Ferrari GTs Get Ready for the Season
13.3.01

The season opener for the FIA GT Championship takes place at Monza on April 1st, and the Ferrari teams have been busy testing their various cars at that circuit.

The Rafanelli 550 continued to improve

The Rafanelli team had one 550 Maranello there with Emanuele Naspetti driving and it topped the time sheets for much of the dry sessions early on. Eventually it wound up third quickest behind two Chrysler Vipers, an encouraging performance; a second 550 will be tested at Fiorano which shows a certain level of approval by Ferrari!

JMB's 360 shone in the wet

JMB Racing had one of their Giesse-sponsored 360's present, driven by the talented David Terrien. Although he complained of a lack of top speed compared to the class-leading Porsches he felt that the brakes and handling would suit the more demanding circuits rather than the ultra-fast Monza. In the later wet sessions the 360 moved significantly up the order, underlining that claim.

Different wings on the Prinoth car compared to JMB

The Wieth team were giving their privately-developed 550 a run and the Prinoth 360 was also present. In the ever-developing world of modern GT racing the lesser teams will clearly struggle to maintain competitiveness.

Still eagerly awaited are the 550's being developed by the UK-based Prodrive team but these are not expected to join the championship until at least half-way through the season. There are still no announcements about driver or commercial details but the names of Ray Belm and Steve O'Rourke are rumoured to be involved.

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