Ten years after Helsinki ... the FIA GT goes back to the streets
May 20th will be quite a historic day for the FIA GT Championship. Not only will it mark the Championship’s first visit to Bucharest, but it will be the first city circuit on the Championship’s calendar for almost exactly ten years.
In May 1997, the FIA GT Championship raced in the Finnish capital city of Helsinki. The excitement of that weekend, when local hero JJ Lehto claimed pole position in front of thousands of fans, has remained in the memories, and the teams and drivers taking part in the 2007 season are eager to savour the delight of racing through the centre of a major city, around historic buildings and with a magnificent backdrop formed by the parliamentary buildings.
The action-packed race weekend will include the third round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship, the second event of the FIA GT3 European Championship and the third meeting of the Lloyds TSB Insurance British Formula Three International Series. These three SRO-promoted series will be joined by the
Dacia Logan Cup.
The Vodaphone Bucharest Challenge 07 will follow on from the success of Silverstone, where 25,000 spectators turned up to watch Thomas Biagi and Mika Salo win the Royal Automobile Club Tourist Trophy in their Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC 12. Dirk Müller and Toni Vilander won the GT2 category in their AF Corse Motorola Ferrari 430 GT2, making it two out of two. Tom Cloet and Pertti Kuismanen won the inaugural Citation Cup in the SRT Corvette C5R. In the FIA GT3 European Championship, Henri Moser and Gilles Vannelet won both rounds of the FIA GT3 European Championship in their Ferrari 430 Challenge GT3, giving Kessel Racing an early lead in the Teams championship.
After Silverstone, a familiar location for many of the competitors, Bucharest will be something totally new. A grand total of 116 trucks will be heading for the Romanian capital city, where they will meet just outside the centre and head in convoy to the paddock on Thursday morning.
P.S. In the
Dacia Logan Cup RPM member HenY[RPM] will race, together with his team ADAC Team Hansa 1. On behalf of the whole RPM team, i wish HenY[RPM] the best of luck on the Streets of Bucharest!