2011 FIA GT1 Abu Dhabi round

thumb|right|250px|Yas Marina Circuit Corkscrew layout (2009–2021) The 2011 FIA GT1 Abu Dhabi round was an auto racing event held at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. Taking place over 25–26 March 2011, Abu Dhabi was the opening round of the 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season. It is the second consecutive year that FIA GT1 has opened its season in Abu Dhabi, although the 2011 event will be held on a shorter 4.730 km mi on layout of the Yas Marina Circuit. Marc Hennerici is the only returning driver who won during the event last season, while Corvette and Ford both are defending victors. The event is also unique on the FIA GT1 calendar as it is the only one held over a two-day period rather than the normal three; Qualifying is held following Practice on Friday while the Qualifying Race and Championship race are both held on Saturday. The weekend is shared with a trio of local racing series: The UAE Sportscar series, the Cytech UAE GT series, and the Total UAE Touring Cars series. Münnich Motorsport earned pole position in the qualifying session, only to be penalized for an infraction and handing pole to the Young Driver team of Stefan Mücke and Darren Turner. Early incidents in the Qualifying Race led to Marc VDS Ford winning their first GT1 race with Maxime Martin and Frédéric Makowiecki driving. Marc VDS was unable to hold the lead after starting from pole in the Championship Race as a quick pit stop vaulted Stef Dusseldorp and Clivio Piccione's Hexis Aston Martin into the race lead, fending off the Nissan of JR Motorsports but less than half a second at the finish. Background Following the announcement of an entry list featuring twenty cars from ten teams for the full 2011 season, only eighteen were entered for Abu Dhabi. The two Corvette squads of Team China and DKR Engineering both entered only a single car due to each team lacking a second chassis. All eighteen cars participated in a pre-season test held at the circuit on 23 March, with the No. 37 Münnich Motorsport Lamborghini of Nicky Pastorelli and Dominik Schwager setting the fastest lap of the day, followed by their second team car. http://www.gt1world.com/news/article/basseng-and-winkelhock-dominate-abu-dhabi-test All-Inkl Lamborghini tops Abu Dhabi test SRO Group FIA GT1 World Championship 2011-03-23 2011-03-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20111007030524/http://www.gt1world.com/news/article/basseng-and-winkelhock-dominate-abu-dhabi-test 2011-10-07 dead Qualifying Qualifying result For qualifying, Driver 1 participates in the first and third sessions while Driver 2 participates in only the second session. The fastest lap for each session is indicated with bold. Pos No. Driver 1 Team Session 1 Session 2 Session 3 Grid Driver 2 1 37 NLD Nicky Pastorelli DEU All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 1:52.705 1:52.006 1:51.668 61 1 DEU Dominik Schwager 2 8 DEU Stefan Mücke DEU Young Driver AMR 1:52.521 1:52.183 1:52.113 1 GBR Darren Turner 3 41 BEL Maxime Martin BEL Marc VDS Racing Team 1:52.820 1:52.603 1:52.197 2 FRA Frédéric Makowiecki 4 7 DEU Alex Müller DEU Young Driver AMR 1:53.107 1:52.010 1:52.547 3 CZE Tomáš Enge 5 11 NLD Mike Hezemans CHN Exim Bank Team China 1:52.892 1:52.521 1:52.750 4 NLD Nicky Catsburg 6 22 GBR Peter Dumbreck GBR JR Motorsports 1:53.189 1:52.223 1:52.866 5 GBR Richard Westbrook 7 20 BRA Enrique Bernoldi GBR Sumo Power GT 1:52.909 1:52.631 1:53.191 7 BRA Ricardo Zonta 8 23 DEU Lucas Luhr GBR JR Motorsports 1:53.332 1:52.786 1:53.336 8 DEU Michael Krumm 9 21 AUS David Brabham GBR Sumo Power GT 1:52.667 1:52.804 9 GBR Jamie Campbell-Walter 10 5 AUT Karl Wendlinger CHE Swiss Racing Team 1:53.355 1:52.907 10 NLD Peter Kox 11 3 MCO Clivio Piccione FRA Hexis AMR 1:53.037 1:52.914 11 NLD Stef Dusseldorp 12 40 DEU Marc Hennerici BEL Marc VDS Racing Team 1:53.114 1:53.159 172 2 BEL Bas Leinders 13 47 FRA Michaël Rossi LUX DKR Engineering 1:53.830 1:55.549 12 BRA Jaime Camara 14 38 DEU Markus Winkelhock DEU All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 1:53.486 No Time 13 DEU Marc Basseng 15 4 DEU Christian Hohenadel FRA Hexis AMR 1:54.178 14 ITA Andrea Piccini 16 10 CZE Martin Matzke BEL Belgian Racing 1:54.274 15 SRB Miloš Pavlović 17 9 FRA Antoine Leclerc BEL Belgian Racing 1:54.564 16 FRA Fabien Giroix 18 6 SWE Max Nilsson CHE Swiss Racing Team 1:54.570 18 CZE Jiří Janák 1 The No. 37 Münnich Lamborghini was given a penalty of five grid spots for the Qualifying Race for ignoring a marshal's flag requiring the car to pits after illegally starting from an external battery during Qualifying 