Aston Martin returns to the Nürburgring

This weekend, the Formula F1 is not the only FIA-labeled world championship to return. After a short month of interruption after Spa on July 31, the Maseratis, Corvette, Aston Martin and other Fords are returning to the circuits.

On the slide in the Belgian Ardennes, championship leaders Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini had a mixed meeting, failing to do better than 7th in the championship race, not without being forced to start from the end bottom of the grid after experiencing a disastrous qualifying round. The crew of the No. 12 Maserati MC 1 Vitaphone, which still retained the reins of the championship, now only has a 6-point lead over Thomas Mutsch. The German, now supported by Richard Westbrook aboard the No. 5 Ford GT, is more determined than ever to offer his team the world crown.

Note that from this weekend, the Matech Compétition team will have to do without the services of Romain Grosjean, started in GP2. It will therefore be the Frenchman Nicolas Cheers who will support the Swiss Neel Jani aboard the car bearing the number 6.

Grosjean absent, the other competitors seem detached since Frank Kechele, 4th, is 40 points behind the leaders. The latter will, however, be able to rely on the victory at Spa of the Lamborghini which he shares with the Brazilian Ricardo Zonta.

In Germany, we will have to monitor the performance of the Aston Martins, and in particular those of the French team Hexis, who will carry 20 kg less than usual. Indeed, since the start of the season, the beautiful English women seem to be in retreat. The balance of performance was perhaps not very advantageous for them.

This weight loss seems to have done them a lot of good, since the DB9s of Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner respectively dominated free practice and pre-qualifying today. The car entrusted to Briton and Czech Tomas Enge precedes the No. 40 Ford GT Marc VDS of Leinders-Martin and the Nissan GT-R Swiss Racing Team of Karl Wendlinger and Henri Moser. The championship leaders are fifth, three places ahead of the Ford GT of Thomas Mutsch. Nicolas Prost and Neel Jani finished the session with the 14th fastest time.

The Corvettes will also be ones to watch. Often efficient but never winning, the C6.Rs showed themselves to their advantage at Spa, that of Xavier Maassen and Jos Menten heading straight for his first victory before having to give up.

Note that the first day of the German round of the FIA ​​GT1 world championship was largely disrupted by more than capricious weather conditions, with pre-qualifying even being truncated following a torrential downpour.