news: sportscars

11.05.2003  FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 3: BIAGI/BOBBI HANDED THIRD CONSECUTIVE FIA GT WIN AFTER TEAM MATES ARE DISQUALIFIED

Matteo Bobbi and Thomas Biagi took their third consecutive FIA GT victory after the sister no22 BMS Ferrari was disqualified from the win due to airbox irregularitiesToday's third round of the FIA GT Championship, watched by approximately 40,000 spectators around the Pergusa circuit in Sicily, saw Fabrizio Gollin and Luca Cappellari take their first-ever win in the GT category, with their BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello, finishing ahead of their team-mates Biagi and Bobbi, with the Lister Storm of Campbell-Walter and Kinch third.

In N-GT, a thrilling end to the race saw Sugden and Short take their first win in the FIA GT Championship, in the EMKA Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS.  Tim Sugden took the lead on the last lap when Fabrizio De Simone, in the nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena, spun after a frantic last minute battle between the two cars.  Twins David and Godfrey Jones took the third place in the Eurotech Porsche 996 GT3-RS. Unusually, the race went the full 500 km distance, lasting 2:55.31.

However, post-race scrutineering on the nr 22 Ferrari 550 Maranello resulted in the car being excluded from the results, due to problems with the airbox. The amended results promote Biagi and Bobbi to their third consecutive win in the Championship, with Campbell-Walter and Kinch second, and the Care Racing Ferrari of Bryner, Calderari and Livio third.

> FULL RACE REPORT
Race Result
Pos Car Class Drivers Car Time Laps Gap Avg
speed
1*
22
 GT Cappellari/Gollin Ferrari 550 Maranello 2:55:31.333 102 172.57
2
23
 GT Biagi/Bobbi Ferrari 550 Maranello 2:56:47.745 102 1:16.412 171.32
3
14
 GT Campbell-Walter/Kinch Lister Storm 2:56:56.028 102 1:24.695 171.19
4
21
 GT Bryner/Calderari/Livio Ferrari 550 Maranello 2:55:31.471 101 1 LAP 170.87
5
6
 GT Verdon-Roe/Zadra Lister Storm 2:55:32.361 101 1 LAP 170.86
6
15
 GT Deletraz/Piccini Lister Storm 2:56:16.052 100 2 LAPS 168.47
7
4
 GT Alliot/Zacchia Chrysler Viper GTS-R 2:55:24.577 99 3 LAPS 167.60
8
61
 NGT Sugden/Short Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:56:32.488 99 3 LAPS 166.52
9
52
 NGT Bertolini/De Simone Ferrari 360 Modena 2:56:55.849 99 3 LAPS 166.16
10
8
 GT Amorim/Chaves/Ramos Saleen S7-R 2:55:39.563 97 5 LAPS 163.98
11
75
 NGT Jones/Jones Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:56:36.731 97 5 LAPS 163.09
12
18
 GT Zwaan/Zwaan/Abbelen Chrysler Viper GTS-R 2:56:05.793 96 6 LAPS 161.88
13
77
 NGT Fomenko/Vasiliev Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:56:19.531 95 7 LAPS 159.99
14
56
 NGT Dziurka/Dobrzanski Porsche 996 GT3-RS 2:56:21.742 95 7 LAPS 159.95
15
53
 NGT Kutemann/Gosse Ferrari 360 Modena 2:56:42.855 94 8 LAPS 157.96
16
88
 NGT Davies/Mullen Ferrari 360 Modena 2:55:51.776 84 18 LAPS 141.83
17
89
 NGT Burt/Turner Ferrari 360 Modena 2:49:08.292 81 21 LAPS 142.20
Not Classified
--
2
 GT Konrad/Seiler/Gounon Saleen S7-R 1:53:45.630 65 D.N.F. 169.66
--
58
 NGT Gomez/Hiesse Ferrari 360 Modena 1:27:07.445 45 D.N.F. 153.35
--
74
 NGT Jordan/Sumpter Porsche 996 GT3-RS 1:37:22.334 45 D.N.F. 137.21
--
9
 GT Babini/Peter Ferrari 550 Maranello 1:09:14.907 41 D.N.F. 175.78
--
51
 NGT Longin/Gardel Porsche 996 GT3-RS 1:10:04.586 40 D.N.F. 169.46
--
57
 NGT Enge/Pergl Ferrari 360 Modena 1:08:39.107 39 D.N.F. 168.66
--
99
 NGT Lechner Jr/Daoudi Porsche 996 GT3-RS 1:55:50.101 23 D.N.F. 58.93
--
16
 GT Wieth/Kaufmann/Zoboli Ferrari 550 Maranello 33:09.628 18 D.N.F. 161.08
--
50
 NGT Ortelli/Lieb Porsche 996 GT3-RS 32:03.443 16 D.N.F. 148.10
--
10
 GT Derichebourg/Terrien/Pescatori Ferrari 550 Maranello 1:44:11.744 14 D.N.F. 39.86
--
11
 GT Roos/Wallinder Chrysler Viper GTS-R 1:40:50.414 11 D.N.F. 32.35
--
12
 GT Ried/Ried Porsche 911 GT2 17:59.737 10 D.N.F. 164.80
--
5
 GT Hezemans/Kumpen Chrysler Viper GTS-R 8:09.370 5 D.N.F. 181.55
* excluded after post-race scrutineering
the Konrad Saleen S7-R leads the FIA GT field away at the start
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