For the fourth round of the 2004 season, the FIA GT Championship has returned to the German circuit of Hockenheim, for the first time since 1999.   Just like the Championship, the circuit has undergone major changes since that last race.  The circuit is now 4.574 metres long, and is new to many of the drivers, especially in its current configuration. Today's free practice sessions saw a well-balanced set of results, with JMB Racing's Ferrari 575 M Maranello and Vitaphone Racing's Saleen S7 sharing the fastest session times, while the G.P.C Giesse Ferrari 360 Modena and the Freisigner Yukos Porsche were the best in the N-GT class, all of which foretell an interesting race on Sunday.

Weather …
Friday dawned bright and sunny, with some clouds later in the day.  However, the rain stayed away, giving the teams a welcome full day's dry running, after wet free practice sessions at all the previous rounds this year.

Historically speaking...
Hockenheim has hosted three rounds of the FIA GT Championship, but this is the first time the LG Super Racing Weekend has visited the German circuit.  The very first round of the Championship was run here, in April 1997, when BMW Motorsport's McLaren F1 GTR of Soper and Lehto were victorious, Gache and Beretta winning in GT2 with a Chrysler Viper.  In 1998, the overall race was won by Mark Webber and Bernd Schneider in a Mercedes CLK, Beretta and Lamy winning in GT2 in a Chrysler Viper. Finally, in 1999, Chrysler Viper Team Oreca's pairing of Dupuy and Belloc won on the short circuit, giving the Chrysler Viper a 100% class record at the track.

International Appeal ...
The International Court of Appeal sat in Paris on Wednesday 12th May, to hear the appeal lodged by the CSAI on behalf of BMS Scuderia Italia, against the decision taken by the Stewards in Magny-Cours concerning the incident during the Magny Cours race.
Having heard the explanations of both parties and examined the various documents and other evidence, the Court upheld the decision of the Panel of the Stewards to impose the 50-second  time penalty on the nr 1 Ferrari 550 Maranello.
This means that the race order for the third round has been confirmed, with the nr 5 Vitaphone Racing Team Saleen S7 winning, the nr17 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M taking second and the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello third.  The nr 1 Ferrari drops to fourth, with the nr 4 Konrad Motorsport Saleen in fifth.

Handicap weights ...
By round 4, the weights are beginning to accumulate.  The handicap weights take into account the final result of the Magny-Cours round, following the International Court of Appeal.  This means that the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello now carries the maximum weight of 100 kg.  A further win this weekend would give the car 150 kg for Brno.  Both the nr 1 BMS Ferrari, and the nr 5 Vitaphone Saleen S7 have 40 kg, with the nr 17 JMB Ferrari on 30 kg.
In N-GT, the nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Motorsport Porsche has 45 kg, with the nr 99 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche five kilos lighter, at 40 kg.  The nr 62 G.P.C Ferrari lost 20 kg at Magny-Cours, reducing them to 10 kg, the same as the nr 77 Freisinger Yukos Porsche, which is carrying weight for the first time.

Paddock News
- Wieth Racing is not competing at Hockenheim this weekend . "Although we tried very hard, it was not possible to finish the second car.  And even if we had finished it, we could not have tested before going to the track, and it would have been too dangerous to race a completely new car. Contractual obligations meant we could not use the first car, which is a great shame for what would have been our home race," team manager Florian Hebel explained.
- In the absence of the Wieth Ferrari 550, Wolfgang Kaufmann has joined the crew of the nr 28 Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen S7.  He will share it with team regular Paolo Ruberti, and Gabriele Lancieri, who previously drove the car in Valencia.
- Experienced sportscar driver Joao Barbosa is replacing Miguel Ramos behind the wheel of the nr 8 RML Saleen S7 this weekend.  Barbosa, from Portugal, was the factory driver for the Mosler project, and has raced in both the United States and Europe.
- Lister has their new 2004 model Storm on the track for the first time.  The car is being driven by Tom Coronel and Patrick Pearce this weekend.

First Free Practice :  JMB Racing fastest; GPC best in N-GT

The continuously improving JMB Racing  Ferrari 575 M Maranello, driven by the Austrian trio of Karl Wendlinger, Robert Lechner and Toto Wolff, was the fastest car on the Hockenheim circuit during the first free practice session.  The car, which now carries 30 kg after inheriting second at Magny-Cours, set a time of 1:37.585 round the 4.574 km circuit, seven tenths faster than the nr 5 Vitaphone Saleen, with the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari third.  The nr 7 RML Saleen was fourth fastest, with Tom Coronel in the nr 14 Lister Storm fifth.  In N-GT, the nr 62 G.P.C Giesse Ferrari 360 Modena was fastest throughout, followed by the nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Porsche of Ortelli and Collard, with Maassen and Luhr, winners of the last two races, third.
With many drivers new to this circuit, or at least to the post-2002 version, the first car to lead the timing screens was the nr 11 GPC Ferrari, with a time of 1:39.519.  After 15 minutes, the nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari took over the lead, improving to 1:38.900, while the nr 62 Ferrari was fastest in N-GT.  Thirty minutes into the session, the nr 7 RML Saleen jumped into the lead, with a lap of 1:38.578.  A few minutes later, however, the nr 17 JMB Ferrari regained the top spot, with a lap of 1:37.585, which was not to be beaten.  The nr 62 Ferrari continued to lead N-GT.  Towards the end of the session, the nr 14 Lister Storm improved first to 8th, and then up to 5th overall with a lap of 1:39.146.  The nr 2 Ferrari improved to 3rd overall, despite carrying 100 kg penalty weight.  At the very end of the session, the nr 5 improved its time to 1:38.872.

Second Free Practice : Vitaphone and Konrad lead; Collard and Ortelli fastest in N-GT
The second 90-minute session saw the Saleen cars dominate once more, with the nr 5 Vitaphone and nr 4 Konrad cars setting the best times, separated by just two tenths of a second.  Michael Bartels, in the nr 5 Saleen, set a time of 1:37.102, which was the best time of the day.  With the nr 1 BMS Ferrari setting the third-fastest time, The nr 11 G.P.C Giesse Ferrari 575 M was fourth, with the nr 7 RML Saleen fifth.
The nr 1 BMS Ferrari was fastest at the start of the session,  setting the lap time of 1:38.074 early, and not improving further.  The nr 4 Konrad Saleen was the next to take the lead,  but its time was soon to be beaten by that of the Magny-Cours-winning car, the nr 5 Saleen.
In N-GT, the nr 50 Freisinger Yukos Porsche led throughout, followed initially by the nr 62 Ferrari, whose time was later beaten by the nr 99 Freisinger Porsche.
The nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello was 18th overall, having suffered from engine problems.

Steward's Decisions
It was decided that the absence of the nr 14 Lister Storm from Magny-Cours was Force Majeure, and that therefore the car does not have to carry the 60 kg penalty weight normally awarded for missing a race.

2004-05-14
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