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Kaufmann hoping for win number 4 for AT Racing
After three wins for AT Racing in the Citation Cup, Kaufmann is looking forward to his home round in Oschersleben, and hopefully another good race for the Corvette C5R he shares with Aliaksandr Talkanitsa, the driver from Belarus, his just his first international season of racing.
“Our three Citation Cup wins have really been OK, especially for my team mate Aliaksandr Talkanitsa, who is new to international racing. He is very motivated and he tries to apply everything I explain him to the track… With the difficult weather situation, and our restricted tyre choice in the Citation Cup, we do our best but it is really difficult. Our main target in Oschersleben is to win the Citation Cup again. It would be a pleasure for me to be able to compete with the other GT1 cars. The PK Carsport Corvette C5 was very fast in Oschersleben last year, but our car is the 2003 version, so we cannot expect the same speed.”
29/06/2008 read more
Citation Headlines
Today's victory confirmed Ben Aucott as the winner of the inaugural Citation Cup. “I am very happy,” Aucott said. “ My team-mate made a flying start so we had a really good race It’s fantastic to win the Citation Cup. It’s my first title. We’ll have to see what we can do in Zolder to finish off the season.”
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Alain Ferté and Ben Aucott won the Citation Cup in their JMB Racing Maserati MC 12, strengthening Aucott's lead in the Cup. They finished ahead of their team-mates Kutemann and Gosse, with SRT third after a difficult race with their Corvette C5R, driven by Tom Cloet and Mauro Casadei, which was struggling with a loss of power. Aucott now has a lead of 10 points over Cloet, with two rounds remaining. “We had some problems with the gearbox in the warm-up, and it lasted through the race, so we had to back off,” Aucott said. “But apart from that it was good. Our sister car came second, so we have built up some margin in the Cup, which is really good.”
The teams now go on to Nogaro, where a field of up to six Citation Cup cars should be fighting for the next win !
Mauro Casadei will rejoin the nr 18 SRT Corvette C5 for the Brno round of the Citation Cup, sharing the car with Tom Cloet. The pair were victorious in Monza. "The car is fantastic to drive," Casadei said. "Neither the team nor the drivers made any mistakes in Monza. Brno is my favourite track, and I am confident. But the Brno round will be very tough. The JMB Maserati cars will be very fast, and the track temperatures in Brno could be low. The Michelin tyres for the Citation cars are very hard compounds, and it takes a while to get them up to temperature."
Casadei had some good memories of Brno. "I remember in 2001, with the Orlando Porsche 911 GT2 ... I drove the last stint after Spinelli and Sabatini, and it was terribly cold. I went out with slick tyres after heavy rain, and the track was 80 % wet. After a few laps, I saw a red Coca Cola Porsche 996 behind me. I had no idea who it was. But I couldn't accept that a GT2 car was going to overtake me - I was in a GT1 car ! So I pushed and pushed, and set the fourth fastest time overall ! Only later did I find out who was in the Coca Cola GT2 car ... Tomas Enge !"
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For Brno, the three cars will be in contention once again. Cloet will be partnered once again by Mauro Casadei in the nr 18 SRT Corvette. Casadei, who won the Monza round of the Citation Cup with Cloet, has raced in Brno on numerous occasions, and it is his favourite track. Aucott’s team-mate is yet to be announced. The battle is heating up for the inaugural Citation Cup crown, and Brno is likely to provide the perfect setting for another exciting round.
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Kutemann and Moser were third in the nr 15 JMB Maserati, after a long pit stop. The nr 21 Kessel Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello was forced to retire with gear-box problems.
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The Belgian SRT team is heading down to the Italian circuit with one main objective in mind: “Our aim is to regain the leadership of the Citation Cup”, Patrick Selleslagh made this quite clear. Drivers on duty to carry out this assignment are our in-house driver Tom Cloet, who has already clinched three victories in the Citation Cup with the SRT Corvette, and the 35 year old Italian Davide Amaduzzi. In the past Amaduzzi has raced single seaters, but has also competed twice in the FIA GT-championship. “In fact I was twice at the start of an FIA GT race in 2005”, the charming Italian confirmed his CV. “In Monza and Imola I was in a Porsche 996 GT3-RS and in Imola I finished sixth in the GT2-class. But this is still something else, because I estimate the Corvette GT1 to be one level higher.”
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The Citation Cup, a new concept for 2007, gives gentlemen drivers in the GT1 category their own classification. Belgian driver Tom Cloet, in the SRT Corvette C5, won the first three rounds, with a different team-mate at every race : Pertti Kuismanen at Silverstone, Gilles Vannelet in Bucharest and Mauro Casadei in Monza. However, with Cloet unable to race in Oschersleben round, JMB Racing’s British duo of Joe Macari and Ben Aucott, who had finished second to Cloet in the first three rounds, took both the win and the Cup lead. Cloet, however, is determined to regain the advantage, and has stated that he will be able to take part in the last four rounds. For Adria, he will be partnered by Italian driver Davide Amaduzzi, who last competed in the Championship in 2005, with the Czech National Team Porsche. However, Macari and Aucott, who claimed a fine points finish at Spa in their Maserati MC 12, will be equally keen to retain the lead. And they will not be the only ones going for the Citation Cup victory. Kessel Racing will be there with their Ferrari 575 M Maranello, in the hands of Loris Kessel and Andrea Palma, while the second JMB Racing Maserati MC 12 will be driven by Peter Kutemann, with his team-mate still to be confirmed.
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Missing Oschersleben, Tom Cloet saw the lead of the Citation Cup slip from his hands, as Macari and Aucott, second in the first three rounds, took the win and the Cup lead. However, Tom Cloet will now be continuing his 2007 season in Adria, at the beginning of September in the Citation Cup of FIA-GT championship.
