The third round of the FIA GT Championship took place at the Sicilian track of Enna Pergusa, once a high-speed blind but now ruined by "safety" chicanes. A fast lap time depended largely upon who could throw their car over the chicanes in the most brutal fashion. Pole went to the Saleen of Gounon/Seiler ahead of the BMS 550 Maranello of Cappellari/Gollin and the second Saleen of Erdos/ Newton. The Ferraris fared well in the N-GT category, with the JMB 360GT of Bertolini/Simone quickest followed by the two Maranello Concessionaires 360GTs of Davies/Mullen and Burt/Turner. After the start Gounon ran strongly throughout his stint, easily keeping
the lead of the race. He was followed by the Cappellari Ferrari, while
the Force One Chrysler Viper, so fast all weekend, suffered damage after
blowing a tyre and retired. This brought the Kinch/Campbell-Walter Lister
up to third place. The Bobbi/Biagi 550 lost time during a long pit-stop, due to a broken speed limiter, demoting it behind its team mates and that was the way they ran to the finish for a Ferrari one-two. Then the leading Cappellari/Golin car was excluded for an airbox infringement, handing the win back to the teams other 550. In the N-GT class the JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena started strongly from pole, ahead of the two TMC 360s. However, an early collision between the leading 360 and its arch-rival, the Ortelli/Lieb Porsche, meant an early pit-stop for the Ferrari, which dropped down the field, and eventual retirement for the Porsche. The two TMC 360s then looked to be dominating the race, but then one developed gearbox problems and the other ran into suspension problems caused by Enna's high kerbs. Both finished, but well down the order. As a result the fast-recovering JMB 360 of Bertolini/Simone moved back into the lead, but only just from the EMKA Porsche of Sugden/ Short. The final four laps saw the lead change four times, with Sugden finally taking his first win, after 500 km of hectic racing.
Click here to return to the Ferrari Happenings page.
|