Lauda and Mako win City Challenge Baku GT sprint races
Published on 28 October 2012 by Niels Hendrix
A pair of GT sprint races were the sporting highlights on the second day of the first-ever City Challenge event at the 2.144 kilometres long street circuit in Baku, Azerbaijan. Driving the Hexis-McLaren MP4-12C GT3, Frenchman Frédéric Makowiecki won the first 30 minutes' race, followed home by British driver Sean Edwards (Mühlner Motorsport-Porsche 911 GT3 R) and Rob Bell with the second Hexis-McLaren. The second race was red-flagged and not restarted after an accident by Swiss driver Jürg Aeberhard.
Victory went to Mathias Lauda with the Vita4One-BMW Z4 GT3, while the two Hexis-McLaren drivers Alvaro Parente and Stef Dusseldorp finished second and third respectively. The numerous spectators on the packed grandstands got to see plenty of action with a pair of GT qualifying sessions and two GT sprint races plus a qualifying session for the Gymkhana City Drift series and a sprint race for the Classic Grand Prix with historic Formula 1 and other powerful single-seater machines. The Classic Grand Prix race was red-flagged after a collision, with victory going to Dutch driver Marijn van Kalmthout with his Benetton B197.
The Hexis-McLaren team dominated proceedings in most of the GT activities. With a lap time of 1:03.750 minutes, Frédéric Makowiecki ended up fastest in the First qualifying session that determined the starting grid positions for the first 30 minutes' sprint race. Driving the same car, Stef Dusseldorp came out on top in the second qualifying session with a lap time of 1:03.532 minutes. In the afternoon, victory for 'Mako' in the first sprint race was a lights-to-flag affair. In the second race, Mathias Lauda had a good start and overtook both McLarens in the opening stages. However, this race was red-flagged twice due to incidents, both involving one of the German RWT Racing Team's two Corvettes. After the second red flag, the clerk of the course decided to stop the action for good.
Niels Hendrix
