The 2010 FIA GT1 Abu Dhabi round was an auto race held at the Yas Marina Circuit, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates on 16–17 April 2010. It served as the opening round of the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship season, and the inaugural race of the FIA GT1 World Championship series. It was the first sports car race designated by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) as a world championship event since the 500 km of Magny-Cours held on 18 October 1992. Swiss driver Romain Grosjean and German driver Thomas Mutsch won the championship race for Matech Competition Ford, ahead of the two Phoenix Racing Corvettes which completed the podium. The Phoenix Corvette of Marc Hennerici and Andreas Zuber had won the qualifying race held earlier that day. The UAE Touring Car Championship will serve as a support series for this event.

Qualifying Qualifying began under the flood lights of Yas Marina Circuit, the entire session being held late on 16 April. All 24 cars took to the track during the first 20-minute session, with Michael Krumm sitting on top of the field in the early minutes. Frédéric Makowiecki was able to take over the pole position from the Nissan, the first driver to set a lap in the 2:07 range, quickly followed by the Vitaphone Maserati of Enrique Bernoldi less than a tenth of a second behind. In the second half of the session Andreas Zuber was able to jump to the top in the Phoenix Corvette, beating Makowiecki's lap by just under a full second and the only driver to set a lap under 2:07.

Toward the end of the session, Matech driver Natacha Gachnang crashed out on the back straight of Yas Marina, running off the end of the straight and impacting the safety barriers head-on. The session was stopped with just over two minutes remaining while safety crews attended to Gachnang, who was later airlifted from the circuit for medical attention and reported to have fractured her right leg. A camera operator situated behind the safety barrier also sustained injuries when his television camera hit him in the face due to the impact. The first session was delayed while Gachnang was attended to until it was announced approximately a half-hour later that repairs to the safety barriers could take up to three hours. The FIA race director then cancelled not only the remainder of the first session, but the entire second and third sessions as well. This awarded Zuber and his teammate Marc Hennerici pole position for the following day's qualifying race, while all other drivers remained in their positions due to the knock-out element of qualifying behind eliminated.

Qualifying result For qualifying, Driver 1 participates in the first and third sessions while Driver 2 participates in only the second session. However, due to the cancellation of Sessions 2 and 3 for this event, only the Driver 1 participated in this qualifying session.

Pos No. Driver 1 Team Session 1 Grid Driver 2 1 13 Andreas Zuber Phoenix Racing / Carsport 2:06.780 1 Marc Hennerici 2 9 Frédéric Makowiecki Hexis AMR 2:07.705 2 Philippe Dumas 3 2 Enrique Bernoldi Vitaphone Racing Team 2:07.763 3 Miguel Ramos 4 11 Xavier Maassen Mad-Croc Racing 2:08.049 4 Alex Müller 5 1 Michael Bartels Vitaphone Racing Team 2:08.070 5 Andrea Bertolini 6 12 Mika Salo Mad-Croc Racing 2:08.078 6 Pertti Kuismanen 7 24 Peter Kox Reiter 2:08.090 7 Christopher Haase 8 7 Darren Turner Young Driver AMR 2:08.143 8 Tomáš Enge 9 23 Michael Krumm Sumo Power GT 2:08.287 9 Peter Dumbreck 10 40 Bas Leinders Marc VDS Racing Team 2:08.322 10 Maxime Martin 11 5 Thomas Mutsch Matech Competition 2:08.463 11 Romain Grosjean 12 33 Alexandros Margaritis Triple H Team Hegersport 2:08.494 12 Altfrid Heger 13 4 Seiji Ara Swiss Racing Team 2:08.610 13 Max Nilsson 14 3 Karl Wendlinger Swiss Racing Team 2:08.652 14 Henri Moser 15 41 Markus Palttala Marc VDS Racing Team 2:08.737 15 Renaud Kuppens 16 34 Matteo Bobbi Triple H Team Hegersport 2:08.787 16 Bert Longin 17 37 Thomas Jäger All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 2:08.798 17 Marc Basseng 18 10 Clivio Piccione Hexis AMR 2:09.046 18 Jonathan Hirschi 19 22 Warren Hughes Sumo Power GT 2:09.446 19 Jamie Campbell-Walter 20 8 Christoffer Nygaard Young Driver AMR 2:09.629 20 Stefan Mücke 21 6 Natacha Gachnang Matech Competition 2:09.964 21 Cyndie Allemann 22 25 Ricardo Zonta Reiter 2:10.261 22 Rafael Daniel 23 38 Nicky Pastorelli All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport 2:10.628 23 Dominik Schwager 24 14 Mike Hezemans Phoenix Racing / Carsport 2:16.352 24 Andrea Piccini

