JMB fastest in wet free practice

The 9th season of the FIA GT Championship officially got underway on Saturday April 9th, after Friday\'s usual track activity was cancelled.  An official test session on Thursday afternoon confirmed the results from the earliest sessions held in March : this is certain to be a close and thrilling season.  The Maserati MC 12, Ferrari, Corvette, Lamborghini and Saleen cars all likely to be fighting for the top in GT1, while the field of Porsches in GT2 are led by the Gruppe M cars.  With barely a team unchanged since the last race of 2004, and some of the most competitive driver line-ups ever seen in the FIA GT, the year ahead should be fascinating.

WEATHER
Continuous rain on Friday continued on Saturday, with hopefully conditions drying on Sunday for the three-hour, 500 km race around Monza\'s 5.7930 km circuit.

OFFICIAL TEST SESSION : VITAPHONE  AND GRUPPE M AHEAD
Most cars took part in Thursday\'s official test session, rescheduled after Friday\'s running was cancelled.  The rain started 25 minutes into the two-and-a-quarter hours allotted for the FIA GT cars.  The fastest time was set by the nr 9 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC 12, driven by Michael Bartels and Timo Scheider, with a lap of 1:45.643. They were followed, just 0.146 behind, by Christophe Bouchut in the nr 17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello, a time set just as the rain was starting. The second Vitaphone Maserati was third, with the leading JMB Maserati fourth and the GLPK Carsport Corvette fifth. The Reiter Engineering Lamborghini Murciélago was seventh, behind the second JMB Maserati . The nr 66 Gruppe M  Porsche of Lieb and Rockenfeller led GT2, ahead of their team-mates Sugden and Collard in the nr 88 car, with the Ebimotors Porsche of Moccia and Busnelli third.

FREE PRACTICE SESSION : JMB RACING TOPS THE TIMES
Saturday\'s forty-five minute free practice session took place in extremely wet conditions, easing off slightly towards the end.
All 28 cars went out; the first time we have seen the full grid in action this year.   Despite the heavy rain, the times kept falling, with the Maserati MC 12 and Ferrari 550 Maranello cars exchanging fastest times in GT1, while the Ebimotors Porsche was fighting with the two Gruppe M cars in GT2.    The nr 15 JMB Maserati was fastest at the start of the session, followed by the nr 17 Russian Age Racing Ferrari.   After 15 minutes, the second JMB car had moved up to second.  The nr 9 Vitaphone Masarati of Bartels and Scheider was the next to lead the time sheets with a time of 2:02.190.  Five minutes later, the nr 11 Larbre Competition Ferrari 550, driven by Pedro Lamy and Gabriele Gardel, set a time of 2:00.935, to lead the field.   Ten minutes before the end of the session, the nr 16 JMB Maserati moved into the lead, with a time of 2:00.491, which would remain unbeaten despite the slightly better conditions. Both the nr 11 Larbre Ferrari and the nr 10 Vitaphone Maserati improved on their last lap, moving to second and third places respectively. The nr 9 Vitaphone car was fourth, meaning three Maserati and one Ferrari in the top four, the cars being separated by just 0.6 of a second.    The Corvette was sixth, with the leading Saleen S7, the nr 5 Konrad Motorsport car, eighth.
In GT2, the wet conditions suited the Porsches, with the leading cars running in the top ten throughout.  The nr 74 Ebimotors Porsche of Moccia and Busnelli was at the top of the class for much of the session, before the nr 66 Gruppe M Racing Porsche took the lead with a lap of 2:04.456, finishing 10th overall ahead of Ebimotors and the second Gruppe M car of Collard and Sugden, which recovered well after an early spin into the gravel.  The Renauer Motorsport Porsche of Kaufmann and Jurasz was fourth.

NEWS IN BRIEF
- Konrad Motorsport finally announced the line-up for their two Saleen S7 cars.  The nr 4 will be driven by Bobby Verdon Roe, most often seen behind the wheel of a Lister Storm, with former Marcos driver Harald Becker.  The Lechner brothers will share the nr 5 car with team owner Franz Konrad.

- Another team to confirm their line-up is Monaco-based team JMB Racing.  Andrea Bertolini and Karl Wendlinger, both race-winners last year, will share the nr 15 Maserati MC 12.  The nr 16 car will be in the hands of Austrian driver Philipp Peter, British Chris Buncombe, who drove for the team last year, and Russian Roman Rusinov, who competed for JMB in the LMES

- The GLPK-Carsport Corvette C5R had  a successful roll-out at the Belgian circuit of Spa-Francorchamps.  The car, to be driven by Mike Hezemans, Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin, will be making its FIA GT debut on Sunday

FACTS AND FIGURES

- 28 cars are due to take part in Sunday\'s first round
- 19 teams are taking part
- Nine different cars are represented : Corvette C5R, Ferrari 550 Maranello, Ferrari 575 M Maranello, Lamborghini Murciélago, Lister Storm, Maserati MC 12, Mosler MT900 R, Porsche 996 GT3-RS and Saleen S7
- 64 drivers are competing
- 6 of those drivers are former FIA GT Champions
- 23 of them are former race winners
- Teams of 11 different countries are taking part : Italy, Germany, Great Britain, Russia, Czech Republic, Poland, Belgium, Monaco, France, Austria, Slovakia
- Drivers representing 17 different countries are represented , with 13 from Italy, ten from Germany, eight from Great Britain, six each from Austria and Switzerland, three from Russia and France, two from Belgium, the Netherlands, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic and one each from Brazil, Portugal, the USA, Canada and Hungary.
- The youngest driver taking part is 21-year old Mike Rockenfeller, competing for Gruppe M, while the oldest is 60-year-old Manfred Jurasz, driving for Austrian team Renauer Motorsport.  

 

 

2005-04-09
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