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The Le Mans 1000Km race
on November 9th proved that the Ferrari 550 Maranello is now
the yardstick in LM GTS. The Veloqx Care Racing Team, winner
of the category in the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours, scored a double
in this 1000 Kms event with Davies/Turner (5th overall and also
automatically allowed into next year's 24 Hour race) leading
home the sister car of Kox/Sugden. |
The GTS winning
550 of Davies/ Turner |
The race began at noon in wet conditions, but the rain did not
continue for long and the rapidly drying track opened up the lottery
of tyre choice throughout the field. After a nose-to-tail chase
with a Chrysler Viper, which saw the GTS lead change several times,
Dutchman Peter Kox elected, with his highly experienced engineer,
Eddie Hinckley, to put slick tyres on. The choice was timely and
Kox then pushed hard to distance himself from the Viper.
Unfortunately a spin on used tyres towards
the end of a stint put the car into the gravel and considerable
time was lost before it was retrieved and sent on its way
back to the pits for fuel and new tyres. In the meantime,
the sister Ferrari 550 of Davies and Turner took the GTS
lead, a position it was not to relinquish until the chequered
flag.
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| Sister
550 of Kox/Sugden in the pits |
The most hotly contested category was LM GT, as the final result
gave three 'byes' into next year's 24 hour race and was in doubt
up to the very end. A Porsche GT3-RS was leading with 15 min to
go when it suffered a puncture. The battle for victory turned into
a duel between the Cirtek Motorsport Ferrari Modena of Montermini/Englehorn/Peter
and the Freisinger Motorsport Porsche, with the 360 emerging victorious
by only 14 seconds after 6 hours racing.
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The 2003 winners of
the UK's Pirelli Maranello Ferrari Challenge, Scuderia Ecosse,
entered their 360 GT for PMFC regular Chris Niarchos, Mario
Franchitti and Tim Mullen. They finished a commendable 16th
overall and 6th in class in their first international GT event. |
| Scuderia
Ecosse fielded their 360 GT |
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