06.02.2004 THE FIRST CARE RACING OWNED PRODRIVE BUILT FERRARI 550 MARANELLO IS DELIVERED TO HITOTSUYAMA RACING IN JAPAN
The
first of Care Racing Development’s 2004 Ferrari 550 Maranellos has now arrived
with Hitotsuyama Racing in Japan, ready for entry into the Japanese GT
Championship.
An all-new chassis has been prepared by British-based Prodrive, the same company which, under Care Racing Development’s guidance, so successfully built and developed the Ferrari 550s, which claimed victory in the 2003 FIA GT Championship, the GTS class of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and several rounds of the ALMS including the prestigious Petit Le Mans.
The car has been tailored to meet
with the JGTC regulations, including a new rear wing pillar to allow for a lower
rear wing and steel brakes. A different restrictor size to that used in Europe
is also called for under the terms of the Japanese regulations.
In all other aspects, the car is the essentially the same specification that was
so successfully campaigned in GT/GTS racing across the world during 2003.
Hitotsuyama Racing, a well established, privately owned racing team, is owned by brothers Mikio Hitotsuyama and Yasushi Hitotsuyama of the Yamaichi Express company. The brothers have been an important part of the Japanese GT racing scene for 17 years and most recently the team has been running a McLaren F1 GTR and a BMW M3 GTR. Yamaichi Express is a freight company with 150 trucks and bond warehouses, mainly handling pulps for big paper companies and domestic parcels.
Mikio and Yasushi Hitotsuyama will both feature in the driver line-up for the season and they, together with another as yet unnamed driver, will be familiarising themselves with the handling and power of the 6-litre, V12, 600+bhp engine at test days at the TI Aida and Suzuka circuits in February and March. The first round of the 2004 JGTC will take place at the TI Aida circuit on the 4th April.
Care Racing, the sports car racing company controlled by French businessman Frédéric Dor, is in the final stages of negotiating contracts for lease of its seven remaining Ferrari 550s with teams in Europe, the United States and the Far East whereby it hopes to emulate in 2004 the huge success in GT racing enjoyed in Europe and in the United States last year.