26.03.2004 'We had a number of problems, with a misfire in the engine in the morning & the afternoon & then I had a puncture', Free Practice driver quotes from Monza

Matteo Bobbi - nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "It has not gone so well for me today. We had a number of problems, with a misfire in the engine in the morning. In the afternoon, we were working for the race, but still had a misfire, and then I had a puncture, so I only did two or three real laps.

"But I feel the car had good potential, and I was surprised that I was so high up the time sheet despite not finishing the session. Tomorrow, I think Gollin will be faster than me, this is not my track, and I think he is faster here.

"The Saleens are very dangerous for us, especially Bartels and Alzen, if they have no reliability problems, it will be a hard fight. I am very happy with the progress made by Gabriele Gardel today; he set some good times this morning."

Fabrizio Gollin - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "Friday is always difficult, as you never know what other people are doing. But the Saleen is very quick, that is certain. As for us, I know the car well, and I know the team, and we can do better times tomorrow, although I am sure everyone else can too, we just don't know by how much. 

"We mainly tested endurance today, checking to see how far we can go on the fuel. It is very important to only make two stops on Sunday, and not to have to come in for a splash and dash, as the race will go the full 500 km distance and not three hours."

Fabio Babini - nr 11 GPC Giesse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "We tried a different setup solution in the afternoon, and it is going a bit better. We are mainly working for the race, not for qualifying. We have some top speed problems, but this is a brand new car and brand new team, so we all have to work and learn to work together."

Mike Hezemans - nr 13 GPC Giesse Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "It's nice to be in Ferrari, to add to all the other cars I have driven in the Championship. Our aim this weekend is for endurance, not for speed. I only did six or seven laps today, but it went OK."

Peter Kutemann - nr 19 JMB Ferrari 575 M Maranello: "It is quite a step up to the Ferrari 575 M Maranello, so I have to get used to the car. It is mainly a question of placing the feet properly on the pedals, to get the right pressure, and that takes concentration. The car is fantastic, we still need to work on the set-up a bit, but there is plenty of power.

"We will try to race with just Antoine and myself, but as it is very intensive, we have Stéphane Daoudi on standby to help us out. I am really looking forward to the season, especially Dubai and Zhuhai at the end of the year."

Fabrizio De Simone - nr 62 GPC Giesse Ferrari: "It's going quite well, and I'm quite happy with both the morning and afternoon sessions. The car is completely new, so this is just a shakedown. I have a good feeling for the car; I feel the new step up is working well, and I am very confident.  The level of the cars competing in the category is very high, and I think it will be a very hard, very interesting fight on Sunday."