Races

Qualifying race The first FIA GT1 World Championship race began in the afternoon, with pole sitter Marc Hennerici leading the field to the green flag from a rolling start. Entering the first left-hander Miguel Ramos in the No.2 Vitaphone Maserati attempted to secure second place but lost the rear of the car under braking and tapped the rear end of Hennerici's Corvette as the car spun across the course. While attempting to regain control, the rear of the Maserati was hit by the No.7 Aston Martin of Tomáš Enge, who ricocheted into the No.12 Mad-Croc Corvette of Pertti Kuismanen. All three cars would retire from the race due to the accident damage. Further into the first lap, the No.9 Hexis Aston Martin spun on his own, leaving driver Philippe Dumas at the tail of the field. These incidents forced the stewards to deploy the safety car as Hennerici lead the field ahead of the No.11 Mad-Croc Corvette of Alex Müller, the No.1 Vitaphone Maserati of Andrea Bertolini, the No.24 Reiter Lamborghini of Christopher Haase, and the No.5 Matech Ford of Romain Grosjean, who gained nine positions on the opening lap.

After two laps under the safety car, the race was restarted and Hennerici continued as the race leader. Grosjean began to climb his way through the field, passing Kox's Lamborghini on Lap 5, then Piccini's Maserati two laps later, then was able to take second place from Müller's Corvette before the end of Lap 8. The pit window opened on Lap 10, with Hennerici forfeiting the lead to Grosjean to take the first opportunity to pit and change to driver Andreas Zuber. Three laps later both the Matech Ford and Mad-Croc Corvette came in for their pit stops, but the Corvette had a slower pit stop and fell to seventh place. After the ten-minute pit window closed, Thomas Mutsch took over the second-place Matech Ford while Michael Bartels held third in the Vitaphone Maserati. Neither driver was able to catch the leading Corvette of Zuber, while Xavier Maassen in the No.11 Mad-Croc Corvette was able to climb back to fourth position before the car's engine failed three laps from the finish. Zuber eventually took the race win by just over two seconds ahead of Mutsch after having led by as much as ten seconds earlier in the race. Bartels completed the podium and final points earning position for the qualifying race.

