The 2008 Bucharest City Challenge was the sixth race of the 2008 FIA GT Championship season back racing After summer break and was organised by City Challenge GmbH. It took place at the Bucharest Ring temporary street circuit in Bucharest, Romania, on 23 – 24 August 2008.
Format Unlike the previous running at Bucharest in 2007, the 2008 event introduced a new event format that involved two races. After qualification, a one-hour race was held and entries were awarded half of the standard FIA points for their finishing positions. On Sunday, a second one-hour race was held, with the starting grid being determined by the finishing order of the first race. Half points were again rewarded based on finishing order.
Race results Class winners in bold. Cars failing to complete 75% of winner's distance marked as Not Classified (NC).
Saturday Phoenix Carsport lead the field as the #5 Corvette of Swiss drivers Marcel Fässler and Jean-Denis Délétraz earned victory from pole position over the team's second car. In the GT2 category, CR Scuderia earned their first ever victory in the FIA GT Championship, just ahead of defending class champions AF Corse.
Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Engine 1 GT1 5 Phoenix Carsport Racing Jean-Denis Délétraz Marcel Fāssler Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 46 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8 2 GT1 6 Phoenix Carsport Racing Mike Hezemans Fabrizio Gollin Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 46 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8 3 GT1 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Maserati MC12 GT1 46 Maserati 6.0 L V12 4 GT1 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Miguel Ramos Alexandre Negrão Maserati MC12 GT1 46 Maserati 6.0 L V12 5 GT1 3 Selleslagh Racing Team Christophe Bouchut Xavier Maassen Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 46 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8 6 GT1 4 Peka Racing Anthony Kumpen Bert Longin Saleen S7-R 46 Ford 7.0 L V8 7 GT1 10 Gigawave Motorsport Philipp Peter Allan Simonsen Aston Martin DBR9 46 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 8 GT1 8 IPB Spartak Racing Reiter Engineering Peter Kox Roman Rusinov Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT 45 Lamborghini 6.0 L V12 9 GT2 56 CR Scuderia Racing Andrew Kirkaldy Rob Bell Ferrari F430 GT2 45 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 10 GT2 50 AF Corse Gianmaria Bruni Toni Vilander Ferrari F430 GT2 45 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 11 GT2 61 Prospeed Competition Emmanuel Collard Richard Westbrook Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 45 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 12 GT2 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Paolo Ruberti Matteo Malucelli Ferrari F430 GT2 44 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 13 GT2 51 AF Corse Thomas Biagi Christian Montanari Ferrari F430 GT2 44 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 14 GT2 55 CR Scuderia Racing Chris Niarchos Tim Mullen Ferrari F430 GT2 44 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 15 GT2 62 Scuderia Ecosse Jamie Davies Fabio Babini Ferrari F430 GT2 44 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 16 GT2 78 BMS Scuderia Italia Joël Camathias Davide Rigon Ferrari F430 GT2 44 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 17 GT2 66 Team Felbermayr-Proton Marc Lieb Horst Felbermayr Jr. Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 43 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 18 GT2 69 Team Felbermayr-Proton Richard Lietz Horst Felbermayr Sr. Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 43 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 19 G2 101 Belgian Racing Bas Leinders Renaud Kuppens Gillet Vertigo Streiff 42 Maserati 4.2 L V8 20DNF GT2 95 Advanced Engineering PeCom Racing Team Matías Russo Luís Pérez Companc Ferrari F430 GT2 28 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 21DNF GT2 57 Kessel Racing Henri Moser Fabrizio del Monte Ferrari F430 GT2 23 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 DNS GT1 33 Jetalliance Racing Karl Wendlinger Ryan Sharp Aston Martin DBR9 – Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 DNS GT1 36 Jetalliance Racing Lukas Lichtner-Hoyer Alex Müller Aston Martin DBR9 – Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 DNS GT2 60 Prospeed Competition Markus Palttala Mikael Forsten Porsche 997 GT3-RSR – Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
Sunday Phoenix Carsport continued their victorious run on Sunday as the #5 car once again led the field to the checkered flag, although the team's second Corvette failed to make the finish after hitting a wall with ten laps remaining. CR Scuderia also won for the second time, Andrew Kirkaldy and Rob Bell's Ferrari overtaking the AF Corse Ferrari in the closing laps.
Pos Class No Team Drivers Chassis Tyre Laps Engine 1 GT1 5 Phoenix Carsport Racing Jean-Denis Délétraz Marcel Fāssler Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 46 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8 2 GT1 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Miguel Ramos Alexandre Negrão Maserati MC12 GT1 46 Maserati 6.0 L V12 3 GT1 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Maserati MC12 GT1 46 Maserati 6.0 L V12 4 GT1 4 Peka Racing Anthony Kumpen Bert Longin Saleen S7-R 46 Ford 7.0 L V8 5 GT1 10 Gigawave Motorsport Philipp Peter Allan Simonsen Aston Martin DBR9 46 Aston Martin 6.0 L V12 6 GT1 3 Selleslagh Racing Team Christophe Bouchut Xavier Maassen Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 46 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8 7 GT1 8 IPB Spartak Racing Reiter Engineering Peter Kox Roman Rusinov Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT 46 Lamborghini 6.0 L V12 8 GT2 56 CR Scuderia Racing Andrew Kirkaldy Rob Bell Ferrari F430 GT2 45 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 9 GT2 50 AF Corse Gianmaria Bruni Toni Vilander Ferrari F430 GT2 45 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 10 GT2 61 Prospeed Competition Emmanuel Collard Richard Westbrook Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 45 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 11 GT2 62 Scuderia Ecosse Jamie Davies Fabio Babini Ferrari F430 GT2 45 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 12 GT2 77 BMS Scuderia Italia Paolo Ruberti Matteo Malucelli Ferrari F430 GT2 45 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 13 GT2 95 Advanced Engineering PeCom Racing Team Matías Russo Luís Pérez Companc Ferrari F430 GT2 45 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 14 GT2 57 Kessel Racing Henri Moser Fabrizio del Monte Ferrari F430 GT2 43 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 15 G2 101 Belgian Racing Bas Leinders Renaud Kuppens Gillet Vertigo Streiff 42 Maserati 4.2 L V8 16DNF GT1 6 Phoenix Carsport Racing Mike Hezemans Fabrizio Gollin Chevrolet Corvette C6.R 36 Chevrolet LS7R 7.0 L V8 17DNF GT2 66 Team Felbermayr-Proton Marc Lieb Horst Felbermayr Jr. Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 27 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 18DNF GT2 78 BMS Scuderia Italia Joël Camathias Davide Rigon Ferrari F430 GT2 21 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 19DNF GT2 55 CR Scuderia Racing Chris Niarchos Tim Mullen Ferrari F430 GT2 17 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 20DNF GT2 51 AF Corse Thomas Biagi Christian Montanari Ferrari F430 GT2 16 Ferrari 4.0 L V8 21DNF GT2 69 Team Felbermayr-Proton Richard Lietz Horst Felbermayr Sr. Porsche 997 GT3-RSR 15 Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6
Statistics Pole Position – #5 Phoenix Carsport Racing – 1:15.348 Average Speed (Race 1) – Average Speed (Race 2) –
References