20.10.2003 THE CARE SUPPORTED BMS ITALIA TEAM END THE SEASON AT MONZA ON A HIGH NOTE
The Care Racing supported BMS Scuderia Italia
team finished the 2003 FIA GT Championship on a high note by scoring their
seventh overall victory and eighth class win of the year, as Fabrizio Gollin and
Luca Cappellari won the final round of the series at Monza. The race was a
spectacular success for the Prancing Horse as Ferraris filled five of the top
six places, Enzo Calderari, Lilian Bryner and Stefano Livio driving a near
perfect race to finish second in the Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello.
The statistics tell the story of the season. BMS Scuderia Italia drivers filled
the top six places in the drivers' standings, BMS Scuderia Italia won the team's
championship by 59 points and, if coupled with Care Racing's tally for the
season, scored more than 100 points than any other team.
Matteo Bobbi and Thomas Biagi, the newly-crowned champions, did not enjoy such a
good day, finishing sixth after Bobbi was involved in a collision with a slower
car and damaged the nose of the car. He pitted a lap later but the damage could
not be fully repaired and their top-speed was affected as the bonnet acted as an
air brake.
"I think I did my best race of the season," said Biagi. "With five gears, the
car was too badly damaged to use all of them. I was in third place at one point,
but I had to make another pit stop for safety reasons. Without that, I think I
could still have been on the podium. We are the champions, it feels very good,
and I would like to come back next year."
The win for Calderari and Gollin means that they finish second in the drivers'
championship behind their BMS team-mates. Gollin led the first hour but was
demoted after the pit stops as the Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7R saved time at
its stop, not changing tyres or its driver.
"We finished with six litres of fuel in the tank and we didn't need a splash,"
said Cappellari. "We were fighting for second in the championship, it is very
nice, and I want to congratulate Enzo and Lilian."
Calderari, who led for much of the final stint, was disappointed that they had
to make a splash at the end of the race, and concede victory to the BMS car.
"The decision to pit at 26 laps was a strange one," he said. "I asked our
engineer if we could go to the end and he said no, that everyone would have to
make an extra stop. Fabrizio drove calmly behind me because he knew that I would
have to stop again."
For Thomas Biagi and Matteo Bobbi it was their chance to perform in front of
their home crowd as the champions. Said team manager Tiziano Minuti: "It was an
incredible race. It was the best of our season. We wanted to win this race
because Estoril was not good for us. The team made a fantastic job during the
whole season, and I cannot compliment them enough. To win eight races overall
out of ten is magnificent, an achievement that we can be proud of."
The success of the Prodrive-built cars was echoed on the other side of the Atlantic as Care Racing’s Prodrive Ferrari team finished 1st and 2nd in the GTS category of the 1000 mile Petit Le Mans event.
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