The new season started for Jetalliance Racing like the previous one had ended – with a win! Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp won today’s first FIA GT Championship round at Silverstone in their Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9 after an incredible race, just ahead of Bertolini/Bartels (ITA/GER/Maserati) and Peter/Simonsen (AUT/DEN/Aston Martin). And the second Jetalliance Aston Martin finished in the points as well – Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer and Alex Müller claimed an excellent sixth place!

 Cold, wet and partially foggy conditions, a damp track – a really difficult race with a perfect ending for Jetalliance Racing.  

The sequence of events:
Both Jetalliance Racing drivers have an optimal start – Karl Wendlinger, starting from the second row, is already in the lead after the opening lap, Alex Müller, starting the race from P9, is in fourth. Subsequently, Wendlinger is able to slightly extend his advantage over Marcel Fässler, but he then loses time whilst the Austrian has a spin after about twenty minutes, dropping him down to P5.

 Soon thereafter, Müller has a mishap while fighting with Bouchut for third position – he touches a competitor’s car while lapping him –, and he too drops back. Wendlinger is now fourth, Müller fifth. The classification after thirty minutes: Fässler ahead of Bouchut and Hezemans (all in a Corvette), Wendlinger fourth, Müller fifth (both Jetalliance Aston Martin DBR9), Bertolini sixth (Maserati), Simonsen 7th (Aston Martin).

Wendlinger pits after approximately fourty minutes – the tyres get changed, he is staying in the car – dropping back to P9. A few minutes later Müller too is heading for pit lane for a tyre change. The new overall standings: The three Corvettes still lead, Simonsen in fourth, Wendlinger fifth, Müller in P8 – after fifty minutes and 25 laps.

Fifty minutes to go: Now all the top teams have completed their first pit stop. And a dramatic finish is looming: Fässler leads Bouchut by 0.8 seconds, Wendlinger in third is trailing by 8.4 seconds. Müller is in seventh position by a gap of 27 seconds.  

Müller handed over to Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer on lap 40, two laps later Wendlinger followed suit, handing over to Ryan Sharp – with just about half an hour to go.