Aston and Ferrari fastest in Free Practice

After two seasons away, the FIA GT Championship has returned to Silverstone for a very special race, as the RAC Tourist Trophy will be awarded to the winner of British round of the 2005 season.  This will be the centenary edition of this very early motorsport event, which first took place on the Isle of Wight in 1905.  Over the decades, the most illustrious of drivers have competed for, and won, this magnificent trophy, and this weekend\'s winners will have their names engraved alongside theirs.

THE CIRCUIT
This weekend, the FIA GT Championship will be racing on the International Silverstone layout.  This shorter circuit, 3.619 km long, misses out the Hangar straight, Stowe and Club, cutting across after Becketts, with a tight hairpin at Abbey before heading down towards Bridge on the GP circuit.

THE WEATHER
Sunny but cold and windy, the weather has been dry this weekend at Silverstone.  The weather forecast is better for the rest of the weekend, with sunshine and temperatures of around 15° predicted.

LAST TIME
Although the FIA GT Championship has never raced on the International circuit before, it has visited the track on six previous occasions, between 1997 and 2002.  Six winners from those races are competing here this weekend.  Peter Kox (Aston Martin) won in a BMW McLaren F1 GTR in 1997, alongside FIA WTCC Team Owner Roberto Ravaglia.  Pedro Lamy, winner in GT2 in 1998 in an Oreca Chrysler Viper, is racing alongside Pedro this weekend.  In 1999, Karl Wendlinger was victorious, also in an Oreca Chrysler Viper.  2000 was a Lister year, with the Storm taking the overall win, while Christophe Bouchut and Patrice Goueslard won in N-GT.  Bouchut (Russian Age Racing) and Belloc (GPC) won again in 2001, in a Larbre Competition Viper.  In 2002, it was a Viper year again, but this time a Paul Belmondo Racing car, driven by Fabio Babini (Vitaphone) and Marc Duez. 

HANDICAP WEIGHTS
By the third round, the penalty weights are beginning to accumulate… The heaviest car in terms of success ballast is the nr 9 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC 12, with 60 kg after two second-place finishes.  The team\'s second car, the nr 10 Maserati, has 40 kg, as does the Magny-Cours victor, the nr 15 JMB Maserati. The nr 11 Larbre Ferrari has just 10 kg.  The nr 3 GPC Ferrari has 40 kg after missing Magny-Cours, while the two Aston Martin GBR9 cars also have 40 kg due to this being their first race.
In GT2, both GruppeM cars have 35 kg, and new entrants Sebah Automotive and Cirtek Motorsport have 20 kg.

PADDOCK RUNDOWN
- Aston Martin will be running in the FIA GT Championship for the very first time, with the nr 28 and 29 Aston Martin DBR9.  The cars, driven by Peter Kox/Pedro Lamy and David Brabham/Darren Turner respectively, previously ran at Sebring, where they won their class.  This is their UK racing debut.  Running as a Manufacturer, as allowed under clause 36 c of the Sporting Regulations, the cars will not score points towards the Championship, but are full competitors in all other aspects, as the cars are homologated for the GT1 class.
- With Lamy racing for Aston Martin, reigning Champion Fabrizio Gollin has returned to the FIA GT Championship for this race.  He will share the nr 11 Ferrari 550 Maranello with Gabriele Gardel.
- Konrad Motorsport has been forced to miss the Silverstone round.  The team has found the problem causing the engine failures which have struck their Saleen S7 cars this year, but it has proved impossible to get the parts in time from the USA.  The team will do a long-distance test shortly, and hopes to be back for Imola.
- Graham Nash Motorsport has an Italo-British line-up for this race in the nr 8 Saleen.  Ryan Hooker, who won in G2 in the last race with the Vauxhall Monaro will share the car with Luca Pirri Ardizzone and Marco Panzavuota
- Two cars from the British GT Championship have returned for this race : the nr 55 Embassy Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RSR driven by Ben Collins and Neil Cunningham, and the nr 80 Team LNT TVR 400 of Lawrence Tomlinson and Jonny Kane.
- Three new entrants have joined the GT2 category.  Cirtek Motorsport has entered a Ferrari 360 Modena, to be driven by Stephen Eriksson of Sweden and Joe Macari of Britain.  GPC Sport has also entered a Ferrari 360 Modena, shared by GT regulars Gabrio Rosa and Luca Drudi of Italy, while Sebah Automotive has a Porsche 996 GT3 RS, in the hands of Lars Erik Nielsen of Denmark and Pierre Ehret of Germany.
- There are three Mosler MT900 R cars competing in the G2 category this weekend.  As well as the Balfe Motorsport car, the nr 102 Mosler is driven by Phil Keen and Nigel Taylor, while the nr 104 car is shared by Barrie Whight, Paul Whight and Gavan Kershaw.

FREE PRACTICE 1 : ASTON MARTIN LEADS CLOSE SESSION
On its first appearance in the FIA GT Championship, the Aston Martin DBR9 topped the time sheets in the first free practice session, after a close 90 minutes of running round the 3.619 circuit.  Times came down gradually, alter until the nr 29 Aston Martin set a best time of 1:17.538 half-way through the session, which proved to be the fastest time of the day.  The Aston Martin was battling for the top position for much of the first 45 minutes with the nr 6 GLPK Carsport Corvette C5R, which set a best time of 1:17.609, just 71 thousandths of a second behind the Aston Martin.
These two were followed by a group of four Maserati MC 12 cars, alternating between the JMB and Vitaphone teams, with the second Aston Martin seventh, all within less than a second.
In GT2, the battle continued between the two GruppeM Racing Porsches.  The nr 88 was in the lead for the first half of the session, until the nr 66 car of Lieb and Rockenfeller went fastest with a lap of 1:21.171.  They were followed by the Balfe Motorsport Mosler MT900R and the Embassy Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS.

FREE PRACTICE 2 : BOUCHUT FASTEST IN THE RUSSIAN AGE FERRARI
With the weather slightly warmer this afternoon, and blue skies, the second 90-minute practice session saw Christophe Bouchut, in the nr 17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello, set the fastest time in an extremely close and varied session.
The top six GT1 cars set times within one second, and included four different manufacturers and five different cars.  The nr 17 Ferrari 550 led the nr 10 Vitaphone Maserati MC, the two Aston Martin DBR9 cars, the GLPK-Carsport Corvette C5R and the GPC Sport Ferrari 575 M Maranello.
In GT2, the GruppeM Racing cars were once again fastest, with a best time of 1:20.157 for the nr 66 car of Marc Lieb and Mike Rockenfeller.  The nr 88 car was second, with the nr 101 G2 Mosler third.  The Embassy Racing Porsche was third in GT2, ahead of the Team LNT Tuscan TVR.  The session was red-flagged briefly towards the end, and then was terminated when a second red flag came out with six minutes remaining.

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