24.03.2004 JMB RACING AND GPC SQUADRA CORSE ARE HEADING TO MONZA WITH FIVE OF THE NEW FERRARI 575 GTC RACERS BETWEEN THEM
Five
months after a fascinating weekend of competition brought the 2003 season to a
close, the teams and drivers are heading back to Monza, which will host the
first round of this year's FIA GT Championship.
There has been an influx of Ferrari 575 GTC cars for 2004, with three entered by JMB Racing and two by new team G.P.C Giesse Squadra Corse. They will be up against the tried, tested and reliable 550 Maranello cars of reigning Champions BMS Scuderia Italia, with a further 550 entered by Wieth Racing.
GPC Giesse
Squadra Corse will be led by JMB Racing refugees, Peter and Babini, while the
second 575 GTC will be in the hands of Dutch driver Mike Hezemans and Italian
Emanuele Naspetti, last seen behind the wheel of a Team Rafanelli Ferrari 550
Maranello during the 2001 season, when he gave Ferrari its first overall pole in
the Championship.
Mike Hezemans has competed in more rounds of the FIA GT Championship than any
other driver, and driven more different makes of car; the Ferrari will bring his
total number up to eight.
As well as entering two 575 GTC's in the GT class, GPC will
be competing in the N-GT class, with a Ferrari 360 Modena in the extremely
competent hands of Italians Christian Pescatori and Fabrizio De Simone.
Pescatori won the 2001 N-GT Championship with a JMB Competition Ferrari, while
De Simone was victorious on four occasions last year, driving alongside Andrea
Bertolini.
JMB meanwhile, will be entering three brand-new Ferrari 575 GTC cars in the FIA
GT Championship, and is aiming to play a leading role in 2004. The car proved
its potential by winning its very first race, at Estoril in 2003, followed up by
a fourth place in the season finale in Monza.
The leading car will be in the hands of a 100% Austrian team,
led by Karl Wendlinger, a former Formula One and DTM driver. He is joined by
Robert Lechner, who has had a strong career in single-seaters, and Toto Wolff,
who has amassed significant experience in the FIA GT Championship.
The second car will be driven by experienced Belgian former N-GT pilot Bert Longin,
Britain's Ian Khan and Swiss driver Christophe Pillon, a previous double winner
of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP 675 category. The third GT class entry will be in the hands of
'Gentleman' drivers, Peter Kutemann and Antoine Gosse, who drove for the team in 2003, in
one of their N-GT class
Ferrari 360 Modenas.
"This will be a big challenge for me because the standards are put a little
higher" said Bert Longin. "Of course, JMB's aim is to win races - and that is my
ambition too. From the first race in Monza onwards, I will be fighting hard; I
really would like to reach the top of the FIA GT Championship."
2004 also sees JMB return to Michelin, renewing a partnership which previously claimed two world titles, the Sports Racing World Cup in 1998, with a Ferrari 333SP and the FIA N-GT Championship in 2001 with a Ferrari 360 Modena.