24.05.2003 FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND 4: CARE RACING QUALIFYING REPORT
| SUCCESS BALLAST HOLDS BACK
BMS FERRARI
Qualifying … Despite carrying success ballast of 100kg, the BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello of Matteo Bobbi and Thomas Biagi qualified in 3rd place for tomorrow’s race, just 0.7 seconds behind the leading car. Bobbi, who was driving car no.23, set his fastest time of 1:57.431 in the morning qualifying session – in common with nearly the entire field. Fabrizio Gollin was at the wheel of car no.22 and will line up alongside Bobbi and Biagi in 4th place on the grid. He and his team mate Luca Cappellari, first across the finishing line but excluded from the results at Pergusa two weeks ago due to a faulty airbox, are carrying 60kg of ballast. Gollin, with Cappallari and driving a Chrysler Viper, finished 3rd last year at Brno’s undulating 5.4km Masaryk circuit. The Care Racing entry, car no.21, did not enjoy such a good morning qualifying session, ending up in 13th position with Enzo Calderari’s best time being 2:00.680. However, the driving team of Lilian Bryner, Calderari and Stefano Livio were feeling happier with the handling of the car after the afternoon session. Race strategy … The BMS Scuderia Italia team, who are currently leading the Championship after 3 victories in 3 rounds, have approached the race with a view to achieving good race set ups for all the Care Racing supported cars. The engineers and drivers have worked on the balance and handling in order to get a good rhythm for the race. Team Manager, Tiziano Minuti, summed it up, “Last year was last year, this is a new one, and we are very confident for a good race.” Thoughts from the drivers … Matteo Bobbi (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 23: “This morning was fine, even with the extra weight in the car. The track is very fast and technical, with medium corners and a quick chicane, but Thomas and I both like it very much. This afternoon we worked on set up for the race and Thomas did a long run with no problems. We made a little change for tomorrow and I am sure will have a good fight with Lister. It will be very hot tomorrow which will good for the tyres but harder for the drivers.” Thomas Biagi (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 23: “I am sure that Matteo and I will have a good race in Brno. I know the track well, and finished on the podium here last year in the European F3000 series. 100 kg is a lot of extra weight to carry, but I am not worried - Matteo and I will try to do the best we can." Luca Cappellari (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 22: “I hope tomorrow we get the chance to finish the job we started last year. We hope to be at the front again, but this time right to the end of the race. This year the competition is very strong, with the Listers and the Saleens, and don’t forget we are handicapped with 60kg which, with the up and down nature of the track here, makes a big difference to us.” Fabrizio Gollin (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 22: “I make just one little mistake qualifying this morning and know it would have been possible to do better. It will be a hard race as it looks like it will be very hot but I hope we will be fast and lucky tomorrow.” Lilian Bryner (CH), Care Racing no. 21: “We improved the handling a little bit so we hope for the race we are in a better position than we were this morning.” Enzo Calderari (CH), Care Racing no. 21: “This morning was not good. We had a lot of understeer and a tyre pressure issue which didn’t help. Lilian and Stefano have told me its better now but, looking at the times, I think we need to do some more talking before tomorrow to find out what else was holding us back. I think we can find much more time in the car.” Stefano Livio (I), Care Racing no. 21: “We have now got the car better for tomorrow so we are not so worried about the qualifying situation. We have a better chance to have a good race and make up some time and positions.” Combined Qualifying Results: 1 2 Gounon/Konrad/Seiler
Saleen 1:56.695
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