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Fast but fragile since joining the Championship this season, one of
the Saleen S7s finally confirmed the marque's promise by winning the
third round of the 2004 FIA GT Championship. Qualifying second, the
nr 5 Vitaphone Racing car of Michael Bartels and Uwe Alzen took the
lead at the start and held onto it, only dropping behind briefly during
the first round of pit stops. The car crossed the line with a 30-second
advantage over the nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello
of Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel.
Although crossing the line third, the nr 17 JMB Racing Ferrari
575 GTC of Wendlinger/Wolff/Lechner inherited second place when
Gardel was awarded a 50 second penalty for causing an avoidable
accident with his team-mate in the nr 2 BMS Ferrari.
This also promoted Gollin and Cappellari to third, with Bobbi and
Gardel dropping to fourth. The nr 4 Konrad Motorsport Saleen, which
originally finished fourth, was also penalised, for ignoring a black
and orange flag waved due to loose rear bodywork. Fifty seconds
were added to the car's time, dropping the car to fifth. However,
as BMS Scuderia Italia has lodged an appeal concerning their penalty,
the results remain provisional.
For once, the 575 GTCs fared better than the older 550s, with Peter/Babini
(GPC Giesse Squadra Corse) finishing sixth and the JMB car of Gosse/Kuteman/Daoudi
finishing 13th. The Wieth Racing 550 M of Kaufmann/Zoboli for once
got to the end of the race, finishing ahead of the GPC 575 GTC of
.phpetti/Hezemans.
The nr 3 550 M of Livio/Calderari/Bryne got beached in the gravel
on lap 29 and the nr 18 575 GTC of Longin/Bleiner/Khan picked up
a puncture of lap 70, retiring with suspension failure.
In N-GT, the Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS of Sascha
Maassen and Lucas Luhr took its second consecutive win. The GPC
Giesse Squadra Corse 360 GTC of Pescatori/de Simone spun off into
the gravel on lap 71, after running third in class. The team and
drivers are now third in their respective championships.
Despite the mid-race collision between the nr 1 and nr 2 Ferrari
550 Maranello cars, BMS Scuderia Italia still retains the lead in
the GT Championship. Gabriele Gardel - driver of the nr 1 car said:
"That's racing - such things just happen, even though it's
a shame when it happens with your team-mate. But it's been a good
race for us, otherwise." Provisionally, pending the appeal,
the team has a thirty-point lead in the Teams classification, with
JMB Racing lying second ahead of GPC Giesse Squadra Corse. In the
Drivers Classification, Gollin and Cappellari continue to lead,
with Bobbi and Gardel five points adrift.
The Lambo didn't show for this race, neither was there any Maserati
representation, nor any sign of the Scuderia Cavallinó 575
GTC of Tambay/Arnoux. Cynics might well be thinking by now that their
entry was just a publicity stunt.
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