"I have in fact reached an agreement with Patrick Selleslagh to drive a Corvette in Italy, and we’re going to do everything to regain the leadership of the Citation Cup from Macari and Aucott, who are competing in a pretty powerful Maserati MC12 JMB Racing. This also implies that I won’t be competing in the 24 Hours of Zolder at the wheel of the Racing For Belgium 'Aston Martin DBRS9. The similarity of dates between Belcar and FIA-GT forces me to give priority to the international competition, and I can guarantee that everything is being done to ensure that we clinch the title at the end of the season. This is quite obviously my objective for 2007. As for 2008, this promises to be another important milestonefor me and it will, whatever might happen include Bathurst and Sebring, two major rendezvous’ on the endurance front. I can presently be pretty proud of having competed in every 24 Hours event reserved for Prototypes and GTs. There are still a few Touring car races of a lesser level, but I’ll get down to those when I’m 60 year’s old …"
read moreSecond place in the Citation Cup went to Macari and Aucott in the nr 16 JMB Maserati MC 12, with newcomers PSI third with their Corvette C5, in the hands of Gilles Vannelet and Klaus Engelhorn. Fourth went to Kutemann and Waaijenberg, ahead of Red Racing’s Chrysler Viper of Stepec and Carcone.
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A full grid of Citation Cup cars will be back in action for the Monza round, with two JMB Racing Maserati MC 12, the Solution F Ferrari 550 Maranello, Kessel Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello and Red Racing Chrysler Viper all up against double winner SRT.
For this round, points leader Tom Cloet of Belgium will be partnered by FIA GT regular Mauro Casadei.
It should also be noted that Ben Aucott and Joe Macari, currently second in the Citation Cup points, had a successful outing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, where they finished a fine 4th in the LM GT2 category, in a Ferrari 430 GT2 entered by AF Corse.
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The Citation Cup makes its debut at Silverstone, with six cars competing in the GT1 and G2 categories, for non-professional drivers. With two JMB Racing Maserati MC 12 cars from Monaco, the SRT Corvette C5 from Belgium, the French Solution F Ferrari Maranello 550, the Swiss Kessel Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello and a Red Racing Chrysler Viper taking part, an international and extremely varied field is guaranteed. The winner will be on the GT1 podium, receiving a beautiful cup from Cessna/Citation and a ‘Paygasus Open Sky card’ giving up to three hours flying time in a Citation business jet.
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Belgian team SRT, after two successful seasons in Belcar, has announced that this year they will be running in both the FIA GT and the FFSA GT Championships. As from Silverstone SRT will be competing in the FIA-GT Citation Cup, with the endurance specialist drivers Tom Cloet and the Finnish ‘legend’ Pertti Kuismanen. The 24 Hours of Spa, although not part of the Citation Cup, is already on the team's calendar.
“It won’t be a definite farewell to Belgium”, Patrick Selleslagh remarked. “We will be racing at Spa, the names of the drivers to be confirmed later, and we will also be competing in the FIA-GT-race at Zolder.”
The Citation Cup is a classification within the FIA-GT1 for teams that are not competing with professional drivers, in fact more like a classification for gentlemen drivers.
“Our C5-R is the perfect car for this. The Corvette is still fast, just look at the podium in China, and with good drivers you can definitely try your luck. However we shan’t compete in the entire Citation Cup, seeing there are three races that clash with the French championship (Oschersleben, Adria and Nogaro), and therefore just a selection of the races. The driver duo is still not 100% certain, but I hope to be able to complete the season with Cloet”, Patrick Selleslagh continues.
One of the drivers taking the start at Silverstone is Tom Cloet, defending winner of the 24 Hours of Zolder with SRT. Tom Cloet said: “I’m really pleased to be racing with C5-R again. I have retained some great memories of the car and Patrick’s team, and will be ambitiously leaving for Silverstone. I know the car and the track at Silverstone, where I have previously raced in the 24 Hours, and this combination should be a perfect fit.”
With the growing professionalism of the FIA GT Championship, the non-professional drivers, who were behind the revival of GT racing in the 1990’s, were left without a true role in the leading series dedicated to the form of racing for which they had done so much.
SRO has taken a step towards re-establishing the balance between professionals and non-professionals with the formation of the Citation GT1 Cup. Running within the GT1 category of the 2007 FIA GT Championship, the Citation GT1 Cup will have a separate classification and podium for the eligible cars. Thanks to the support of Cessna Corporation, manufacturer of the famous Citation business jets, the winners of each round will receive a credit of three flying hours in a Citation, while the winner of the season will be awarded an outstanding prize.
The first round will take place at Silverstone, within the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy, and a grid of up to six cars are likely to take part.
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Belgian team SRT, which has already announced its intentions to compete in the FFSA GT Championship and the 24 Hours of Spa, has indicated that they would like to enter a car in the Citation Cup, run as part of the FIA GT Championship during eight rounds.
"Our final project for 2007, next to the FFSA-GT and Spa 24 hours, is the FIA GT Citation Cup," said Patrick Selleslagh. "However, we are still looking for funded drivers. I'm convinced that SRT is strong enough to perform well in this cup. We have twice won the Zolder 24 hours and in 2005 we finished first non-FIA GT entrant in the Spa 24 hours. We?ll also focus on one car this year, rather than running a two-car squad and so our Le Mans winning car (the chassis number 005 which won the race in 2002) is for sale. The car has an incredible race record; it won the Le Mans 24 Hoursand Zolder 24 Hours in 2006 and competed in ALMS, Belcar and FFSA-GT.
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