Porsche struggle with american mussel in rain and shine

FIA GT3 European Championship

Porsche struggle with American Mussel in rain and shine

Race Three

FIA Reigning French GT3 Champion Mike Parisy took the chequered flag in a very wet race at Brno to record his, co driver Joakim Lambotte and Graff Racing's first FIA GT3 win. The nr17 Corvette Z06R headed a Corvette 1-2-3 as Christian Hohenadel finished second to record his and Daniel Keilwitz's second podium in three races, with Dino Lunardi crossing the line in the Toni Seiler Racing Corvette in 3rd place to also record his and Toni Seiler's second podium finish in 2010.

The 60-minute race started behind the safety car due to the heavy rain that had left the track waterlogged. Several cars decided to start on slicks but as soon as the pace car release the pack these soon came in to swap on to Michelin wets. The Argo Racing Lamborghini of Philip Geipel led into the first corner, free of the spray coming off the track that blinded the rest of the FIA GT3 grid. The second placed BMW Alpina of Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof was soon under pressure from the Corvettes of Daniel Keilwitz (nr101 Callaway Competition) and Joakim Lambotte (nr16 Graff Racing). The BMW Alpina was passed by both cars on lap 4 with Keilwitz immediately closing the gap to the Lamborghini to challenge for the lead. As the two leaders crossed the line the Corvette dived to the inside and swept into the lead as the top three cars opened up a big gap to the chasing pack.

Cars 11, 20, 23 and 9 were issued drive through penalties for pitstop violations on lap 7 as Joakim Lambotte moved into second place ahead of Philip Geipel at Turn 6. The eigth place Ferrari 430 Scuderia of Giacomo Petrobelli (nr87 Chad Racing) was caught out by the tricky conditions, spinning at Turn 11. The nr100 Callaway Competition Corvette of Bernhard van Oranje also span while fighting with the nr1 Hexis AMR Aston Martin of Manuel Rodriges for 9th place.

The pit window opened a lap later and Joakim Lambotte brought the Graff Racing Corvette in straight away to hand over to Mike Parisy, which proved to be a shrewed move when the nr101 Corvette cam in to hand over to Christian Hohenadel only for the German to find the Graff Racing car now ahead on the road, having made up time after the pitstop.

Behind them the nr24 Argo Racing Lamborghini had to make a second unscheduled pitstop when Albert Von Thirn und Taxis was handed a driver through penalty for leaving teh engine running while he swapped places with Philip Geipel. This promoted the Toni Seiler Racing Corvette of Dino Lunardi into third place after Toni Seiler had brought the car up to 6th place at the pitstops from 13th on the grid.

As the race drew to a close the cars were struggling to find grip on the drying track on their rapidly degrading Michelin tyres. However the French manufactured rubber held up until the chequered flag with Mike Parisy holding an 18-second advantage over Christian Hohenadel at the end of the race. The number 12 Porsche 911 GT3 RSR driven my Haring and Estre came home in a disappointing 15th place

Race Four

FIA The 2nd race of the weekend was not only dry but looked promising for the Porsche Teams making there way up to 3rd place only to serve a stop and go penalty. Porsche managed to claw some points back with Team Prospeeds Vansplunteren and Holzer crossing the line in 6th place follwed by Lappalainen and Palttala in the number 60 car in 8th place.

Joakim Lambotte crossed the line to take the second win in two days for the nr16 Graff Racing Corvette ahead of the nr24 Argo Racing Lamborghini of Philip Geipel and the nr101 Callaway Competition Corvette of Daniel Keilwitz. Pole position holder Diego Alessi held the lead for the first half of the race, closely followed by Lambotte's teammate Mike Parisy. Alessi held the lead through to the pitstops but two penalties for pitlane violations dropped the Giacomo Petrobelli and the nr87 Chad Racing Ferrari down the order, leaving Lambotte with a comfortable lead.

Albert von Thurn und Taxis started the race in 14the place in the nr24 Lamborghini and handed over the car to Geipel in the top 10, who stormed up the order to take second place at the chequered flag. Christian Hohenadel had started on the front row in the nr101 Corvette but dropped back due to an engine misfire. He struggled with the problem until the pitstop, when the team changed the wiring loom and Keilwitz was able to come back up through the field to secure the team's third podium in four races. Hohenadel and Keilwitz now hold a slender 1 point lead over Philip Geipel, with Parisy and Lambotte in 3rd place on 50 points.