1. http://www.endurance-info.com/version2/actualite-endurance-6718.html Abu Dhabi : Mücke/Turner (Aston Martin) héritent de la pole ! Endurance-Info endurance-info.com Laurent Mercier French 2011-03-26 2011-03-26 2 The No. 40 Marc VDS Ford was given a penalty of five grid spots for the Qualifying Race for changing an engine during practice. http://media.gt1world.com/system/_download.php?key=564 Stewards Decision no.8 Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile PDF 2011-03-25 2011-03-26 https://web.archive.org/web/20120104221020/http://media.gt1world.com/system/_download.php?key=564 2012-01-04 dead Races Qualifying Race Race result Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 1 41 BEL Marc VDS Racing Team BEL Maxime MartinFRA Frédéric Makowiecki Ford 31 2 22 GBR JR Motorsports GBR Peter DumbreckGBR Richard Westbrook Nissan 31 −1.476 3 23 GBR JR Motorsports DEU Michael KrummDEU Lucas Luhr Nissan 31 −18.069 4 20 GBR Sumo Power GT BRA Enrique BernoldiBRA Ricardo Zonta Nissan 31 −21.514 5 3 FRA Hexis AMR MCO Clivio PiccioneNLD Stef Dusseldorp Aston Martin 31 −22.460 6 38 DEU All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport DEU Marc BassengDEU Markus Winkelhock Lamborghini 31 −23.049 7 11 CHN Exim Bank Team China NLD Mike HezemansNLD Nicky Catsburg Corvette 31 −37.828 8 21 GBR Sumo Power GT AUS David BrabhamGBR Jamie Campbell-Walter Nissan 31 −43.637 9 4 FRA Hexis AMR DEU Christian HohenadelITA Andrea Piccini Aston Martin 31 −48.575 10 5 CHE Swiss Racing Team AUT Karl WendlingerNLD Peter Kox Lamborghini 31 −49.454 11 40 BEL Marc VDS Racing Team BEL Bas LeindersDEU Marc Hennerici Ford 31 −55.779 12 10 BEL Belgian Racing CZE Martin MatzkeSRB Miloš Pavlović Ford 31 −1:07.877 13 6 CHE Swiss Racing Team SWE Max NilssonCZE Jiří Janák Lamborghini 31 −1:08.866 14 9 BEL Belgian Racing FRA Antoine LeclercFRA Fabien Giroix Ford 31 −1:49.703 15DNF 8 DEU Young Driver AMR GBR Darren TurnerDEU Stefan Mücke Aston Martin 15 Broken wheel 16DNF 7 DEU Young Driver AMR CZE Tomáš EngeDEU Alex Müller Aston Martin 1 Damage 17DNF 37 DEU All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport NLD Nicky PastorelliDEU Dominik Schwager Lamborghini 0 Collision 18DNF 47 LUX DKR Engineering FRA Michaël RossiBRA Jaime Camara Corvette 0 Collision Championship Race Race result Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 1 3 FRA Hexis AMR MCO Clivio PiccioneNLD Stef Dusseldorp Aston Martin 31 2 22 GBR JR Motorsports GBR Peter DumbreckGBR Richard Westbrook Nissan 31 −0.474 3 38 DEU All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport DEU Marc BassengDEU Markus Winkelhock Lamborghini 31 −14.539 4 4 FRA Hexis AMR DEU Christian HohenadelITA Andrea Piccini Aston Martin 31 −15.296 5 8 DEU Young Driver AMR GBR Darren TurnerDEU Stefan Mücke Aston Martin 31 −15.934 6 7 DEU Young Driver AMR CZE Tomáš EngeDEU Alex Müller Aston Martin 31 −16.713 7 5 CHE Swiss Racing Team AUT Karl WendlingerNLD Peter Kox Lamborghini 31 −17.277 8 41 BEL Marc VDS Racing Team BEL Maxime MartinFRA Frédéric Makowiecki Ford 31 −22.053 9 21 GBR Sumo Power GT AUS David BrabhamGBR Jamie Campbell-Walter Nissan 31 −32.952 10 11 CHN Exim Bank Team China NLD Mike HezemansNLD Nicky Catsburg Corvette 31 −39.805 11 37 DEU All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport NLD Nicky PastorelliDEU Dominik Schwager Lamborghini 31 −46.478 12 10 BEL Belgian Racing CZE Martin MatzkeSRB Miloš Pavlović Ford 31 −1:23.319 13 47 LUX DKR Engineering FRA Michaël RossiBRA Jaime Camara Corvette 31 −1:38.366 14 23 GBR JR Motorsports DEU Michael KrummDEU Lucas Luhr Nissan 30 −1 Lap 15DNF 6 CHE Swiss Racing Team SWE Max NilssonCZE Jiří Janák Lamborghini 24 Retired 16DNF 20 GBR Sumo Power GT BRA Enrique BernoldiBRA Ricardo Zonta Nissan 20 Retired 17DNF 9 BEL Belgian Racing FRA Antoine LeclercFRA Fabien Giroix Ford 16 Retired DNS 40 BEL Marc VDS Racing Team BEL Bas LeindersDEU Marc Hennerici Ford – Did Not Start Standings after the race Drivers' Championship standings PosDriverPoints 1= MCO Clivio Piccione 27 1= NLD Stef Dusseldorp 27 3= GBR Peter Dumbreck 24 3= GBR Richard Westbrook 24 5= DEU Marc Basseng 16 5= DEU Markus Winkelhock 16 Teams' Championship standings Pos Constructor Points 1 FRA Hexis AMR 39 2 GBR JR Motorsports 28 3 DEU Young Driver AMR 18 4 DEU All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 16 5 CHE Swiss Racing Team 6 Note: Only the top five positions are included for both sets of standings. References External links Yas Marina GT1 Race in Abu Dhabi – FIA GT1 World Championship 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship None Zolder Abu Dhabi FIA GT1 Category:Motorsport competitions in the United Arab Emirates