11.01.2004 JMB RACING GEAR UP FOR THE NEW SEASON WHICH WILL BE THEIR MOST AMBITIOUS TO DATE

The JMB Racing team principals with the three Ferrari 575GTC cars they plan to race this season. Click here to enlarge.

Sportscar racing stalwarts, JMB Giesse Racing, are presently gearing up for their most ambitious racing year yet. This coming season will see them line up no less than three of the new Ferrari 575GTC racers in a program still under evaluation. They will upgrade their N-GT class 360 Modenas for the new 360 GTC, first revealed in Bologna, and finally, take delivery of the first much awaited Maserati GT sportscar.

It will be for the team, synonymous with racing the Ferrari brand, their seventh season in top class international sportscar racing. Since they first started, running the Ferrari 333SP in 1998, they have captured eight titles worldwide. Along the way they have claimed 26 victories, 42 visits to the podium, 18 pole positions and 16 lap records, a strong achievement of which the team are rightly proud.

Most recently they made the news with Ferrari's new customer program 575GTC. Derived from the road-going 575 M, the 575 GTC is race ready to enter the GT class of the FIA GT series and the GTS class of the ALMS series. JMB took delivery of the first two examples last autumn and scored a stunning debut victory in the penultimate round of the FIA GT series at Estoril. The new car, in the hands of Phillipp Peter and Fabio Babini, fended off strong opposition from race-proven machinery which included the Prodrive-built Ferrari 550 Maranello, Lister Storm, Chrysler Viper and Saleen S7-R.

Most interesting of all is the news that the team will take delivery of the first customer Maserati GT racer. This eagerly awaited car, which uses elements of the 600bhp 6.0-litre V12 Ferrari Enzo supercar, heralds the marque's return to top-line racing and is expected to raise the sportscar standard. JMB Racing have confirmed that the will run a single Maserati GT as soon as it is available, although no timescale has been set.

As the popular team prepare for their most exciting year yet, they have still to confirm a driver and program line-up although it can be expected to centre on a FIA GT series challenge for both GT and N-GT class honours.