The 2006 FIA GT Championship came to an end last weekend with yet another
GT2 win for the Ferrari F430GT. The Michelotto-built tipo had already
added the FIA GT2 crown to that of ALMS GT2 and British GT, making it
a stunning debut seaon.
The 430GT dominated this, the most prestigious GT series, winning all
of the rounds but one and taking pole in every round (courtesy of Scuderia
Ecosse). AF Corse won the GT2 Teams' title and Ecosse were second, though
they were undoubtedly the stronger team as the season went on, winning
five rounds, more than any other team. AF Corse took three wins and
JMB the other. A failure to score in the opening round at Silverstone
was costly for Scuderia Ecosse and AF Corse's 1-2 at the high scoring
Spa 24 hours made a lot of difference, but nonetheless this was a great
achievement for the Scottish team in their FIA GT debut season.
AF Corse drivers Jaime Melo and Matteo Bobbi took two wins, which helped
them to first and second in the Drivers' title. Team mates Mika Salo
and Rui Aguas tied for second, but Scuderia Ecosse's Tim Mullen was
just half a point behind in third, taking two wins, one with Marino
Franchitti and the other in the final round in Dubai with Chris Niarchos.
Nathan Kinch and Andrew Kirkaldy won three rounds and tied in fifth
place, Kirkaldy being awarded the Drivers' Performance Award for taking
eight pole positions. JMB's Tim Sugden was sixth, winning one round.
There was no Ferrari prescence in GT1, though the title was won by the
re-badged Enzo - the Maserati MC12. A Labre Compétition 550M
"Evo" fitted with a new engine developed by Care Racing made
a welcome re-appearance in the final round, but running in G2 Spec.
The car qualified quickest but was put behind all of the GT1 cars and
given 10kg of ballast, following a ruling from the FIA GT Bureau on
its running without restrictors. The car finished seventh in the race.
