SRT – 2009 – FFSA GT, SRT SCORES NEW PODIUM IN FFSA GT GT,F1, formule 1

SRT – 2009 – FFSA GT, SRT SCORES NEW PODIUM IN FFSA GT

Miroslav Sanytrák | 8.7.09 | Aktuálně

LE VIGEANT – VAL DE VIENNE -, FRANCE. This first weekend of the summer holidays coincided with the rounding off of the first part of the 2009 FFSA GT-championship. The French GT1s travelled down to Val de Vienne, some three hundred kilometres south of Paris, for the fourth meeting of the season. A couple of weeks earlier SRT had won a race at Magny-Cours, the Belgian team’s first win of the season with JP Dayraut and Wilfried Merafina as their in-house drivers in France. SRT clinched a hard fought third place in Val de Vienne in the first race of the weekend, whilst the French duo finished fifth in the race on Sunday.

SRT travelled to the fourth meeting of the sole national GT1 championship in the world, the FFSA GT in France, with 80 kilograms of ballast, following the victory of JP Dayraut and Wilfried Merafina in Magny-Cours. “T his obviously alters the data”, Patrick Selleslagh explained. “As a result of the additional weight we need to look for a new set-up, and it won’t be easy for us during the timed sessions. But I’m fully confident that a good result is feasible in the first race and that with less weight on Sunday we should be able to battle for victory. But at the moment it is wait and see.”

In the qualifying sessions of the fourth FFSA GT meeting of the season Wilfried Merafina and JP Dayraut qualified respectively fifth and sixth, which confirmed team-manager Patrick Selleslagh’s opinion. “We’re not really up front and we’ll need to steer clear of the squabbling at the start and avoid making mistakes. You always finish in a top place here in Val de Vienne if you follow that tactic”, Patrick Selleslagh remarked. “And should we not finish in the top-2 today then we’ll be racing without ballast tomorrow -…”

SRT did in fact achieve a good result in Val de Vienne, with a third podium of the season. After a hard fought race the Corvette C6.R of Wilfried Merafina and JP Dayraut finished on the lowest tread of the podium, the outcome of Wilfried Merafina moving up from fifth into third in the beginning of his stint and JP Dayraut being able to surprise Soheil Ayari at the beginning of his stint and move on up into second. Unfortunately he lost his second place just before the chequered flag, but a third place with the 80 kilos of ballast was a good result.

The second race was less successful for the French duo, and after a difficult race they ended fifth.

For SRT there is now a summer break in France, with the following races being held on 5th and 6th September in Albi. It goes without saying that the team are now hard at work preparing for the 24 Hours of Spa (25-26 July), the most important race of the FIA GT championship, and further news on this event in due course.

Results, intermediate classification and additional details are to be found on the new FFSA GT website: http://ffsagt.com/index.php

FFSA GT 2009 – Calendar
12 April: Nogaro
10 May: Dijon
30 May: Magny Cours
5 July: Val de Vienne
6 September: Albi
4 October: HTTT Paul Ricard
18 October: Lédenon

FIA GT 2009 - Calendar
3 May: Silverstone (GB)
16 May Adria (Ita)
21 June: Oschersleben (D)
25-26 July: 24 Hours of Spa (Bel)
9 August: Bucharest (Rum)
20 September: Algarve (Por)
4 October: HTTT Paul Ricard (Fr)
25 October: Zolder (Bel)