Intl GT: Edil Cris Portimao summary

UNLUCKY RACE AFTER THE POLE POSITION

Positive but unlucky exit for Racing Team Edil Cris at Portimao in the second round of the International GT Open 2009. Special guest of the team was Italian Embassador in Portugal Luca del Balzo di Presenzano, that spent some time in the box showing a lot of interest in the work of the team.

In the first qualifying session, Raffaele Giammaria established the pole position (1'44.429) right in the last minutes of a really lively session, but the good performance of the driver has been vanished in race one at turn one whereby a rival, in a risky manouvre, bumped him violently and forced him to the retirement.

Alessandro Bonetti, suffering a flu, has been protagonist of the second session of qualifying: he got the eighth place (1'46.294), that he managed to defend during the first stint of the second race. In the second stint, Giammaria recovered up to the fifth final position, concluding within points the job started by Bonetti.

"We come back to Italy a bit disappointed" commented team manager Alberto Brojanigo. "We did not test at Portimao and both drivers did not know the track. The pole position has been a good result, fruit of the great work of technicians and of a stunning lap by Giammaria: our expectations for race one were therefore quite high. Our race lasted just a few meters and it is a real shame especially considering the classification.

Flue debilitated Bonetti throughout the weekend: he gave his best anyway showing good character and determination. Now we will go to Spa well determined to get what we didn't quite get in Portugal."

-credit: racingteamedilcris.com