managed to get out and win. We
still have a lot to learn. When you look at the likes of Vitaphone (Maserati)
who have been doing it so professionally for so many years, you realise that we
must get better. We had the fastest car out there today, and the thing that feels best about
it is that it wasn't luck." In a reference to the Reiter No.24 Lamborghini of Peter Kox and Christopher
Haase, which started seventh and led the race at one point before retiring from
third place towards the end, he added: "The first pit stop with Peter's car was
fantastic, perfect, he drove brilliantly all weekend. He must be the most
unlucky guy here today."
Round six of the FIA GT1 World Championship will take place at the
Nürburgring, Germany, on 26-29 August 2010.
