Racing Success for Ferrari Sportscars
4.7.01

At the same weekend as Michael Schumacher won the French Grand Prix, the sports and GT cars were also in action.

At the Hungaroring, the sixth round of the FIA GT Championship, the eagerly anticipated Prodrive 550 Maranello made its first race appearance. It will be recalled that the car attempted to race at Silverstone two rounds previously but was declared ineligible because the orientation of its transmission had been altered. With this problem fixed it was immediately on the pace at its first event, with drivers Alain Menu/Rickard Rydell, and started fifth on the grid. New car troubles intervened, however, and the car was retired after just 17 laps.

The two Raffanelli 550s, which had been consistently improving during the early part of the season, did not enter the race because, allegedly, some of the bodywork modifications put the two cars outside of the regulations. It has also been suggested that financial considerations may have contributed to the non-appearance.

In the smaller N-GT class the 360 Modena of David Terrien/Christian Pescatori secured yet another win against the mass of Porsches. It performed its usual trick of taking on fuel just once during the three-hour race whereas the thirstier Porsches were having to make two stops. The Ferrari drivers are now in the lead in the N-GT Championship - something that could not have been guessed at at the start of the season.

At Brno the fourth round of the FIA Sportscar Championship took place. Amazingly the BMS Scuderia Italia 333SP, driven by the talented Jean Marc Gounon, sat in pole position, followed by two Dome Judds. The GLV Brums Ferrari (with Judd power) and the second BMS 333SP lined up in fourth and fifth places. In the race, which was started in wet conditions, the leading Dome of Nielsen/Katoh went into an immediate lead which it held all the way to the finish. The leading Ferrari of Gounon/M. Zadra slipped down to sixth place in the difficult conditions but gradually pulled its way back up the order as the track dried out to finish second overall. The second 333SP of A. Zadra/Bryner/Calderari finished seventh after a quiet race and the Judd-engined 333 retired with electrical problems.

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