The FIA GT1 World Championship opened last weekend at the ultramodern Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi. As in 2010, among the teams participating, three are supported technically by Motul. These are of course the team Hexis Aston Martin Racing which, it should be remembered, won the title of vice-champion last year, and also the two Nismo teams - namely JR Motorsports and Sumo Power GT.
Following an eventful race marked by much battling and sudden new developments, it was finally the crew Clivio Piccione / Stef Dusseldorp which managed to clinch first place on the so coveted podium. This performance is all the more remarkable because, after good results in F3, Stef Dusseldorp was participating in his first GT race! On top of this win, this 21 year old Dutchman even went as far as containing the assaults of a certain Richard Westbrook who was finally to arrive only 474 tenths of a second from first place.
Another Motul team podiumed, that of Richard Westbrook / Peter Dumbreck (Nissan GT-R, Team JR Motorsports), which took the second step.
After this exceptional result, it's a sure bet that the Motul teams will be bent on repeating this exploit at the second round of the season at Zolder on 10 April.
Standings
1// Hexis AMR (Aston Martin DB9) – 39 pts Motul
2// JR Motorsports (Nissan GT-R) – 28 pts Motul
3// Young Driver AMR (Aston Martin DB9) – 18 pts
Clivio Piccione - Stef Dusseldorp - Team Hexis AMR - Aston Martin DB9© Antonin Grenier
