09.10.2004 "It has been a really perfect weekend for us, we set the best lap in free practice, were ahead in qualifying and now we've won the race" BMS Scuderia Italia FIA GT race report from Dubai

The new Dubai Autodrome hosted an extremely exciting penultimate round of the FIA GT Championship today, with a breath-taking race around the 5.39km circuit.

In extremely hot and humid temperatures, men and machines gave the spectators a fascinating display of GT driving, in a race that finished – unexpectedly – after nightfall due to a delay in proceedings after the ETCC race earlier in the afternoon. 

Gabriele Gardel put in the drive of his life in his Care Racing supported BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello, shared with Matteo Bobbi, catching and battling with the Maserati of Herbert and De Simone towards the end of the three hour race.

On differing strategies, Gardel exited the pits for his final stint 34 seconds behind the Maserati, and then proceeded to gradually close the gap until five laps before the end.

"The two cars then battled nose to tail for a couple of laps, with Gardel taking the lead when the Maserati had to make a last minute splash and dash. The result guaranteed second place in the GT Drivers’ Championship for the Swiss/Italian pairing.

Thomas Biagi, making a successful return to his spiritual ‘family’ brought home the Care Racing entry in 3rd place on the track (2nd in the points), thus securing the points needed for Lilian Bryner and Enzo Calderari to move into joint third place in the Drivers’ Championship and strengthen their claim for the position at the end of the season.

GT Champions Fabrizio Gollin and Luca Cappellari did extremely well to cross the line in 5^th place after carrying a monumental 150kg of ballast on their 6 litre, V12 Prodrive engined Ferrari 550 for the entire duration of the race meeting.

Matteo Bobbi (I), BMS Scuderia Italia car no. 1: "It has been a really perfect weekend for us. We set the best lap in free practice, were ahead in qualifying and now we've won the race. We had a really bad season this year, and today we proved that we are able to win once we have a weekend without any problems coming up. I had to push really hard in my stint, then Gabriele got into the car and he did a really good job.

"It was maybe the best race of his career. I'm so proud for the team and would like to thank everybody as well. My ex-teammate [Thomas Biagi] is here this weekend as well - it seems that whenever he's with me, I'm having good races, so I have to thank him as well!"

Gabriele Gardel (CH), BMS Scuderia Italia car no. 1:  "It was a fantastic race. To win the first race here in Dubai is really a dream! The fight with the Maserati at the end was really nice, very clean. I tried to do my best, but he did a good job to protect his position. In the end, it all worked out. I don't really know what else to say. It's fantastic!"

Lilian Bryner (CH), Care Racing car no. 3: "I would like to thank Thomas for the fantastic first stint, and Enzo. I was in the car for the second, and it was really, really hard – especially because of the heat. I'm really happy that we finished second. We are now fighting for third place in the Championship, which is very important to us."

Enzo Calderari (CH), Care Racing car no. 3: "We had a nice strategy. We only made two pit stops - but that was very hard. In the end it paid off, even though we had a couple of misfires. But doing three one-hour-stints was the right strategy for us, as it brought us on the podium. It was not easy for all of us, though."

Thomas Biagi (I), Care Racing car no. 3: “The race was very nice for me! I really enjoy being back in the Championship again. It's great to be here for the first race at Dubai! It turned out to be a really good race for us, after we had some troubles in qualifying.

"To start from 12th position and finish second in great, I think. I also have to congratulate the Dubai track, the organization and Stéphane Ratel, because they put a lot of effort in and everything was just perfect in this first race here!"