Dirk Müller and Maxime Martin drove the #77 Team Brasil BMW Z4 superbly in the Main Race at Nogaro to score the team’s first ever win, after a tussle with a pair of WRT Audis following a problematic pitstop.
‘We had a problem with the ignition,’ said Martin after the race. ‘We couldn’t get the car started quick enough at the stop so we lost a lot of time. Dirk managed to drive back and score us the win though, it’s a great day for Team Brasil!’
The Belgian ace had every right to remain jubilant after his performance, taking the lead of the race on lap 1 from polesitter and Qualifying Race victor Stéphane Richelmi’s #3 WRT Audi, and controlling the proceedings until the pit window opened.
18 cars were once again on hand to start the race, with the #1 WRT Audi being forced to pull out of the second race also, as two teams voted to block WRT from being able to use a spare car. Robin Frijns’ accident during Qualifying proved costly enough to leave himself and teammate Laurens Vanthoor without a single point from the first round. For a pair classed as championship contenders by many, this is a real blow, even at this early part of the season.
After the chaotic start on lap 1 during the Qualifying Race, it was refreshing to see such a clean run through the first complex at the start by all the runners. Martin attempted to snatch the lead at Turn 1, but had to sit back and wait until Turn 5 to dive up the inside of the lead Audi.
Richelmi’s pace just wasn’t good enough, and he soon fell victim to Christopher Mies in the sister #2 R8, demoting him to third.
From then on, the top five, which was rounded off by the GT Russian Team Mercedes of Bernd Schnieder and Marco Seefried’s Rinadli Ferrari held station until the stops. The BMW out front slowly pulling away from Mies who gave his all to try and apply pressure. The gap grew to around five seconds by the time the runners started bringing their cars in.
There were a lot of tussles further down the field however, with the Fach Auto Tech Porsche of Marcel Wagner holding up much of the pack.
The recovering trio from the Turn 1 incident the day before – the #84 HTP Bentley of Vincent Abril, Phoenix Audi Niki Mayr-Melnof and MRS Nissan GT-R of Sean Walkinshaw – struggled to really storm through the field as expected in the opening portion of the contest. The Nissan in particular, finished the race without much to show for at all, while the Audi and Bentley cracked the top 10 by the end of the hour.
First to dive in for a stop was the #3 Audi of Stéphne Richelmi, who handed the car over to Stéphane Ortelli in an attempt to make up the ground lost during the first stint. The lead BMW on the other hand, stayed out as long as possible, contrary to their strategy in the first race, but it didn’t pay off as they’d hoped.
When both the #2 Audi of Mies had come in to hand over to Enzo Ide, and Dirk Müller had climbed aboard the Brasil BMW, the running order had changed, and much to the WRT crew’s surprise and delight, they led the race. The Z4’s ignition issue was enough to give Ide a two second lead over Müller when they rejoined the race, so it became a question of whether Ide could hold the lead, or at least hold up the BMW enough to let Ortelli catch up and challenge.
Ide drove nobly, but couldn’t quite hold on, getting passed on the inside at Turn 1 while lapping Yoshhiharu Mori’s slower Attempto Mclaren. He then let Ortelli through, in the hope that the team could somehow still take the win, but Müller’s pace was good enough to keep the Monegasque veteran at bay leaving the two WRTs to make up the remaining slots on the podium.
Much like the Qualifying race, the closing laps saw the leading duo bunch up and begin tussling, but once again it was too little too late and the Z4 flew by the chequered flag in the lead for a well earned victory.
Fourth and fifth were taken by the #84 HTP Bentley of Max Buhk and the #333 Rinaldi Racing Ferrari of Norbert Siedler.
The Pro Am and Silver Cup classes were both won in dominant fashion. The #70 Pro Am GT Russian Team Mercedes of Bernd Schneider and Alexei Karachev and the Danish duo in the #74 Silver Cup ISR Audi – Anders and Thomas Fjorbach – led their respective classes from practically start to finish.
Next up on the calendar is the round at Brands Hatch on the 9th and 10th of May.
Stephen Kilbey
