18th October 2003

BMS SCUDERIA ITALIA OPTIMISTIC FOR MONZA GT FINALE

The Care Racing supported BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari team is distinctly upbeat on the eve of the final round of the FIA GT Championship at Monza with three 550 Maranellos in the top seven positions, and ahead of the JMB team's new Ferrari 575s.

Anthony Kumpen put the Force One Chrysler Viper on pole position by three-tenths of a second, and Fabrizio Gollin will start the 3-hour (or 500 kilometre) race alongside him. "For me the Viper time is impossible," says Gollin, adding with a smile: "The Viper has broken down in the last nine races, and I hope it will happen again tomorrow! We have 45 kilogrammes of success ballast so I am happy to start from the front row."

Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderari and Stefano Livio start their Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello from fourth position on the grid, with a very competitive time set by Livio. "The car handles very nicely, I am sure it will be good tomorrow" said Lilian Bryner after qualifying. "We can still be second in the championship with a good result, so that is our aim."

Calderari expects that "if we finish the race safely, we will be on the podium for sure. It may even be possible to finish the season with a win, the car is that good."

Carrying 70 kg of success ballast, Thomas Biagi and Matteo Bobbi will start the Monza race from seventh position in their Championship winning BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari. "The first session was not so good, because Thomas found traffic and a few tenths here makes a big difference" says Bobbi. "I set the third fastest time in the second session, so I am happy. It will be a problem if it rains tomorrow. We'll be starting seventh, which is not super good, but we'll try to do a good job from there."

Says BMS Chief Engineer, Marco Gadola: "Having won the championship, they are taking a conservative approach. Seventy kilos is a lot to carry around Monza, they have to take care of the brakes."

Team Director, Tiziano Minuti, was optimistic for the team's chances in the Italian race. "The Viper is fast, but our analysis shows that we can beat it. I think we can win tomorrow, I certainly hope so. What I want is for our cars to overtake the new 575s and finish in front!"

Passing may not be necessary, as the two JMB Ferrari 575s start from the fifth row of the grid, two seconds off pole position. Babini and Peter had a throttle problem in the morning and had to set their time in the generally slower afternoon session, but all the V12 Ferraris have been consistent and reliable in two days of practising and qualifying.