A tense, thrilling and sometimes breath-taking opening round of the 2005 FIA GT Championship ended in victory today for Pedro Lamy and Gabriele Gardel in their Care Racing supported Larbre Competition Ferrari 550 Maranello.

Less than one and a half seconds separated the top three cars, the Ferrari finishing ahead of the two Vitaphone Maseratis. Larbre’s second car, driven by Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderari and Steve Zacchia, endured a frustrating race to take 6th place and valuable Championship points for the team.

A delighted Pedro Lamy, who had had to fight off very strong opposition in both the opening and closing stages of the race, said: “I knew when we came here that it would be fast and hard and I had to push in every stint. We had to be careful with the fuel as well, and when I overtook Bartels I had to back off a bit to save fuel until the end because we were really on the limit. The strategy was perfect.”

Gabriele Gardel, who drove for the middle stint of the 500km race, said: “I had a big problem with the front tyres by the end but, as they had done a double stint, that was to be expected. We tried to gain some time in our first pit stop by not changing them and it was very tense waiting for the end of the race to see if the strategy worked. Otherwise the car was perfect and the team did a very good job on the pitstops, they were very fast. One thing we know already, we are going to have to work very hard this year to stay ahead as the Maseratis are so competitive.”

Having been delayed leaving the pit lane before the start of the race and therefore starting from the back of the grid, Lilian Bryner had the task of cutting through the slower Porsches and making headway into the field.
 

The Swiss endurance winner was philosophical afterwards: “It was a very frustrating start. The tyres were very cold when I went out and it took two laps to get some heat into them which made it more difficult to pass others at the start. Otherwise the car was okay and I did the best I could.”

Steve Zacchia was the second of the Swiss trio to take the wheel, and he continued to make progress through the field. “I am very happy. I was getting more and more confident in the car and moving up the classification. I only had very small problems at the start of my stint, but I then got back into a rhythm and was concentrating on driving safely and not taking any unnecessary risks.”

Enzo Calderari had the most difficult time of the three: “I not only had tyres which had done a double stint, but there were no brakes by the end and I had a problem selecting 6th gear. The set up on the car was good, but I just couldn’t brake as late as before and that slowed me. I think that, without our problems and the extra splash-and-dash fuel stop, we could definitely have challenged for a higher position.”

The Russian Age Racing team came away from Monza disappointed after a fuel problem forced retirement, but encouraged by all that the team learnt this weekend.

Frenchman Christophe Bouchut ran in the top three for the first stint, a magnificent drive that saw him challenge the Maseratis ahead. A challenge for second place on lap 14 was unsuccessful and he dropped two places as he mistakenly selected neutral while avoiding contact. “I was quicker than the Maserati but when I tried to outbrake him into the first chicane he was too strong. When the other car came past me my gearbox was in neutral so I could do nothing.”

Bouchut pitted to hand to Alexey Vasiliev who immediately set some competitive times, catching a Ferrari 575 ahead of him. Commenting on the fuel problem he suffered, “I noticed there was a fuel problem half a lap before I stopped.”