news: sportscars
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30th March 2003:  FIA GT Championship Preview as series gears up for Barcelona opener
 
the Team Maranello Consessionaires line up is unveiled, click here for a full season preview of the FIA GT ChampionshipThe 2003 season of the LG Super Racing Weekend series will get underway next weekend, at the Circuit de Catalunya, a relatively new circuit in the coastal city of Barcelona, Spain. This will be the first time the Series has visited the modern, challenging circuit, although teams and drivers had an opportunity to test there earlier this month. The FIA GT Championship -- with a full and varied grid of Chrysler Viper, Ferrari, Lister, Porsche and Saleen cars -- the FIA European Touring Car Championship -- with Manufacturers Alfa Romeo, BMW and Seat, as well as teams representing Honda and Volvo -- and the brand-new Formula Renault V6 Eurocup, with its field of future champions, are the headlining events, with support races including the Renault Sport Clio Trophy, the Renault Sport Clio Elf International Cup and the Trofeo Maserati. 

The seventh season of the FIA GT Championship will get underway at Barcelona, with potentially the most exciting and closest grid ever. With the full capacity of 38 cars due to line up on the grid for the three-hour race on Sunday April 6th, it is extremely difficult to predict the outcome in either class, with so many new cars, teams and driver line-ups. A fascinating weekend is in prospect. 
28th March 2003:  Seven Ferraris and one Pagani Zonda make up the Italian entry for the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours
 
leading the Italian contingent at the 2003 Le Mans 24 Hours will be the two GTS class Veloqx Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranellos, click here for the full entry listThe ACO, organisers of the Le Mans 24 Hours, have announced the accepted entry list with invitations being sent to for 50 cars, while a further six cars are named as reserves.

Of the Italian contingent, seven Ferraris are on the entry list and one Pagani Zonda. Three are GTS class Ferrari 550 Maranellos, while the remaining four are GT class 360 Modenas. Leading the GTS entries are two places for Veloqx Prodrive Racing, the third 550 being entered by French outfit Luc Alphand Adventures. Joining them in GTS is the new Carsports America Pagani Zonda GR which made a brief debut two weeks ago at the Sebring 12 Hours. Offering the Italian contingent stiff competition will be the two factory Corvette C5-R's, which comprehensively out performed the Veloqx Prodrive cars in Sebring, the GTS entry completed by a pair of Saleen S7-R's and a pair of Chrysler Vipers.

In the GT class Rizi Competizione have had two Ferrari 360 Modenas accepted alongside singleton entries for JMB Racing and XL Racing. Competition for class honours will come from eight Porsche 911's, two TVR Tuscans and a single Spyker.
25th March 2003:  Minardi's F1 tester Matteo Bobbi has first taste of BMS Italia Ferrari 550
 
the BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 out at the Barcelona test earlier this monthMatteo Bobbi’s first test session at wheel of a BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello ended with a positive balance both for the race driver and team yesterday. The official Minardi F1 tester missed the session at Barcelona as he was carrying out duties at the Australian Grand Prix in Melboune. Bobbi quickly settled into the car and aquainted himself with the team, posting a series of competitive lap times. The test was held at Ferrari's private test track, Fiorano, a circuit Bobbi has good knowledge of.

Matteo Bobbi, “This was my first test  session at the wheel of the Ferrari 550 Maranello. I wasn’t able to participate in the official test session in Barcelona because I was in Australia with the Formula One Minardi Team. The car is very similar to the single seater and I managed to run about 250 km without having any particular technical problems. Due to this, I set a good time .Both the team and I can’t be other than satisfied with the results.”
17th March 2003:  Short Sebring debut for Carsports America's new Pagani Zonda
 
click here for details of the Pagani Zonda's racing debut at SebringCarsport America delivered new excitement at the 12 Hours of Sebring. The bolstered squad brought added flavor to the class with the debut of their new Pagani Zonda GR.

