The Prodrive 550 Maranello driven by Tomas Enge and Peter Kox beat a class field in California today to win the GTS category of the Monterey Sports Car Championships.

The Ferrari team was a leading protagonist in an exciting and tense GTS battle which lasted from the green flag to the chequered.

Tomas Enge led for much of the first hour but lost his advantage at the first round of pit stops. The Ferrari was passed on its way out of the pits by the Saleen which had taken on fuel only whereas the 550 had re-fuelled, changed tyres and drivers.

Peter Kox’s stint in the car was hampered by two full course yellow caution periods. As the field tightened up behind the safety car, this in turn meant that he had to battle his way through a lot of traffic.

Peter Kox: “I had a long stint behind the pace car which was frustrating and I lost some time because of the traffic. It was quite difficult racing with the P675 cars as we are often as fast as they are on the straights but lose time to them in the corners. You keep coming across the same people and some are easier to race with than others! The car was running beautifully though and the tyres were working really well.”

With just under 45 minutes remaining, Tomas Enge re-took the wheel for his second stint. During the Prodrive team’s second stop a Corvette had taken the GTS lead. Tomas caught and passed the Saleen which was now running third in class. Knowing that the GM car would be running low on fuel towards the end of the race, Tomas pushed it hard and closed the gap steadily during the final 15 minutes. With just 3 laps to go, the Ferrari passed the Corvette and went on to take the chequered flag to the delight of the pitlane, the tv commentators and fans alike.

Tomas Enge: “I was really pushing as hard as possible. When I passed the Saleen I thought the race for the lead was over and I just had to concentrate on getting to the finish. Then the team showed me P2 on my pit board and I started to push although I thought the Corvette would have to come in for fuel. I caught them quite quickly at the end of the race as they were saving fuel. I think the battle was good for the spectators and it showed that we could race our competitors on the track, not just on strategy. The team, the car and the Michelin tyres were all fantastic. A really good day.”

The Prodrive team’s next race will be round 9 of the American Le Mans Series in Miami on 5 October.

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