This morning at Fiorano, Scuderia Ferrari carried out a shakedown of the three cars the team will use in the forthcoming German Grand Prix that takes place on Sunday at the Hockenheim circuit. Badoer completed a total of 12 laps, half of them on the short version of the track. The best time on the day was a 57.096.

James Thompson will be drafted into the AutoDelta line-up again for the next round of the FIA European Touring Car Championship at Spa at the end of this month. After his successful outing last time out at Donington Park, which saw him claim a race win and take points from BMW, AutoDelta are keen to utilise him where his BTCC commitments leave him clear. It will be a hectic day for Thompson. After the two ETCC races during the early afternoon, he will make a swift plane, and then helicopter, ride back to England, where he is scheduled to get married at 5pm.

The appeal on behalf of JMB Racing car nr 17 (Karl Wendlinger) against the decision of the Stewards of the Meeting at Donington Park on June 27th, concerning the 5-minute time penalty imposed on the car, will be heard on Tuesday, July 20th, in Paris. The decision will be announced on Wednesday July 21st in the afternoon.

Ferrari's week of testing came to an end today, once again with two cars in action at two different circuits. At Monza Luca Badoer concluded an intensive four day test and at Jerez, Michael Schumacher had his second day at the wheel, following on from Rubens Barrichello who had run on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Scuderia’s official test driver continued with a Bridgestone tyre development programme, as well as trying new car components with a view to their use in forthcoming races. Badoer covered a total of 106 laps, the quickest being a 1:22.011. Michael Schumacher continued working on set-up, tyres and new aerodynamic components at the Jerez circuit. He completed a total of 107 laps, with a best time of 1:17.383.

The Fiat Punto Abarth Rally (Super 1600) of Sergio Vallejo has finished in second place on the 28th Rally de Alves, the 6th round of Spanish Rally Championship. The next event of Spanish Rally Championship will be the Rallye Principe de Asturias on 11-12th September.

Malaysian-based team Amprex Motorsports, who are participating in round 4 of the JGTC at the Tokachi International Speedway this weekend, have made some major improvements to their new Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT. Team director Hong Heng Soon said that among the improvements was a new front splitter, new rear axle and a new system for the gear power-shift, commenting “The car is much better now than its first appearance in Sepang with less roll and quicker and smoother gear changes”. The changes were supervised by personnel from Reiter Engineering and with support from Lamborghini.

Third day of testing this week for Ferrari, running today at Jerez and Monza. Michael Schumacher was at the wheel today at the Spanish circuit, with a programme centred on set-up work as well as tyre and new components testing at the wheel of an F2004. The German driver covered a total of 69 laps, the quickest being a 1:17.890. At Monza, Luca Badoer continued with his work, with a tyre test programme. The Scuderia's official test driver completed a total of 70 laps with a best time of 1:22.040. The Scuderia continues testing tomorrow, with Schumacher and Badoer still driving at Jerez and Monza respectively.

Tuesday was the second day of testing this week for Ferrari, the team running at both Jerez and Monza. Rubens Barrichello was in action again at the Spanish circuit, with a programme centred on testing tyres and new components at the wheel of an F2004. The Brazilian driver covered a total of 90 laps, the quickest being a 1:17.571. At Monza, Luca Badoer continued with his work, carrying out a long distance run. The Scuderia's official test driver completed a total of 123 laps with a best time of 1:21.603. The team are continuing to test today, with Luca Badoer again at Monza, while Michael Schumacher takes to the track at Jerez.

Yesterday was the second day of testing this week for the Reparto Corse Maserati at the Mugello circuit. Once again, Andrea Bertolini and Mika Salo shared driving duties at the wheel of the MC12. Bertolini completed 64 laps, the quickest in 1:47.118, while Salo did 48 laps, with a best time of 1:47’.018. Development of the car destined to race in the GT category continues today at this track with the same driver line-up.

Fiat Auto CEO Herbet Demel yesterday outlined a growth strategy which will see the Italian company focus on penetrating Europe-wide markets more effectively in an effort to end an historic over reliance on the domestic market. Speaking at a gathering of car manufacturers in Turin, Demel commented, "Today we are a company which depends still too much on the Italian market." His strategy will see Fiat become, "Progressively ever more committed to innovation of the product and of quality, to penetration of the European markets and to the progressive growth of income."