Race result

Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 1 13 Phoenix Racing / Carsport Marc Hennerici Andreas Zuber Corvette 26 2 5 Matech Competition Thomas Mutsch Romain Grosjean Ford 26 −2.273 3 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Maserati 26 −4.308 4 8 Young Driver AMR Stefan Mücke Christoffer Nygaard Aston Martin 26 −37.808 5 33 Triple H Team Hegersport Altfrid Heger Alexandros Margaritis Maserati 26 −43.535 6 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Bas Leinders Maxime Martin Ford 26 −45.608 7 9 Hexis AMR Philippe Dumas Frédéric Makowiecki Aston Martin 26 −54.118 8 10 Hexis AMR Clivio Piccione Jonathan Hirschi Aston Martin 26 −1:07.115 9 3 Swiss Racing Team Karl Wendlinger Henri Moser Nissan 26 −1:12.583 10 25 Reiter Ricardo Zonta Rafael Daniel Lamborghini 26 −1:13.649 11 23 Sumo Power GT Peter Dumbreck Michael Krumm Nissan 26 −1:15.161 12 4 Swiss Racing Team Max Nilsson Seiji Ara Nissan 26 −1:19.330 13 22 Sumo Power GT Warren Hughes Jamie Campbell-Walter Nissan 26 −1:27.725 14DNF 11 Mad-Croc Racing Xavier Maassen Alex Müller Corvette 23 Engine 15DNF 24 Reiter Peter Kox Christopher Haase Lamborghini 20 Brakes 16 14 Phoenix Racing / Carsport Mike Hezemans Andrea Piccini Corvette 20 −6 Laps 17DNF 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Nicky Pastorelli Dominik Schwager Lamborghini 17 Retired 18DNF 37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Marc Basseng Thomas Jäger Lamborghini 12 Retired 19DNF 41 Marc VDS Racing Team Renaud Kuppens Markus Palttala Ford 2 Clutch 20DNF 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Miguel Ramos Enrique Bernoldi Maserati 1 Collision 21DNF 7 Young Driver AMR Tomáš Enge Darren Turner Aston Martin 1 Collision 22DNF 12 Mad-Croc Racing Pertti Kuismanen Mika Salo Corvette 0 Collision DNS 34 Triple H Team Hegersport Bert Longin Matteo Bobbi Maserati 0 Did Not Start DNS 6 Matech Competition Natacha Gachnang Cyndie Allemann Ford 0 Did Not Start

Championship race

Race result

Pos No. Team Drivers Manufacturer Laps Time/Retired 1 5 Matech Competition Thomas Mutsch Romain Grosjean Ford 28 2 13 Phoenix Racing / Carsport Marc Hennerici Andreas Zuber Corvette 28 −23.061 3 14 Phoenix Racing / Carsport Mike Hezemans Andrea Piccini Corvette 28 −26.485 4 1 Vitaphone Racing Team Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Maserati 28 −34.075 5 25 Reiter Ricardo Zonta Rafael Daniel Lamborghini 28 −49.496 6 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Miguel Ramos Enrique Bernoldi Maserati 28 −53.059 7 34 Triple H Team Hegersport Bert Longin Matteo Bobbi Maserati 28 −1:00.565 8 24 Reiter Peter Kox Christopher Haase Lamborghini 28 −1:12.694 9 33 Triple H Team Hegersport Altfrid Heger Alexandros Margaritis Maserati 28 −1:24.473 10 11 Mad-Croc Racing Xavier Maassen Alex Müller Corvette 28 −1:26.254 11 7 Young Driver AMR Tomáš Enge Darren Turner Aston Martin 28 −1:26.848 12 22 Sumo Power GT Warren Hughes Jamie Campbell-Walter Nissan 28 −1:28.174 13 40 Marc VDS Racing Team Bas Leinders Maxime Martin Ford 28 −1:37.634 14 3 Swiss Racing Team Karl Wendlinger Henri Moser Nissan 28 −1:59.534 15 12 Mad-Croc Racing Pertti Kuismanen Mika Salo Corvette 28 −2:01.150 16 23 Sumo Power GT Peter Dumbreck Michael Krumm Nissan 27 −1 Lap 17 37 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Marc Basseng Thomas Jäger Lamborghini 24 −4 Laps 18DNF 10 Hexis AMR Clivio Piccione Jonathan Hirschi Aston Martin 22 Puncture 19DNF 9 Hexis AMR Philippe Dumas Frédéric Makowiecki Aston Martin 15 Retired 20DNF 38 All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport Nicky Pastorelli Dominik Schwager Lamborghini 12 Retired 21DNF 4 Swiss Racing Team Max Nilsson Seiji Ara Nissan 1 Collision 22DNF 8 Young Driver AMR Stefan Mücke Christoffer Nygaard Aston Martin 0 Collision DNS 41 Marc VDS Racing Team Renaud Kuppens Markus Palttala Ford 0 Did Not Start DNS 6 Matech Competition Natacha Gachnang Cyndie Allemann Ford 0 Did Not Start

References

External links FIA GT1 World Championship – Yas Marina GT1 race in Abu Dhabi