FIA GT3 European Championship
Zandvoort, The Netherlands
October 14th – 16th, 2011
2009 FIA GT3 European Champion Christopher Haase (24) competed in the final race of the season of that racing series in Zandvoort (NLD) this weekend, supporting Belgian Enzo Ide (20) as a guest pilot in an Audi R8 LMS for Belgian Audi Club Team WRT.

Haase used the first free practice session to get to know the track which was no problem and the duo reached P10. In the second free practice session on Friday Ide/Haase simulated Saturday’s qualifying session, placing the Audi in P6.

Enzo Ide and Christopher Haase began the two qualifying sessions with small modifications in the setup. 20-year old Ide had bad luck at the beginning of his stint. After a touch in the outlap the Belgian ran into the gravel, making a qualifying lap impossible. Haase took over for the second qualifying session and placed the WRT Audi in the pole position. “I had a perfect car in the qualifying. I have not had such a great car in a qualifying session for quite a while. The team work very hard to succeed, it was very obvious when I worked with them. It is a great feeling being in the pole position,” said a happy Haase.

Enzo Ide started the first race on Saturday from the last row (P28). A contact with a competitor‘s car in the second lap had some consequences: the rear wheel alignment of the Audi got knocked out of true. It did not become noticeable right away. However, the tyres got damaged after a while. The young Belgian managed to keep up with the field despite this handicap.
Haase took over in a perfect driver change and was able to gain a few places. “The damage became more and more obvious during the race. It went really well but I really struggled in the last 15 minutes. At some point there was almost no rubber left on the tyres. However, we managed well and reached P17,” says Christopher Haase.

Christopher Haase started race 2 from the pole position and shortly came under pressure from two SLS. Before the first turn Haase began to increase his lead to the SLS in P2. Lap after lap the gap became bigger and bigger, with Haase comfortably leading the final race of the 2011 FIA GT3 European Championship season. Enzo Ide took over the Audi R8 at the mandatory stop.

Ide, in his second season, kept the lead driving across the finish line in P1 and finished the FIA GT3 European Championship season in third place.

Christopher Haase: “It is a big success for me and the team. Ide is a highly motivated racing driver and I had a lot of fun supporting him. The team is very passionate about their work and extremely professional. I felt very comfortable. We worked together very well which is why we succeeded”.

Enzo Ide: “We were a great team. I would like to thank Christopher for this great result”.


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