Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2 claims pole, second in qualifying race and victory in the main race in the hands of Kox and Rosina on its FIA GT debut
Zolder, Belgium, Monday April 22, 2013. The Lamborghini Blancpain Reiter team of Peter Kox and Stefan Rosina delivered a near-perfect weekend in the new Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 car by claiming pole, leading Saturday's qualifying race before finishing in second place and securing a breakthrough victory in Sunday's main race at the second round of the FIA GT Championship at Zolder. The event was a winning debut for the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2 in the FIA GT series.
Maurizio Reggiani, Automobili Lamborghini's Director of R&D and Head of Motorsport said, "We are delighted with this impressive win yesterday, achieved in the face of significant competition. Although we have had quiet confidence in the results of the collaboration between Reiter and our own motorsports department, it is worth little until we have validated the Gallardo GT3 FL2 on the race track. I believe we have now made a clear statement that we are a serious contenderwith a fast car and a capable team in the FIA GT and Blancpain Endurance Series and this weekend's result is a great credit to Peter, Stefan and Reiter in partnership with Lamborghini."
The winning performance achieved in a 20-car field over the course of 39 thrilling laps was delivered by a margin of just under a half of a second ahead of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra of Stefan Ortelli & Laurens Vanthoor. The field that contained luminary drivers such as eight times World Rally Champion, Sebastien Loeb and former BAR Formula One pilot, Ricardo Zonta and was constituted of eight different supercar marques from McLaren to Ferrari.
Running in the first stint in yesterday's main race, Peter Kox took the Gallardo into a dominant lead that opened to six seconds before the advantage was trimmed during the pitstops, leaving Rosina to fight a stern reguard action against the challenge of Laurens Vanthoor. At the flag, the Slovakian Lamborghini driver held on for the win, reversing the outcome of Saturday's qualifying race.
The day prior, Kox and Rosina started the qualifying race from pole and Stefan led for the first 12 laps of the race on his first visit to the Belgian circuit. However, Rosina eventually succumbed to the intense pressure from Vanthoor and handed the car over to his team-mate Peter Kox in third overall. Shortly following the change-over, Kox claimed back second position from the #12 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra of Niki Mayr-Melnhof on lap 22, a position hemaintained to the flag. Having claimed pole, the qualifying race was the only aspect of the weekend that denied the pair a perfect outcome.
Rosina summarised his weekend by saying "This was my first time for me here in Zolder, so I am really happy with what we achieved this weekend and that we have shown how fast we can be. On Saturday I suffered at the end of my stint as my rear tyres started to loose grip - but yesterday I just tried not to look in my mirrors and it was enough to stay ahead of Laurens for the win."
Zolder, Belgium, Monday April 22, 2013. The Lamborghini Blancpain Reiter team of Peter Kox and Stefan Rosina delivered a near-perfect weekend in the new Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 car by claiming pole, leading Saturday's qualifying race before finishing in second place and securing a breakthrough victory in Sunday's main race at the second round of the FIA GT Championship at Zolder. The event was a winning debut for the Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 FL2 in the FIA GT series.
Maurizio Reggiani, Automobili Lamborghini's Director of R&D and Head of Motorsport said, "We are delighted with this impressive win yesterday, achieved in the face of significant competition. Although we have had quiet confidence in the results of the collaboration between Reiter and our own motorsports department, it is worth little until we have validated the Gallardo GT3 FL2 on the race track. I believe we have now made a clear statement that we are a serious contenderwith a fast car and a capable team in the FIA GT and Blancpain Endurance Series and this weekend's result is a great credit to Peter, Stefan and Reiter in partnership with Lamborghini."
The winning performance achieved in a 20-car field over the course of 39 thrilling laps was delivered by a margin of just under a half of a second ahead of the Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra of Stefan Ortelli & Laurens Vanthoor. The field that contained luminary drivers such as eight times World Rally Champion, Sebastien Loeb and former BAR Formula One pilot, Ricardo Zonta and was constituted of eight different supercar marques from McLaren to Ferrari.
Running in the first stint in yesterday's main race, Peter Kox took the Gallardo into a dominant lead that opened to six seconds before the advantage was trimmed during the pitstops, leaving Rosina to fight a stern reguard action against the challenge of Laurens Vanthoor. At the flag, the Slovakian Lamborghini driver held on for the win, reversing the outcome of Saturday's qualifying race.
The day prior, Kox and Rosina started the qualifying race from pole and Stefan led for the first 12 laps of the race on his first visit to the Belgian circuit. However, Rosina eventually succumbed to the intense pressure from Vanthoor and handed the car over to his team-mate Peter Kox in third overall. Shortly following the change-over, Kox claimed back second position from the #12 Belgian Audi Club Team WRT Audi R8 LMS ultra of Niki Mayr-Melnhof on lap 22, a position hemaintained to the flag. Having claimed pole, the qualifying race was the only aspect of the weekend that denied the pair a perfect outcome.
Rosina summarised his weekend by saying "This was my first time for me here in Zolder, so I am really happy with what we achieved this weekend and that we have shown how fast we can be. On Saturday I suffered at the end of my stint as my rear tyres started to loose grip - but yesterday I just tried not to look in my mirrors and it was enough to stay ahead of Laurens for the win."