Weather: Friday dawned overcast and warm, and remained dry for the morning. However, light rain started around lunchtime and it remained wet throughout the afternoon free practice session. 

Handicap Weights: After winning the first four rounds, the nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello of Biagi and Bobbi remains with the maximum of 100 kg penalty weight. The team’s nr 22 car, driven by Gollin and Cappellari, will have 80 kg, after finishing third in Brno. The nr 15 Lister Storm of Piccini and Deletraz has gained 30 kg weight after their second-place finish in the Czech Republic, while the penalty on the nr 14 car has been reduced to 10 kg, after finishing fourth last race. In N-GT, the nr 51 Freisinger Motorsport Porsche has 20 kg after winning in Brno, while the nr 52 Ferrari 360 Modena now has 30 kg and the nr 88 Team Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 360 Modena car sees its penalty increase to 25 kg after third place in Brno.

Paddock News

30 cars are due to take part in this fourth round, with 16 in the GT category and 14 in the N-GT category. New for this round is the nr 81 Morgan Aero 8, entered by British team Morgan Motors for Neil Cunningham and Paula Cook. However, the car did not go out on the track today as further documents concerning the homologation have still to be presented by the team, by tomorrow morning.

Veloqx Motorsport has also entered a Ferrari 360 Modena for Guy Smith and Andrew Kirkaldy, both of whom are due to drive for Team Maranello Concessionaires in the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa.

Tom Coronel, a race-winner for Lister in 2001, has rejoined the team for this round. The Dutch driver, currently racing in the FIA European Touring Car Championship for Carly Motors, will be strengthening the team following Jamie Campbell-Walter’s qualifying crash at Le Mans, which has left the former Champion with three broken ribs. "I am sure I can drive, but I am not certain that I could do two stints," Jamie explained. 

French Sportscar specialist Emmanuel Collard has joined EMKA Racing, to drive alongside Tim Sugden in the nr 61 Porsche 996 GT3-RS. Maciej Marcinkiewick, from Poland, who drove the nr 12 Proton Porsche 911 GT2 at Brno, has moved to the team’s new Porsche 996 GT3-RS for this round, alongside father and son team Gerold and Christian Ried. British driver Johnny Mowlem, who competed for Autorlando and JVG Racing last season, will be replacing Walter Lechner Jr in the nr 99 RWS Yukos Porsche 996 GT3-RS, who is competing in the Porsche Supercup this weekend.

Creation Autosportif has announced that Christophe Bouchut, double winner of the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa and reigning FIA GT Champion, will be joining the line-up of their nr 6 Lister Storm for this year’s race. Bouchut will drive with Marco Zadra and Bobby Verdon-Roe. "I think they will make a good combination," team principle Ian Bickerton explained. "Bobby finished second last year, Christophe won the race and has prior Lister experience, and Marco also raced there last year, as well as in various Sportscar races. It is a big move for Christophe, who is sad to leave Larbre, but we are very pleased that he is joining us."

Four regular teams are missing from the N-GT grid for Round 5. The nr 54 Cirtek Motorsport Porsche, the nr 58 Autopalace Ferrari 360 Modena and the nr 56 Alda Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS all have technical difficulties, while the nr 57 MENX Ferrari 360 Modena is missing due to ill-health of team owner and driver Robert Pergl. The cars will have 30 kg penalty weight for the next penalty-bearing race in Anderstorp.

First Free Practice Session : Lister and EMKA fastest

Jamie Campbell-Walter showed no signs of ill-effect from his broken ribs, as he set the fastest time in this morning’s first free practice session for the Donington round of the FIA GT Championship, with a lap of 1:29.819. At a track that Lister knows well, the nr 14 Lister Storm led for much of the session, with its main rival being the nr 15 Storm of Deletraz and Piccini. Another front-runner was the nr 7 Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen S7-R, with Tommy Erdos setting a lap of 1: 30.512 with half an hour to go, placing the car second and demoting the nr 15 Storm to third. The nr 5 Force One Festina Chrysler Viper GTS-R of Hezemans and Kumpen, who won here last year, were fourth fastest, ahead of the two BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello cars.

In N-GT, the nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS of Sugden and Collard was fastest, with a time of 1:34.595, closely followed by the nr 89 Team Maranello Ferrari 360 Modena, with Kelvin Burt setting a time of 1:34.632. New to the Championship, the nr 80 Veloqx Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena of Kirkaldy and Smith was third, ahead of the two Team Eurotech Porsche 996 GT3-RS cars.

Second Free Practice Session : BMS and Freisinger best in the wet

The light rain varied in intensity throughout the second qualifying session, but it never stopped for long enough for times to equal those in the morning session. The nr 23 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello of Biagi and Bobbi , currently leading the Championship, was consistently fastest throughout the 90-minute session, with a best time of 1:39.481, set during one of the drier periods. The nr 14 Lister Storm, fastest in the morning, improved to second later in the session, with a lap of 1:41.753, over 2 seconds slower than the Ferrari’s best time. The nr 21 Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello of Calderari, Bryner and Livio was third, followed by the two Force One Festina Chrysler Viper GTS-R cars. A number of cars had problems, including the nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena, and the nr 8 Graham Nash Saleen S7-R, both of which spun after touching the white lines in the wet. In the N-GT class, the Porsche 996 GT3-RS cars dominated, led by the two Freisinger Motorsport cars, followed by the nr 74 Team Eurotech and the nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsches. The best of the Ferrari cars was in fifth, the nr 88 Team Maranello car of Mullen and Davies, which led the nr 80 Veloqx Motorsport and the nr 89 Team Maranello car.

David Terrien – nr 10 JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Maranello : “I had an alarm on the dashboard, so I stopped by the side of the track as a precaution.  But everything is OK, and the car was going well this morning.”

Matteo Bobbi – nr 23 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello : “It went very well today.  We had a problem with the first set of tyres this morning, so we only used one set, and 5th was not bad.  The Lister is quicker than us in the dry, but in the afternoon we had some very good tyres from Michelin for the rain.  The car was excellent, and you do not notice the penalty  weight in the wet, so we are really hoping for rain on Sunday.”

Fabrizio De Simone – nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena: “The car was very good in the morning, very consistent.  But in the afternoon, I went into the gravel, and the engine stalled, so we lost much of the session.”

Tim Mullen – nr 88 Team Maranello Concessionaires Ferrari 360 Modena : “We didn’t get out until about 40 minutes into the first session, due to lots of little problems.  It will be completely different in the afternoon due to the rain, but it will be good experience for us, as we have not had much wet running so far.”