18.10.2003 FABRIZIO GOLLIN CLAIMS THE OUTSIDE OF ROW ONE FOR THE BMS FERRARI TEAM AFTER FINAL QUALIFYING

Kumpen claims his first pole in Monza

Anthony Kumpen claimed his first pole position of his FIA GT career today, in the final round of the 2003 Championship. He set a time of 1:43.559 in the first qualifying session, three tenths faster than his nearest challenger, Gollin in the nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello. This is the second pole in a row for the nr 5 Force One Festina Chrysler Viper GTS-R, after Hezemans took pole in Estoril. "I've had a few provisional poles last year, and one this year, but this is my first pole and it feels good. This might even be the last pole for a Viper. We have improved at each race, and although we have dropped out each time, we have been first when we did so. We will see what happens tomorrow…"

Walter Lechner Jr set the third-best time in the nr 2 Konrad Saleen, and will start alongside the nr 21 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello. The leading Lister, the nr 15 Storm of Piccini, Sterckx and Lancieri will start from fifth, with the nr 7 Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen of Erdos and Newton sixth.

Third pole in a row for Andrea Bertolini

JMB Racing driver Andrea Bertolini claimed pole position for tomorrow's 500 km race in Monza, the third pole in a row for the Italian driver, in a last-minute dash round the circuit. Until the final three minutes of the session, it had looked as if the nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche would be on pole, as it had led the times for much of the morning session, and no-one appeared to be going faster in the afternoon. But shortly before the chequered flag fell, Bertolini set a time of 1:49.969, being the only N-GT driver to go under the 1:50 barrier and take pole for the final race of the season. 

"It is very special to take pole position at Monza, in Italy," Bertolini explained afterwards. "Once again, the N-GT class has been very close."  Emmanuel Collard, at the wheel of the nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche, was second, with the Championship leaders, the nr 50 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche of Ortelli and Lieb, who set the time, third.  The nr 85 JVG Racing Porsche of Ian Khan, Mark Mayall and Michel Neugarten was an excellent fourth, with Jamie Davies and Darren Turner fifth, recovering after spending the morning in the gravel.

First Qualifying Session

The nr 5 Force One Festina Chrysler Viper GTS-R, driven by Mike Hezemans, Anthony Kumpen and Philippe Alliot, was fastest throughout the first qualifying session, with Kumpen setting a time of 1:43.559 early into the forty-five minutes, which no-one was able to equal. The Viper was followed almost throughout by the nr 22 BMS Scuderia Ferrari 550 Maranello, which gradually closed the gap on the Viper, Fabrizio Gollin being 0.375 seconds behind at the end of the session. Third place went to the nr 2 Konrad Saleen S7-R, nearly eight tenths behind the leader. 

The N-GT session saw an extremely close battle between the nr 50 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS, the nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena and the nr 61 EMKA Racing. 

However, it was the nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche of Tim Sugden and Emmanuel Collard that set the pace early on, with a time of 1:51.110 ten minutes into the session.  Shortly after, the nr 50 Porsche of Ortelli and Lieb took the provisional pole, improving to 1:50.894. The next fast lap from the nr 61 took it to 1:50.917, 23 thousandths of a second slower than the nr 50, before a further improvement in the battle between the Porsches gave EMKA the provisional pole with a time of 1:50.250, on which no-one could improve. The nr 50 was then knocked down to third place by the nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena of Bertolini and De Simone, which took second with a time of 1:50.368. The top three cars set times within three tenths of a second of each other.  Fourth place went to the nr 85 JVG Racing Porsche, with the nr 51 Freisinger Porsche fifth.

Only 32 cars out of the grid of 40 actually set a qualifying time. The nr 71 Mastercar Viper lost its times due to failing to stop for scrutineering, while the nr 9 had accelerator problems. The nr 89 TMC Ferrari spun out and damaged its tyres, and the nr 19 went out but did not set a time, nor did the nr 58 Autopalace, which spun out into the gravel. The nr 38 Alda Porsche 911 GT2 had engine problems, as did the nr 70 Yellow Racing Ferrari. 

Second Qualifying Session

The track appeared to be slower in the afternoon, and initially the only cars to improve in the top half of the field were those that had problems in the morning. The nr 9 JMB Racing Ferrari 575GTC of Babini and Peter, which had failed to set a time in the morning after an accelerator problem, set a time of 1:46.100, placing it tenth and just behind the team's nr 10 car. The nr 37 Chrysler Viper also improved, with a time of 1:48.529 putting them 15th on the provisional grid, while the nr 38 Alda Porsche recovered after engine problems.

However, in N-GT, there were a number of improvements - most notably right at the end of the session, when the pole position changed hands, after an excellent lap for Andrea Bertolini. The nr 88 TMC Ferrari 360 Modena, which had spent most of the morning session in the gravel, set at time of 1:51.407 to place it fifth in N-GT, while the nr 57 MENX car improved by nearly a second to be fifth. The nr 71 Mastercar Ferrari 360 Modena, which had lost its morning times after failing to stop for scrutineering, improved to 26th with a time of 1:51.980. The nr 89, which had spun off in the morning, set a time of 1:51.980 in the afternoon, placing it 8th in N-GT. 

A number of cars had problems; the nr 7 Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen S7-R went into the gravel at the second chicane. The nr 16 Wieth Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello stopped at the exit of turn 6. The nr 99 Yukos Racing Porsche stopped at turn 11, while the nr 57 MENX Ferrari went into the gravel at turn 11.

In the session, the nr 7 Saleen S7-R set the best time, with a lap of 1:45.370, followed by the nr 10 Ferrari 575 M Maranello, with Matteo Bobbi setting the third best time in the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello.  In the N-GT class, the nr 52 JMB Racing was fastest, ahead of the nr 50 Freisinger Porsche, with the nr 61 EMKA Racing third and the nr 88 TMC Ferrari fourth. 38 cars set a time, with only the Yellow Racing Ferrari and Reiter Engineering Lamborghini not on the track.