18.04.2004 Second straight FIA GT win for Fabrizio Gollin & Luca Cappellari in the BMS Ferrari as the Lamborghini makes the podium on its racing return

Race Start : 11:15
Total distance : 125 laps, 500.625 km, max 3 hrs
Starting Grid :  5 - 4 - 2- 1- 29 - 7 - 28 - 13 - 3 - 17 - 8 - 10 - 11 - 27 - 9 - 22 - 14 - 99 - 18 - 50 - 62 - 19 - 77 - 58 - 69 - 57
Weather : overcast,  quite cool and windy,  track dry but some extremely grey clouds overhead.

Start: Saleens make a good start, nr 4  briefly ahead and then the nr 5 regains the lead, pulling away from the rest of the field. Bobbi ahead of Gollin for third. Bouchut pushing hard in the nr 10 Viper. Alzen pulling away in the nr 5, already 2.23 seconds ahead at the end of the first lap
Lap 1 GT :  5 - 4- 1 - 2 - 29 - 3 - 13
 N-GT :  99 - 50 - 62 - 77
 Saleen nr 28 to the pits, into its garage, broken driveshaft
Lap 2 Alzen 2.885 ahead of Lechner Jr, with Bobbi only 0.3 ahead of Gollin
 Big fight between the BMS Ferrari cars
 Alzen fastest lap so far : 1:32.241
Lap 5 GT : 5 - 4 - 1- 2 - 29 - 3 - 13
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62
 Lechner Jr is now only 0.6 seconds behind the nr 5
Lap 8 Saleen nr 8 to the pits after going off the track and rejoining, replacing same tyres, added fuel
Lap 9 Lechner Jr takes the lead in the nr 4 car, the nr 5 drops back having slowed suddenly; the car appears to have a problem; it is smoking badly and pulls to the side of the track at turn 5. The clutch exploded.
Lap 9 GT : 4 - 1 - 2- 29 - 3 - 13 - 7 -10 - 17 - 27
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77 - 69 - 58 - 57
Lap 11 Ferrari 58 to the pits,  problem with the tyres, changed tyres
Lap 12 GT : 4 - 1 - 2 - 29 - 3 - 13 - 7
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77.  Maassen is 3.9 seconds ahead of Collard
Lap 13 Very close fight mid-field between the nr 7, nr 10 and nr 17, all within a second of each other, for 7th place
Lap 14 Gollin is pushing Bobbi in the fight for second place
Lap 15 GT : 4 - 1 - 2 - 29 - 3 - 13 - 7 - 10 - 17 - 27
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77 - 69
 Lap times are around 1:34 for the top 10 cars; Maassen is fastest of N-GT cars with 1:36 laps
Lap 16 The two BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello cars are still fighting hard; Bobbi is 0.5 ahead of Gollin.
 Further back, Hezemans, Erdos, Bouchut and Wendlinger are all close together, fighting for 6th
 Maassen is lapping half a second faster than Collard; the N-GT cars are from positions 16 onwards overall,
Lap 17 Ferrari 58 to the pits, continuing problems with tyres
Lap 18 Lamborghini nr 29 sets its best lap of the race so far : 1:33.645, running fourth.
 Erdos in the nr 7 RML Saleen overtakes Hezemans for 6th. Bouchut is close behind
Lap 19 Bouchut and Wendlinger fighting nose to tail for 8th position
Lap 20 Saleen nr 28 rejoins the race after long pit stop
 Lechner Jr now has a lead of 5.1 seconds over the rest of the field.  Bobbi and Gollin are fighting hard for second place, with the Lamborghini
Lap 21 Gollin overtakes Bobbi for second. The Lamborghini closes up behind Bobbi
 GT : 4 - 2 - 1- 29 - 23 - 7 - 13 - 17 - 10
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77
Lap 23 Ferrari nr 62 to the pits ; fuel, tyres and driver to Pescatori
Lap 24 Gollin is catching up with Walter Lechner Jr; the gap separating them is now down to 3.5 seconds. Bobbi has fallen back, but Gavin in the Lamborghini is still close behind Bobbi in 4th
Lap 25 Ferrari nr 13 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Naspetti
 Ferrari nr 22 to the pits - pushed into garage with possible chassis problem - retires
 GT : 4 -2 - 1 - 29 - 3 -  7 - 17 - 10
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 77 - 62
Lap 26 Race leader nr 4 Saleen is now only 2.4 seconds ahead of the nr 2 BMS Ferrari. Top 10 cars within 40 seconds of each other, with 6 different types of car represented
Lap 29 Lister nr 14 (Knapfield) in the gravel at turn 1
Lap 30 GT :  4 - 2 - 1 - 29 - 3 - 7 - 17 - 11 - 27
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 77 - 62
Lap 31 Car 58 receives a drive-through penalty  for speeding in the pit lane
Lap 32 Race leader nr 4 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Seiler - quite a long stop
 Ferrari nr 13 to the pits, problem with the alternator ; solves and rejoins
Lap 33 GT : 2 - 1 -  29 - 3 - 7 - 17 - 11 - 27 - 10
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 77 - 62.  The nr 99 is now lying 12th
Lap 34 Ferrari nr 3 in the gravel, Livio at the wheel - car towed to a safe position
Lap 35 Saleen nr 7 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Newton
 Gollin now has a 3.5 second lead over Bobbi, with Gavin third
Lap 36 Viper nr 10 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Val Hillebrand
Lap 37 Ferrari nr 1 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Gardel
 Ferrari nr 17 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Wolff
Lap 38 Lamborghini nr 29 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Kox
 Lister nr 27 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Derbyshire
 Ferrari nr 22 rejoins the race, Castro at the wheel, after long stop.
