Coopers Ferrari on top after Bahrain heats.
26/11/2004
Despite heading to the Bahrain International Circuit unsure of what to expect, the Coopers Racing Ferrari crew of David Brabham and Allan Simonsen hold the upper hand after three qualifying races in the inaugural GT Festival.
The pair qualified quickest on Thursday, putting the scarlet 500 Maranello at the head of the grid for that evening's first race, but faced stiff competition from the DDO Saleen of Dominique Dupuy and Francois Fiat and the two fastest Chrysler Vipers, fielded by French teams Larbre and Force One respectively. The Infineon Farnbacher Porsche of Pat Long and Lars Nielson headed GT2 after the short timed sessions were combined, with the Grouwels/Wijnen US Carworld Viper topping the 'baby' GT3 category.
With three heats designed to decide the grid for an hour-long final on Friday, the action kicked off late on Thursday afternoon, with Simonsen leading from start to finish in heat one. The Dane made full use of his pole position to hold sway throughout what became a truncated nine-lap affair as the setting sun brought darkness to Sakhir a little earlier than anticipated.
The Coopers Ferrari finished comfortably ahead of the #12 Larbre Viper, which had vaulted past the second front row car of Dupuy and Fiat, which held on for third. Chasing the black-and-red Saleen, however, was not the Force One Viper, which dropped to seventh on the road, but the impressive Farnbacher Porsche, which Long had taken as high as second off the line. The American youngster was followed under the flag by Russia's Sergey Zlobin, taking the first race outing in the JMB Ferrari, and Martin Short's Mosler.
GT3 was won by experienced FIA GT campaigner Christophe Bouchut, who saw the RSG Lamborghini home after a close fight with the US Carworld Viper Coupé.
With the result of race one setting the grid for race two, early on Friday morning, the Coopers team still held top spot and would have expected to enjoy further success with Brabham climbing behind the wheel. However, after a race-long battle with the #1 DDO Saleen, the Australian was forced to cede his advantage on the very last lap, when Dupuy took advantage of a better passage through traffic, passing the Ferrari to take the victory.
Brabham duly collected second place, with Hubert Haupt hauling the Wieth Racing Ferrari up from the back of the grid to claim the final podium slot. Zlobin again started the JMB Ferrari in preference to the more experienced Jean-Phillipe Belloc, and saw off the Larbre Viper to take fifth behind the similar Force One entry of Lacroix/Leclerc. The result enabled JMB to celebrate GT2 class victory, with the Long/Nielson Porsche back in eighth place, behind the Mosler Europe car.
Former F3000 frontrunner Fabian Giroix piloted the #58 Ferrari, fielded by his own First Racing team, to tenth place and GT3 success, ahead of #66 Lamborghini, which owner Philippe Charriol had taken over from Bouchut.
The result set up a potentially third heat battle between Brabham and Dupuy, but the anticipation was cut short when the Frenchman suffered a puncture on his Saleen, dropping it to 22nd on the road. Aware that his result would have a major impact on where he would start the feature race, Dupuy put his foot to the floor and, repeating Haupt's earlier achievement, carved his way through the field to claim an eventual seventh spot.
Unchallenged at the front in the Saleen's absence, Brabham went on to take the Coopers team's second win of the weekend, leading home the Larbre and Force One Vipers. The DDO Saleen also had to count the Speedworx Stealth between it and its main rivals, as Terry Pudwell and Nigel Greensall finally enjoyed some competitive track time, finishing sixth overall.
Ahead of the Stealth, GT2 rivals Belloc and Long battled over class honours, with JMB Ferrari just getting the nod. Third in class went to the lone Mosler, but Martin Short was stuck back in ninth spot, behind the Wieth Ferrari, and unable to challenge either of the frontrunners finished fourth to win GT2.
Briton Phil Keen continued to build on an increasingly strong weekend for the Tech 9 Porsche team, leading home the sister car of Rob Croydon to claim a 1-2 result in the GT3 class, the pair finishing just ahead of the Vertigo Gillet, which, like the Stealth, finally managed to see the chequered flag with F1 tester Bas Leinders at the wheel.
With the heats out of the way, all that remains is the one-hour final, in which each team will be required to make a compulsory driver change pit-stop.
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