Scuderia Ecosse collected a good haul of points at Silverstone yesterday, with its pair of Ferrari 360 GTC racers, during rounds 11 & 12 of the British GT Championship but only time will tell if it was enough for the Championship success the team is striving for. Saturday’s first qualifying session saw Nathan Kinch take his second pole position of the season and Chris Niarchos grab a fantastic fourth place. Session two was completely dominated by Andrew Kirkaldy who took his fourth pole of the year with a lap time two seconds faster than anyone else. A great lap by Tim Mullen put the other Ferrari into second spot giving the team the coveted 1-2 grid positions. 

The Scuderia Ferrari of Washington-entered Maserati Trofeo Light retired shortly before the half distance mark of yesterday's Salhen's 200 at Watkin's Glen, the eighth round of this year's Rolex Grand American Sportscar Series. The 200-mile race, held at the famous New York circuit, was being visited by the GrandAm runners for the second time in less than two months, and it was also the second and final time this year that the sportscar series was sharing the bill with the NASCAR Nextel Cup. The Trofeo Light, driven by Texan Stephen Earle, local driver Emil Assentato, and 2004 Daytona 24 Hours GTS-winner Joao Barbosa from Portugal, who recently replaced Nick Longhi in the team, ran steadily during the early hours of the race, which was hit by torrential rain.

Three different winners in three Trofeo Maserati Brasilia races. Testimony to a hard fought and exciting championship. This can be the only conclusion after Antonio Hermann’s success at the Nelson Piquet Circuit in Jacarepaguá last weekend. In taking the win, Hermann also becomes championship leader. He got the better of pre-race favourite Lico Kaesemodel, setter of the best times during the warm-up and qualifying sessions. The Curitiba born driver was involved in a crash with Paulo de Tarso four laps from the finish.

Minardi Cosworth launched into the first official day of the Hungarian Grand Prix – home race for driver, Zsolt Baumgartner – and made steady progress during Friday’s two one-hour sessions. There was a minor hiccough for the Budapest-based driver, when his car coasted into the pits 20 minutes into the morning session, the result of a sensor problem. This was rectified, however, and he was soon back on track.

Ferrari Friday free practice report from Hungary: 'After a break of almost three weeks, Formula 1 is back here in Budapest, with much cooler temperatures than we have experienced in the past at the Hungarian track. Today’s programme followed the usual pattern, with the team concentrating on finding the best set-up and on evaluating the two types of tyre available to us. We had a trouble-free day and are satisfied with the work achieved. Last year, we were off the pace at this circuit and, along with Bridgestone, we have worked very hard to improve on that situation."

The Krohn Barbour Racing Team were forced to withdraw both their Lamborghini Murcielago R-GT racers at the last round of the American Le Mans Series at Mosport in Canda, prior to the race due to fault suspension parts. The supplier of the parts in question said, "We supplied the original suspension parts to Lamborghini for the new R-GT and these have been successfully tested over a distance of 3000km and used in competition with Krohn-Barbour Racing and with teams racing in Japan. We produced further spares which were supplied to the team, but unfortunately these did not meet with our usual high standards of production quality."

Barron Connor will be racing in round 3 of the Le Mans Endurance Series at Silverstone this weekend. The team is placed 2nd in the championship with John Bosch, Danny Sullivan and Thomas Biagi, after the trio finished 2nd at the season's opener at Monza and 4th at the Nürburging last month. The team's other car with Jean-Denis Deletraz and Mike Hezemans was fifth at the 'Ring and will be looking for its first podium this weekend. Andrea Piccini is on standby as Mike Hezemans is ill at the moment. The Silverstone 1000km will start on Saturday August 14 at 14.00 hours and will be 195 laps long (plus the formation lap) or a maximum of 6 hours.

Reigning Italian Rally Champion Paolo Andreucci, and co-driver Anna Andreussi, recently visited the Fiat Belgium Junior Punto Rally Team, to test Bernd Casier's Punto Super 1600. Casier, with Frederic Miclotte alongside, is in the running for the 2004 title and Andreucci's appearance demonstrates his commitment to claiming the crown. Meanwhile Daisy Cols, is another frontrunner at the wheel of a Punto HGT in the N/3 class of the Belgian Rally Championship. Report & Photos: Marco Tenuti (PuntoPower).

Michael Solowow and Maciek Baran drove their Fiat Punto Abarth Super 1600 to an excellent 9th place overall on the last round of the Portuguese Rally Championship, the Rali Vinho da Maderia (29th-31st July). The Polish pair faced tough factory-backed opposition, with top names present, on a rally which is exclusively based on the island of Maderia, including Renato Travaglia, Luca Pedersoli, Jean Joseph Simon, Miguel Campos and Bruno Thiry. The two-leg rally was eventually won by Portuguese favourite Victor Sa at the wheel of a Peugeot 306 Maxi (Kit Car), who finished 2:15.7 ahead of WRC star Bruno Thiry in a Super 1600 Citroen C2. Solowow finished the event 13:29.1 behind the winning crew.

"This year's Hungarian race could see us claim the Constructors' Championship," said Michael Schumacher today. "As I did before the race at Hockenheim, I see this eventuality in quite a relaxed way. I am convinced that this title cannot be taken away from us and sooner or later it will be officially ours. We will certainly try to win it in Hungary but if we don't manage to do it, then it will happen later on. I like the Budapest circuit very much as it is technically demanding. The track has been modified a little since last year and now it is a more interesting circuit to drive. As happened with Ralf last year, overtaking is possible whereas before it was often considered critical. I expect a tough battle as Renault, BAR-Honda and McLaren-Mercedes have shown how strong they are. Despite this, we will be going all out to challenge for victory. I would also like to continue my run of wins..."

