The penultimate round of the French GT Championship was also on the agenda. In qualifying the Ruffier Racing and First Racing squads were hot on the heels of the favourite Ferrari and Dodge entries. However, the races would tell a different story.
Danny de Laet and Tim Verbergt (JD by Astromega) was the most successful Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 team at the fourth round of the Belcar championship at Spa-Francorchamps. They were among the leading contenders throughout all the free practice sessions and underlined their target of finishing on the podium by taking fourth on the grid for race one which was held on Friday afternoon. Kurt Thiers / Joost Vollebergh qualified the #5 JD by Astromega Lamborghini Gallardo in 16th position, Henk Haane and Patrick Ceusters would start the 60 minute race from 22nd place.
Ingo Hoffmann and Paulo Bonifacio celebrated their first win of the 2008 season at Interlagos. Despite running at reduced speed over the final laps Hoffmann / Bonifacio won the first race by 14 seconds from the following competition. Although they scored no points in the second race Hoffman / Bonifacio retained third place in the championship standings.
After a four month break the Australian GT Championship finally got underway again at Eastern Creek. Three Lamborghini Gallardo GT3s driven by Ross Lilley, Mark Eddy and Ted Huglin participated in the fourth event.
Mark Eddy put the Quartermaster Lamborghini Gallardo on the second row, two places further back on the grid was Ross Lilley and Ted Huglin started the first sprint race from 16th position. While Eddy maintained position throughout the 12 lap first race, Lilley moved up a position and was fifth at the flag. Huglin also moved forward and finished fifteenth.
Only one Lamborghini Gallardo driver duo, Ben de Zille Butler and Guy Harrington, participated in rounds 11 and 12 of the British GT Championship at Brands Hatch. Both de Zille Butler and Harrington qualified in the top-ten and repeated this form in the races. On Saturday the Team Modena pair finished sixth, on Sunday they improved by one position to take fifth.
Both the British Tech9 squad and S.Berg Racing from Austria each brought a pair of Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 to the third GT3 European Championship event at Oschersleben. Christopher Haase and Albert von Thurn und Taxis in #47 Tech9 Lamborghini Gallardo exploited their home advantage to the full. They were in the thick of the action from the opening minutes of first practice.
The Tech9 Lamborghini Gallardo of Tom Ferrier and Leo Machitski held sway during free practice at Thruxton, however disappointment followed in qualifying. Qualifying for round 9 finished with 10th (Guy Harrington), 12th (Leo Machitski) and 15th (Piers Johnson). Only one team could improve in qualifying for round 10. Tom Ferrier took 8th position with his Lamborghini for Tech9.
MIK Corse brought four Lamborghini Gallardo GT3 cars to Magione for rounds 5 and 6 in the Italian GT Championship. The Gallardo drivers raised eyebrows in both free practice sessions after setting fast times.
Giacomo Piccini and Fabrizio Armetta went on to repeat this performance in first qualifying. The front row for the GT3 race was occupied solely by Lamborghini. Piccini recorded a 1:11.680, Armetta was six tenths behind. The competition from Ferrari, Dodge, Aston Martin, Corvette and Porsche had already lost its first small battle. In second qualifying Matteo Grassotto put the fastest Gallardo in third place.
Snetterton was venue for rounds 7 and 8 of the British GT Championship last weekend. It was Leo Machitski and Jonathan Cocker who were once again the best Lamborghini team in first qualifying for Saturday afternoon’s race. They secured a place on the second row after recording the third fastest lap in the Tech9 Lamborghini Gallardo. The Team Modena Gallardo, driven by Ben de Zille Butler and Guy Harrington, was directly behind. Piers Johnson / Adam Jones (Team Modena) would start round 7 from tenth place, Oliver Morley / Tom Ferrier (Tech9) started from 12th position.