The team took on the challenge of debuting the Pagani Zonda GR at the first ALMS race of the season. The car arrived at Sebring from Italy on March 4, giving the crew a 11 days to prepare the car for the start of the race. The Pagani Zonda GR ran trouble-free laps during the pre-race test sessions, as well as through the official practice and qualifying sessions although fitted with the standard road car engine. After qualifying on Friday, the team replaced the engine with their newly arrived race engine, just in time for Saturday's start. With high hopes the team rolled it out for the pre-race ceremonies. Hezemans took the start, but he and the team were very disappointed with an engine failure took them out in the first hour of the race. 
16th March 2003:  Veloqx Prodrive Ferrari survives to claim second place in GTS at attrition hit Sebring 12 Hours
 
click here for full race result and reports from the Sebring 12 HoursA race of attrition benefited the Veloqx Prodrive Racing team as 2nd place in the GTS class was claimed by the Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello of Kelvin Burt, Anthony Davidson and Darren Turner in Sebring. The team overcame brake problems early in the race and the loss of Kelvin Burt through illness towards the last quarter of the event to take second place on the podium place 17-laps behind the Corvette of Johnny O'Connell, Ron Fellows and Franck Freon. The second Ferrari driven by Jamie Davies, Tomas Enge and Peter Kox, did not enjoy such good fortune. The car was retired in the early evening with a terminal clutch problem. They had been running in a strong 3rd place in class and were working towards challenging for second when the problem arose.

In GT the two JMB Ferrari 360 Modenas survived a frantic race with the Fabio Babni-lead No28 car coming home fourth in class, 9 laps down on the GT winning Alex Job Racing Porsche 993GTS-R3 led by Sascha Maassen, while the No29 car was still running 85laps down at the finish. Elsewhere the brand new Pagani Zonda GR lasted on six laps before being forced into retirement.
> Veloqx Prodrive Ferrari survives to claim second in GTS > 2003 Sebring 12 Hours: full race results
14th March 2003:  Ferraris outpaced by Corvettes in qualifying for Sebring 12 Hours
 
click here for full details from qualifying for Sebring 12 HoursThe Veloqx Prodrive Racing team will start Saturday's 12 Hour race from the 11th row of the grid, after claiming 3rd and 4th places in the GTS class during this afternoon's 25 minute qualifying session. They start just behind the Corvette team who claimed the front row of the GTS grid after dominating the qualifying session and suprising the Ferrari's with their pace.

Kelvin Burt driving a Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello set the fastest time of 2.00.354, well over a second off the fastest Corvette's pace. He commented "Well, that was exciting! There was a lot less grip than this morning and the car was a bit of a handful to drive with more oversteer out of the corners. I definitely had a few 'moments'. I had to abort my first flying lap as one of the Corvettes had a brush with a Porsche and I got out of the way, and then on the second flyer I had a big oversteer. We also lost the gear cut on the car which lost us considerable time. I know we could have gone faster but I'm not sure we could have beaten Ollie's time which was really good." 

Slightly further back the Team Olive Garden Ferrari lines up sixth in GTS, split from the Prodrive examples by the fastest of the Saleen S7R's. The Carsports America Pagani Zonda C12S shared by Anthony Kumpen and Mike Hezemans starts from 25th place, the team satisfied by the performance of the brand new car which is running this weekend with a road-specification 6.0-litre Mercedes-Benz engine.

In GT the fastest of the five Ferrari 360 Modena runners is the Ralf Kelleners/Terry Borcheller/Anthony Lazzaro car which will start from fourth in class. Finally, the interesting new Vici Racing entered Lamborghini Diablo GT-R starts at the back after failing to set a time.
> JMB Racing USA change driver line up ahead of race > Veloqx Prodrive Racing: qualifying report > Sebring 12 Hours Grid > Brand new Carsports America Pagani Zonda GR on the track > Team Olive Garden gears up for Sebring
11th March 2003:  Autopalace gear up for ambitious full FIA GT season with Ferrari 360 Modena
 
French team Autopalace is planning to enter its Ferrari Modena 360 in the N-GT category of the 2003 FIA GT Championship. The relatively new team, which won the European Ferrari Challenge in 2001, is full of ambition for this new season. The car, which took part in selected rounds of the 2002 FFSA GT Championship as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans, will be driven by two Frenchmen, Steeve Hiesse, who finished second in the 2002 FFSA French GT Championship, and Guillaume Gomez, who was also a race-winner in the French GT Championship last season. Both drivers are former single-seater front-runners, who are keen to make a name for themselves in international GT competition. The team is managed by Roland Reiss, whose past career includes the Filière Elf, Formula Renault and Formula 3, with eight French Championship titles. The technical director is Edoardo Berto, who has been involved in motorsport since 1978, and who has extensive experience in touring cars and endurance. 

The team has been working hard on the car over the winter. "We have managed to gain some horsepower," team press officer Sophie Bassaler explained. " We have also worked on the rigidity of the chassis, the reliability and on the aerodynamics. The car will also have a sequential gear-box. We are working in close collaboration with the drivers on this matter, and aim to make the car 'to measure'. Our drivers are both relatively young, with an astonishing will to win. The whole team is pulling together to do the best we can, and to aim for the Championship title." 
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