01.08.2004 “The car is really good, and I had a great double stint. Without any mistakes, I still think we will be right up there at the end”: BMS Scuderia Italia FIA GT mid-race report from Spa

At halfway point, the two Care Racing supported BMS Scuderia Italia cars are running strongly with the nr.2 car of Fabrizio Gollin, Luca Cappellari, Enzo Calderari and Lilian Bryner in the lead, just ahead of the Ferrari 575 GTC of Salo, Vosse, Babini and Peter.

These two cars have swapped the lead between them for the majority of the race, dependant upon pit stops – the last of which was carried out under a safety car/yellow flag period.

The team profited from this by taking the opportunity to change brake discs and pads as well as drivers, tyres and refuelling. 

It has not been a race without incident for the Ferrari 550 Maranello of Matteo Bobbi, Gabriele Gardel, Stefano Livio and Miguel Angel de Castro. A brush with an RML Saleen after four hours of racing caused some front bodywork damage but this was repaired with tape during routine pit stops with little loss of time. 

The car did, however, have to be pulled into the garage at 2340 hrs for repairs to extensive front bodywork damage following an unfortunate incident while Stefano Livio was at the wheel.

In common with many other drivers’ reports up and down the pitlane, Livio came across and picked up a large piece of debris on the track which caused the front of his car to lift. The subsequent loss of control meant that he was unable to avoid hitting the barriers head-on. There was no damage to the engine or suspension but a new splitter, radiator, bumper, air intakes and headlights needed fitting which caused a stop of 50 minutes and saw the car rejoin in 18th position.

Gabriele Gardel led the car’s charge back into contention with a storming double stint which saw him clawing back positions and gradually moving back up the time sheets. The BMS car is now in 10th place overall, 4th in the GT category.

Miguel Angel de Castro, car nr 1: “I had been following an RML Saleen for a couple of laps and was trying to get past him and, in the Bus Stop, I had another go but we hit. I’m annoyed with myself for making the mistake, it wasn’t professional, but luckily it didn’t affect the handling of the car.”

Lilian Bryner, car nr. 2 (after first stint): “It seems much harder work than usual. You have to concentrate really hard to avoid slower cars and it’s hard to get into a rhythm as you come across them all the time. You find yourself getting very tense in the car and I had to keep saying to myself 'Relax'. I felt very tired when I got out.”

Stefano Livio, car nr. 1: “I hit a big piece of debris at turn 13 (just before Stavelot) and it lifted the front of the car. With no control over it, it got away from me and I hit the barriers.”

Gabriele Gardel, car nr: 1 (after double stint in hours of darkness): “The car is really good, and I had a great double stint. Without any mistakes, I still think we will be right up there at the end.”