Partially due to the runaway success of the new, locally built Panda model, Fiat are looking to expand their operations in Poland. This will be achieved mainly through an increased presence from their Magnetti Marelli subsidiary, who will build an all-new shockabsorber manufacturing facility for their 'Suspension Systems Polska' division, as well as expanding the scope of 'Automotive Lighting Polska'. Fiat see Poland as an ideal market to invest in. "The main reasons are lower labour costs and a close proximity to the large German market. Second, Poland offers highly skilled workers," commented Adriano Fontana, president of Magnetti Marelli Poland.

Maserati's 90th anniversary celebrations will take place on 17th, 18th and 19th September with a convoy of Coupes and Spyders, each one detailed after a famous event during the 90 year history, going on a route which will unite Milan and Rome, stopping at the factory in Modena. After revealing the year-1957 Coupe, which remembers Juan Manuel Fangio's F1 title, and the year-1969 year Coupe, which commemorated man landing on the moon, Maserati have now offered a look at the year-1916 Spyder, which celebrates Einstein's 'Theory of Relativity'.

Risi Competizione's Ferrari 360 GTC, driven by regular pilots Ralf Kelleners and Anthony Lazzaro, finished a strong fourth in the GT class, and 11th overall, at yesterday's Grand Prix of Mosport, round six of the American Le Mans Series. Having started from 8th place on the GT grid, they completed 119 laps of the demanding Canadian course, one lap less than the winning Alex Job Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RSR of German duo Jorg Bergmeister and Timo Bernhard.

Fiat Punto Abarth pilot Xavier Pons once again proved his ability to bring a car to the finish on the toughest events, as he took the chequered flag today at the end of the Neste Rally of Finland to claim 9th in the Junior category, on an event dominated by the factory Suzuki Ignis pilots. As on the Acropolis Rally, Pons was the only Junior World Rally Championship Fiat driver to survive the harsh event. Luca Hoelbling was the first of the Punto pilots to disappear, the Italian out after an accident on stage four, while Alessandro Broccoli and local driver Akri Teiskonen, also at the wheel of a Super1600 Punto, both retired on SS9 after mechanical failures. Of the rest, Luca Tabaton went out at TC10, Alan Scorcioni dropped out on SS15, and Welshman Leon Pesticcio's event ended when he was excluded at TC18.

It has been reported that Phillip Morris are considering buying all the advertising space on the Formula One Ferraris not presently occupied by their Marlboro brand, when the rules outlawing tobacco sponsorship come into force. They consider that despite an absence of their decals, a plain red Ferrari would still create a strong consumer identification with Marlboro. Purchasing the extra space, currently occupied by Shell and Vodafone among others, would cost them an estimated additional US$150 million.

This morning at Fiorano, Scuderia Ferrari Marlboro carried out a shakedown of the three cars the team will use in the forthcoming Hungarian Grand Prix that takes place on Sunday 15th August at the Hungaroring circuit. Badoer completed a total of 12 laps, four on the short version of the track. The best time on the day was a 58.854. Circuit: Fiorano track, 2.976 km - short course 1.413 km, Driver: Luca Badoer, Car: Ferrari F2004, Weather: air temperature 25°C, track temperature 38°C; clear skies.

Phil Baastians fended off the race long close attentions of Tim Coronel and Rory Bertram to claim victory in round five of the Dutch Pearle Alfa 147 GTA Cup at Assen last Sunday, leaving the circuit with the championship lead, although with three races remaining the title race is still wide open. Baastians had claimed pole with a 1:31.381 lap, ahead of Tim Coronel, Rory Bertram and Oscar Middeldorp, the young Dutchman's domination of the meeting commencing from the word go.

Today has seen the third day of testing this week for the Maserati MC12 at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit in the south of France. Rain fell during today’s session in the afternoon but Andrea Bertolini and Iradj Alexander still completed the race simulation testing. The Ferrari Maserati Group test driver covered 53 laps while the Swiss driver ran 30. The best time of the day was 2:09.101, set with wet tyres. The work to develop the car destined for GT competition will continue tomorrow. The same drivers will be in the driving seat at the same circuit. Circuit: Paul Ricard HTTT – 5,759 km (version 1A - SC), Driver: Andrea Bertolini, Iradj Alexander, Car: MC12, Weather: air temperature 25 °C, track temperature 28 °C; overcast, then rain.

Audi have just released their financial report covering the first six months of the year. Their Lamborghini sportscar brand produced 922 cars, up 287% on last years total of 238 cars built between the beginning of January and the end of June.  In their report Audi state that "The revenue particularly of the Italian subsidiary Automobili Lamborghini Spa gave us cause for satisfaction rising substantially following last year's launch of the Gallardo." The 922 cars built were split between 747 mid-size Gallardo's (up from 28 year-on-year), and 196 of the larger Murcielago model (down from 239 in the corresponding period). The report also revealed that Lamborghini now has 730 employees, a rise from 638 a year ago.

Today has seen the second day of testing this week for Reparto Corse Maserati at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit in the south of France. Andrea Bertolini and Iradj Alexander shared driving duties at the wheel of the Maserati MC12. The Ferrari-Maserati Group sports test driver covered a total of 50 laps, while the Swiss did 40 laps, with a best time of 1:48.971. The development programme of the car, destined to compete in GT races, continues tomorrow at this track with the same driver line-up. Circuit: Paul Ricard HTTT – 5,759 km (version 1A - SC) Drivers: Andrea Bertolini, Iradj Alexander, Car: MC12, Weather: air temperature 25/32°C, track temperature 31/48°C; clear skies.

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