THE ROAR OF THE ENGINES

The roar of the Ferraris, Lamborghinis, BMWs, Porsches, Mercedes and Audis racing at breakneck speed - the people of Baku were able to see all this for themselves at the final stage of the Baku World Challenge races held by the International Motor Sport Federation. Besides this, many people were lucky enough to ride with the cars during a demonstration drive around the central streets of Baku at night. 

It was Azerbaijan that saw the conclusion of the racing in the FIA GT Series, which had been held up to now in France, Belgium, Netherlands, Slovakia and Spain. Thirty sports cars from Ferrari, McLaren, Audi, Mercedes, Corvette, Lamborghini, Porsche and BMW from 14 teams clashed for the right to be the first past the chequered flag.

A 4-kilometre track around Flag Square in Baku, which has one of the highest flagpoles in the world, was chosen for the races. Spectators were also able to enjoy a show of Formula-1 racing cars of the 1970s and 1980s, with their distinctive engine roar. These sounds were like music to racegoers' ears. In the qualifying race classification spectators also saw a crash involving four cars - a Mercedes, two Audis and a Corvette. One of the Audis even burst into flames but the fire was quickly put out and the driver was uninjured.

In the final stage spectators saw a struggle between the pilots of a Ferrari 458, a McLaren MP-4, an Audi R8, a Mercedes Slsamg, a Chevrolet Corvette, a Lamborghini, a Porsche and a BMW Z4 in three categories - Pro, Pro-Az and the Gentlemen Trophy.

After a tense struggle first home was the pilot of the WRT team, Laurens Vanthoor, assisted by Stephane Ortelli behind the wheel of the Audi R8. Second to cross the finishing line was the McLaren MP-4, driven by Kevin Estre and Rob Bell, driving for the Hexis Racing team, and third was the Mercedes Slsamg of the HTP Gravity Charouz team (pilots Maximilian Buhk and Alon Day). However, after the race the judges gave the pilots of Hexis Racing and HTP Gravity a 10-second penalty for deliberately colliding three laps before the finish. The judges' attention was drawn to an incident in the race between Day and Estre and Alvaro Parente, who was driving for the Sebastien Loeb racing team behind the wheel of a McLaren MP-4. Parente tried to attack Estre on the inside, Day caused contact with Parente who, in turn, struck his opponent's car.

After this incident Estre went in front, followed by Day and Parente and that was how they finished. As a result of the penalties Parente and Sebastien Loeb moved up to second, Estre and Bell dropped back to third and the causes of the collision - Day and Buhk - to fourth.

The winner of the race in Baku won a prize of 100,000 euros, second place received 50,000 euros, and third 25,000 euros.

The winner, Laurens Vanthoor, shared his impressions of the races in Baku with R+: "Coming first was a great feeling. Our victory in Baku is a very significant event for our team. We have seen two days of interesting racing. There was great excitement and tension. But in the heat of the battle you forget about the excitement and you are striving to be first over the finishing line. We deserved this victory."

Incidentally, thanks to the victory in Baku, the pilot duo of Vanthoor and Ortelli became world champions of the FIA GT Series.

In a conversation with R+ Stephane Ortelli was full of praise for the level of preparation and organization of the racing in the Azerbaijani capital. "Our team's driving was at a high level and we left all our rivals behind. It was nice to take part in a competition organized at such a high level. Because the track in Baku was fairly narrow each slight error could have serious consequences. But this made the racing more exciting. I was delighted to come to Baku. I am sincerely proud to have taken part in this race. The atmosphere in Baku was marvellous.

The final stages of the racing were relayed by Eurosport in Europe, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, Africa and America.