05.09.2004 "For us, it was an important test to see how the car would behave in a race situation and to collect information during the race" post FIA GT race reaction from Imola

2^nd in GT: Andrea Bertolini - nr 33 AF Corse Maserati MC12: "It was a very special race for me. After nine months of developing the car this was the first time we drove a race. The team did a very good job.

"For us, it was an important test to see how the car would behave in a race situation and to collect information during the race."

2^nd in GT: Mika Salo - nr 33 AF Corse Maserati MC12: "We didn't have any problems at all this weekend. It didn't get all too hot inside of the car, it was actually quite nice in there.

"There was no way to beat the Saleen, though. They were incredibly quick. But now they'll have extra weight for Oschersleben. We'll see what happens there. In any case, we will try very hard to win."

3^rd in GT: Fabrizio de Simone - nr 34 AF Corse Maserati MC12: "Its a good result, I'm very happy to be on the GT podium for once! I'm not really experienced with the car yet. Pirelli did great work. The car was very consistent as well, and easy to drive. It was actually quite fresh inside."

3^rd in GT: Johnny Herbert - nr 34 AF Corse Maserati MC12: "My first race in this series! It was a very interesting experience. I tried my best to understand the car, and I think I learned a lot about it during the race. Now I can work with that."

4^th in GT: Luca Cappellari - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "I'm very happy. We had 100 kilos ballast on board and it was very hard to race with that, particularly as the track is not an easy one either.

"We used hard tyres, as we were working for the Championship and wanted to score as much points as possible. Fabrizio and the whole team did a really fantastic job."

4^th in GT: Fabrizio Gollin - nr 2 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello: "With the high temperatures, it was a really tough race. I think the next round will be the fifth consecutive race we'll drive with 100 kilos.

"That might be our record! It was important for us to finish the race, because of the Drivers’ championship – which I really want to win!"

5^th in GT: Lilian Bryner - nr 3 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello: "The heat was impossible, almost dangerous at times. We came through the field well after having had some problems with the set-up in qualifying yesterday.

"The car was much better today, easier to handle even with the 100kg. We are really happy with this third place as we wanted to finish the race without any risk because that's important for the Championship."

5^th in GT: Enzo Calderari - nr 3 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : "I think we had a very good strategy today as we tried to stop only twice without making a splash. The tyres we had were perfect but with the 100 kilos ballast it was very difficult to drive the car – and with the heat of course!

"I think we should thank Frederic Dor of Care Racing for providing us with three perfect cars that allow us to always finish races on the podium."

5^th in GT: Stefano Livio - nr 3 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello: "I'm very happy. I started in tenth position but I knew my potential and that I could improve our position in the race. After only a short time I had a very good feeling with the car and passed many cars in front of me."

6th in GT: Gabriele Gardel – nr 1 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello: “We are really happy about the Championship as we have now won the title, which is really great for our team, who have done a good job. It was also good for us, as we finished fourth, but we had unbelievable troubles.

"I did my stint with old tyres, as usual, and I had misunderstandings with Cappellari. He seemed to brake early, but it was my mistake, I did not realise where his braking points were, and I went very wide.

"My tyres were really bad but I tried to go on, but then a tyre exploded. I was lucky to be able to get the car back to the pits.

"My biggest problem was that I could not breathe properly in the car; I do not know what the problem is. We finished fourth, and I think we are still OK for the second place in the Championship.”

8th in GT: Gianni Morbidelli – nr 13 GPC Giesse Squadra Corse Ferrari 575 GTC: "In the beginning, Livio made a mistake and just pushed me out. Of course I lost a lot of time there. In the end, during the last pitstop we had a problem with the refuelling and lost even more time, so I'm very sorry because we could have been on the podium today.

"We had a good car, and we were going really well. We did really good lap times and it would have been good to have a better result at home in Italy."

14th in GT: Jean-Paul Driot – team owner, DAMS: “We are especially pleased to have one car that finished the race. Even if the development car ran in Valencia, the conditions today were totally different.

"We only received one car ten days before Imola, and the other car 24 hours before the event. We also had to make quite a few changes to the car according to the technical regulations.

"We lost a lot of time, we discovered problems, the whole team worked right through two nights. With the heat, the pressure of the race and all these problems, it was difficult to get a good set-up. But I knew it would be difficult this weekend. It is always the same with a car ‘out of the box’.

"Now we have to analyse as much as possible to fix all we can before Oschersleben. I hope it will be cooler there, as one of our biggest problems is that we cannot open the lateral windows on the Lamborghini, so the only ventilation is a small intake on the roof we put in this weekend.

"We made steady progress through the weekend; in his last stint, Andrea Piccini was lapping the 4th fastest of the cars out there, which shows that the car has potential. But that is why we are doing the four last races, to iron out all these problems and to be up to speed in 2005 and win races.”