The 2011 FIA GT1 Zolder round is an

auto racing Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. Auto racing has existed since the invention of the automobile. Races of various sorts were organise ...

event held at the

Circuit Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

Heusden-Zolder Heusden-Zolder (; li, Heuze-Zolder ) is a Municipalities of Belgium, municipality located in the Belgium, Belgian Limburg (Belgium), province of Limburg near Hasselt. On 1 January 2006 Heusden-Zolder had a total population of 30,769. The total ar ...

Belgium Belgium, ; french: Belgique ; german: Belgien officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. The country is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeast, France to th ...

. Taking place over 8–10 April 2011, the Zolder event will be the second round of the

2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season The 2011 FIA GT1 World Championship season was the second season of the SRO Group's FIA GT1 World Championship, an auto racing series for grand tourer cars complying with Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) GT1 regulations. The cham ...

. It is the first time the series has visited Zolder, replacing the previous Belgian round at

Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (), frequently referred to as ''Spa'', is a motor-racing circuit located in Stavelot, Belgium. It is the current venue of the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix, hosting its first Grand Prix in 1925, and has held ...

, although the

FIA GT Championship The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout ...

previously utilized Zolder in

2009 File:2009 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The vertical stabilizer of Air France Flight 447 is pulled out from the Atlantic Ocean; Barack Obama becomes the first African American to become President of the United States; 2009 Iran ...

. The race weekend is shared with rounds of the Belcar Endurance Championship and the

Belgian Touring Car Series The Belgian Touring Car Series (BTCS) was an endurance touring car racing series based in Belgium. It is organised by Speedworld and sanctioned by the Royal Automobile Club Belgium. The last BTCS season was in 2011. Race format Most meetings consis ...

Background

Much of the teams that featured in Abu Dhabi return two weeks later for Zolder, with only the No. 9 Belgian Ford making an alteration to their driver line-up.

Fabien Giroix Fabien Giroix (born 17 September 1960) is a French racing driver from Saint-Maur-des-Fossés, Paris. Racing career Formula cars Giroix began his career in French Formula Renault in 1984, finishing 4th. In 1985 he drove in the French Formula Thr ...

and Antoine Leclerc are replaced by Mathias Beche and local driver

Vanina Ickx ''Vanina'' (German:''Vanina oder Die Galgenhochzeit'') is a 1922 German silent historical film directed by Arthur von Gerlach and starring Asta Nielsen, Paul Wegener and Paul Hartmann.Rentschler The art direction was by Walter Reimann. It wa ...

. Ickx had previously planned to drive in Abu Dhabi, but seating issues forced her to withdraw prior to the event. Following their Championship Race victory in Abu Dhabi,

Clivio Piccione Clivio Piccione (born February 24, 1984 in Monte Carlo, Monaco) is a Monégasque race car driver. He raced in the 2005 GP2 Series season for the Durango team and David Price Racing for 2006. Career Piccione's career started in karting in 1997, ...

and

Stef Dusseldorp Stef Dusseldorp (born 27 September 1989 in Winterswijk, Gelderland) is a Dutch racing driver. He started a career in formula cars in 2007, having competed in series such as Formula Renault 2.0 Northern European Cup (5th in 2008) and the German F ...

enter Zolder at the leaders in the Drivers' Championship by three points over

Peter Dumbreck Peter may refer to: People * List of people named Peter, a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * Peter (given name) ** Saint Peter (died 60s), apostle of Jesus, leader of the early Christian Church * Peter (surname), a sur ...

and

Richard Westbrook Richard Westbrook (born 10 July 1975) is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich. He has won both the Porsche Supercup i ...

, while their

Hexis AMR Hexis Racing is an auto racing team based in Lédenon, France. Hexis Racing was founded by Michel Mateu, CEO of Hexis S.A. in 2001, initially for participation in the French Formula Renault Championship. Hexis later moved into grand tourer racing ...

team leads the Teams' Championship over

JR Motorsports JR Motorsports (pronounced "Junior Motorsports") is an American professional stock car racing team that currently competes in the NASCAR Xfinity Series, eNASCAR Coca-Cola iRacing Series, CARS Tour, and occasionally in the NASCAR Advance Auto Par ...

by eleven points. As a result of their success in Abu Dhabi, Hexis' No. 3

Aston Martin Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings PLC is an English manufacturer of luxury sports cars and grand tourers. Its predecessor was founded in 1913 by Lionel Martin and Robert Bamford. Steered from 1947 by David Brown, it became associated with ...

will carry of success ballast. The No. 22 JR Motorsports

Nissan , trade name, trading as Nissan Motor Corporation and often shortened to Nissan, is a Japanese multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer headquartered in Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Japan. The company sells ...

will carry after finishing on the podium in both Qualifying and Championship races, while the No. 38

Münnich Motorsport Münnich Motorsport GmbH, which also competes under the title All-Inkl.com Racing, is an auto racing team founded by German racing driver and entrepreneur René Münnich in 2006. The team has been built around three areas of motorsport since its ...

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...

will carry .

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. # The No. 7 Young Driver Aston Martin, No. 11 Exim Bank Corvette, No. 23 JR Motorsport Nissan, No. 38 Münnich Lamborghini, No. 20 Sumo Power Nissan, and No. 40 Marc VDS Ford were all penalized three grid spaces for the Qualifying Race for failing to slow for a yellow flag during the pre-qualifying practice session.

Races

Qualifying Race

Race result

Championship Race

Race result

References

External links

Zolder GT1 Race in Belgium – FIA GT1 World Championship
{{Sportscar Race Report , Year_of_race = 2011 , Sportscar_Series = FIA GT1 World Championship , Previous_race_in_season =

Abu Dhabi Abu Dhabi (, ; ar, أَبُو ظَبْيٍ ' ) is the capital and second-most populous city (after Dubai) of the United Arab Emirates. It is also the capital of the Emirate of Abu Dhabi and the centre of the Abu Dhabi Metropolitan Area. ...

, Next_race_in_season =

Algarve The Algarve (, , ; from ) is the southernmost NUTS II region of continental Portugal. It has an area of with 467,495 permanent inhabitants and incorporates 16 municipalities ( ''concelhos'' or ''municípios'' in Portuguese). The region has it ...

Zolder The Circuit Zolder, also known as Circuit Terlamen, is an undulating motorsport race track in Heusden-Zolder, Belgium. History Built in 1963, Zolder hosted the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix on 10 separate occasions in the 1970s and 1980s, a ...

FIA GT1 Circuit Zolder