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No doubt followers of FIA GT3 racing were surprised at how well the Ford GTs from Matech ran in the first two races at Silverstone earlier this month. No one, however, was prepared for the can of whoop ass they opened up in Bucarest last weekend. Despite heavy rain at times, the two Matech Ford GTs were dominant, though not both at the same time.

The first GT3 race of the weekend was won by the #34 JMB Racing Ferrari F430, but the #43 Matech Ford GT driven by Thomas Mutsch and Martin Bartek finished second, the best result in the first three races of the season for a Ford GT. The second race of the weekend, however, concluded with the #44 Matech Ford GT driven by Stefan van Campenhoudt and Romain Bera crossing the finish line first, ahead of no less than three Porsche GT3s that were chasing it down. Romain Bera was driving the Ford GT at the race's conclusion and didn't realize until after the race that one of his rear tires had gone flat near the end. Despite that and the heavy rain, Matech left Bucharest with its first win and a solid second-place finish – an amazing result considering their program is about four months old.

We've got a gallery full of gorgeous shots from the Bucharest street race, and we threw in a lot of extra pics taken of the headlining FIA GT race, as well. We wish it were easier to follow the FIA GT series from the U.S., as watching such varied marques battling on the same track would be a dream come true, or at least better than watching NASCAR's CoT turning left all day long.

[Source: FIA GT3]