While the Maserati MC12 continues to cause debate over its arrival in sportscar racing, the development program continues apace with the car heading for Pirelli's private Vizzola test track last week to undertake simulated all weather testing. Vizzola is a combined network of straight, twisting and circular tracks, covering about 85,000 square metres, a third of which can be wetted to simulate conditions ranging from light drizzle to a monsoonal downpour. Everything that happens on those tracks is controlled from a 25 metre tower, the laboratory's electronic nerve centre.

Last Sunday saw the first ever race for the new Maserati Trofeo Brasilia. The new series for identically prepared Maserati Trofeo racers, follows in the footsteps of the successful European series, now well into its second year. Sixteen drivers arrived at the 3.707km Curitiba circuit in Brazil for the first race. Victory was eventually claimed by the pole winner, 23-year-old Leandro Schmit, who finished seven seconds clear of the pre-race favourite, Lico Kaselmodel, while Paulo de Tarso grabbed the final podium slot.

Maserati are working hard to revise the MC12 sportscar in time for a competitive debut next year after the FIA World Council rejected its application to race. This means that the car, which the council found to be outside the spirit of the regulations, will not now appear as planned in the closing rounds of FIA GT series this year. The major areas of contention focus around the overhangs at both the front and rear, which will now have to be dramatically curtailed.

Ferrari will make available an upgrade kit for their 575 GTC sportscar in time for the Spa 24 Hour race at the end of this month. N-Technology, who built the car and who have conducted an extensive development program throughout the early summer, have made improvements in a number of key area. They have improved the aerodynamic package as well as making revisions to the suspension and boosting power from the engine.

French team DAMS who had to shelve plans to make their FIA GT debut at Donington Park last month, with a Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT, after contractual and delivery issues arose, now expect to make their series debut at Imola on 5th September. The team expect to have two cars delivered by then and they will then take in the remaining rounds of the series. Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz will drive one R-GT, with a pair of 'Gentleman' drivers lined up in the other.

Today was the first day of testing this week for Ferrari, running at both Jerez de la Frontera and Monza. Rubens Barrichello was in action at the Spanish circuit, working on a tyre testing and set-up programme at the wheel of an F2004. The Brazilian driver covered a total of 66 laps, the quickest being a 1.18.592. Another F2004 was on hand in Monza, with Luca Badoer at the wheel. The Scuderia’s official test driver worked on a tyre and aerodynamic testing programme. Badoer completed a total of 51 laps with a best time of 1.22.438. The Scuderia continues testing tomorrow, again with Barrichello in Jerez and Badoer at Monza.

North Korea appears to have pulled out of a joint venture with Fiat which sees the Siena 'World Car' and Doblo light van built a facility in the country. Ryonbong Corporation, owned by the North Korean government, builds the models, dubbed as the Pyonghwa Hwiparam (Whistle) and the Ppeokkugi (Cuckoo) respectively. The secretive communist North Korean government suffers from a lack of ability to deal with foreign firms, and pulling the plug on the 'technical partnership' with Fiat, is expected to possibly prove a fatal flaw to their car building aspirations.

Giandomenico Bassa and Mitia Dotta comfortably won the 24th Rally San Martino di Castrozza e Primiero at the weekend, the seventh round of the Italian Rally Championship. The pair, driving a Movisport Fiat Punto Abarth Super, also claimed the Super 1600 victory, and finished more than a minute ahead of Andrea Navarra's Subaru Impreza STi. In third place was the Super 1600 Peugeot 206 of Renato Travaglia, while fourth place, and third in Super 1600, went to the Procar-run Fiat Punto Abarth of Paolo Andreucci and Anna Andreussi. Alessandro Bettaga in a Vimotorsport Punto came home 11th overall and 7th in class, while in the Stilo Cup, Davide Medici beat series leader Andrea Perego by just 12 seconds.

BMS Scuderia Italia, reigning FIA GT Champions and current leaders in the classification, have announced their line-up for the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa: The no 1 car will be shared by Matteo Bobbi, Gabriele Gardel, Stefano Livio and Miguel Angel de Castro 

Pole position for the crew of Italy’s Ravasio/Alessi who set a 2:05.253 in the Trofeo Vodafone Maserati Europa 2004 for the race that takes place tomorrow, Sunday, at Silverstone as a curtain raiser to the British Grand Prix

Alfa Romeo AutoDelta Squadra Corse completed three days of testing at Brno in the Czech Republic this week with a single Alfa Romeo 156 Super 2000 on hand for Gabriele Tarquini and Augusto Farfus Jr to drive. The work of the AutoDelta Squadra Corse Development Team during the test, which ran from Tuesday to Thursday, was focused around checking a new “engine step” as well as tyre solutions.

 More News