Lap 40 Race leader nr 2 to the pits; fuel, tyres and driver to Cappellari
This puts the nr 11 Ferrari in the lead, Peter at the wheel, not having stopped yet. The nr 99 N-GT leader is up to 5th place overall
 Viper nr 9 to the pits, fuel tyres and driver to Roos
Lap 41 11 - 2 - 29 - 99 - 1 - 18 - 50 - 17
Lap 42 Ferrari nr 18 to the pits, fuel tyres and driver to Khan
 Car 13 receives a drive through penalty for not being grounded during refuelling
Lap 43 Race leader nr 11 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Babini
 Saleen nr 28 to the pits, fuel, tyres
 Porsche nr 77 to pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Fomenko
Lap 44 Kox is now in the lead of the race in the Lamborghini Murciélago
 Maassen, leading N-GT, is up in 4th place overall
 29 - 2 - 11 - 99 - 1 - 17 - 50 - 4 - 27 - 7 - 10 - 18
Lap 45 Ferrari nr 19 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Garbagnati
 Ferrari nr 17 sets its fastest time so far
 Porsche nr 69 to the pits, fuel, changes rear tyres only; driver to Christian Ried
Lap 46 Saleen nr 8 to the pits, fuel tyres and driver to Goodwin - long stop with starter problems
 GT : 29 - 2 - 1- 17 - 11 - 4 - 27 - 7 - 18
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77
 The Lamborghini leads by 8.9 seconds ahead of the two BMS Ferrari cars. Seiler, in former race leader Konrad Saleen is down in 8th
Lap 47 Ferrari nr 13 to pits for penalty
Lap 49 The nr 29 has a lead of 13 seconds over the two BMS cars; Gardel is only 2 seconds behind Cappellari and lapping faster
Lap 50  GT :  29 - 2 - 1 - 17
 N-GT race leader nr 99 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Luhr
 Porsche nr 50 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Ortelli
Lap 51 Gardel is now 0.5 seconds behind Cappellari in fight for second place overall
Lap 52 Ferrari nr 13 to the pits,  same problem as the earlier
 Ferrari nr 58 to the pits; car is on fire - put out with extinguishers
Lap 53 29 - 2 - 1 - 17 - 11 - 4 -27 - 7
 N-GT :  99 - 50 - 62 - 77
 Gardel has now dropped back slightly
Lap 55 Porsche 57 in the pits,fuel, tyres and driver to Vonka
Lap 56 Gardel nose to tail with Cappellari again
 Viper nr 9 in the gravel at turn 4
Lap 58 Gardel tries to overtake Cappellari, cars nose to tail. The Lamborghini has a lead of nearly 20 second
 Wolff is doing very well in the nr 17 JMB Ferrari, lying 4th at this point,
Lap 59 Saleen nr 7 to the pits,
 Close fight at the front, with the nr 2, 1 and 17 Ferrari cars within 1.1 seconds of each other. 
Lap 61 GT : 29 - 2 - 1 - 17 - 11 - 4 - 27
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77
Lap 62  JMB Ferrari nr 17 trying to pass the nr 1 BMS Ferrari
Lap 63 The nr 29 has  a lead of 23 seconds over the rest of the field. It is followed by a train of four Ferraris, with a big battle between the first three.  Seiler, in the nr 4 Saleen, is sixth, with the Creation Lister 7th and the leading N-GT car eighth
Lap 64 Ferrari nr 13 to the pits for the 5th time…pushed into the garage - retires with alternator problems
Lap 66 Ferrari nr 11 to the pits, problem front left wheel hub - retired with front suspension failure
Lap  68 GT : 29 - 2 - 1 - 17 - 4 - 18 - 10 - 27
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77
Lap 69 Ferrari nr 62 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to De Simone
Lap 71 BMS nr 1 moves up to second place ahead of the nr 2; the nr 17 JMB Ferrari is now trying to overtake the nr 2
Lap 72 Viper nr 10 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to
 RML Saleen nr 8 to the pits; car has to restart in front of Stewards
 Ferrari n 2 to the pits , fuel, right tyres changed , driver to Gollin
 Ferrari nr 17 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Robert Lechner
Lap 74 Lister nr 27 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Campbell-Walter
 Ferrari nr 1 to the pits, fuel, right-hand tyres and driver to Bobbi
Lap 75 Porsche 77 to the pits, fuel tyres and driver to Vasiliev
 Saleen nr 4 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Walter Lechner
 Saleen nr 7 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Erdos;
 Repaired starter motor on the nr 8, repaired
 Viper nr 9 to the pits, fuel, tyre and driver to Abbelen
Lap 78 Race leader nr 29 to the pits,  fuel, tyres and driver to Gavin; long pit stop, loses time
 Ferrari nr 18 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Bliener
 Saleen nr 28 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Lancieri
Lap 79 Gollin is back in the lead of the race, after the nr 29 made its pit stop
 GT : 2 - 1 - 17 - 29 - 4 - 18 - 27
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77
Lap 80  Ferrari nr 19 to the pits, fuel, tyres and driver to Daoudi
 Walter Lechner is close behind the Lamborghini in battle for fourth. Robert Lechner is ahead of the Lamborghini in third
Lap 81 Lechner overtakes for fourth place; he is now chasing his brother Robert. There are 45 minutes of the race remaining
Lap 82 The Lamborghini is still staying with the nr 4 Saleen and is just 0.7 behind.
Lap 85 GT : 2 - 1 - 17 - 4 - 29
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77 - 69 - 57
Lap 86 Viper nr 9 to the pits, gearbox problem  - in the garage - retires due to gearbox
Lap 87 The nr 4 is now only 3.9 seconds behind the nr 17
Lap 89 Walter Lechner overtakes his brother for third place
Lap 90 GT : 2 - 1 - 4 - 29 - 17 - 27 - 7
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77
Lap 90 The Lamborghini is right behind the nr 4 Saleen
Lap 91 Porsche nr 77 spins into the gravel at turn 13 - stuck
Lap 92 nr 4 Saleen and nr 29 Lamborghini are nose to tail
Lap 94 The nr 29 Lamborghini overtakes the nr 4 Saleen for third position
Lap 95 Saleen nr 4 to the pits, problem at the rear, car retires, broken driveshaft
 Porsche nr 99 to the pits, fuel, tyres 
 GT : 2 - 1 - 29 - 17 -  27
 N-GT : 50 - 99 - 62
Lap 97 Porsche nr 77 comes back to the pits after gravel excursion…rejoins
Lap 99 Porsche nr  69 - fuel tyres and driver to Marcinkiewicz
 Porsche nr 50 - fuel tyres and driver to Collard
Lap 100 GT : 2 - 1 - 29 - 17 - 27 - 18 - 10 - 19
 N-GT : 99 - 50 - 62 - 77 - 69
Lap 101 Porsche nr 50 in the gravel after going wide, Collard at the wheel
 Viper nr 10 into the gravel, Arjan van der Zwaan at the wheel; the car had been 10th overall, 8th in GT
Lap 102 GT : 2 - 1- 29 - 17 - 27 - 7 - 18 - 19
 The leading N-GT car is in 7th position overall : 99 - 62 - 50
Lap 104 The nr 7 Saleen is close behind the nr 27 Lister Storm, fighting for 5th position, with Erdos and Campbell-Walter doing very similar lap times around 1:34.4
 Erdos takes 5th place at the start of the pit straight
Lap 105 2 - 1 - 29 - 17 - 7 - 27 - 99 - 18 - 62 - 19
Lap 107 Gollin still leads by 24 seconds ahead of the nr 1 BMS car, with the nr 29 Lamborghini third, 34 seconds behind. There are five different models of car in the top six …
Lap 110 2 -1 - 29 - 17 - 7 - 27 - 99 - 18 - 19 - 62 - 10 - 50 - 77 - 8 - 69 - 57
Lap 112 Campbell-Walter retakes 5th on final lap as Erdos slows, out of fuel
 2 - 1- 29 - 17 - 27 - 7 - 18 - 19 - 10
 N-GT : 99 - 62 - 50 - 77 - 69 - 57

14:14 Chequered flag :  2nd win of 2004 for the nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello, Gollin and Cappellari; their third consecutive win.
1st podium for the Lamborghini Murciélago of Kox and Gavin
All three JMB Racing cars finish in the points
 
First win for Lucas Luhr in his second race in the Championship
Ortelli, Collard, Pescatori and De Simone are tied in the lead of the N-GT Drivers Classification