14.08.2003  AN UPBEAT TEAM OLIVE GARDEN HEAD FOR MOSPORT CONFIDENT THEY CAN MIX IT WITH THE BIGGER TEAMS

Just over a week ago in Quebec, the team scored its first top-three finish of the season, advancing Naspetti and Schiattarella to fifth in GTS driver point standings. Now, with some new assistance from Pirelli the team looks forward to the Mosport podium. 

Team boss Gabriele Rafanelli put it this way, "Our goal was to raise a bottle of Coke on the Trois Rivières podium and we did it. One could say it took some luck, but in fact we were prepared for any opportunity that might come our way from the high-pressure battle between the Corvettes and the Prodrive Ferraris. Trois Rivières won't be the last such battle the fans will see and we will be right there to take full advantage. We expect some important new tires from our partner Pirelli, these are the first direct result of an intensive test program earlier this year at Road Atlanta. 

Rafanelli continues, "Our engine partners at Élan have worked tirelessly and we expect some more improvements for Mosport. We also have new underbody aero pieces we have confidence in. Remember, until we suffered problems in the race at Road Atlanta, we showed we were pretty much on pace with the leaders. Mosport has fast straights but it's also very bumpy and our chassis is very good over the bumps, so let's see what we can do against the so-called big dogs." 

Team Olive Garden has completely revised last year's Ferrari 550 Maranello GTS and created a 2003 evolution model. The V2003 car is both stiffer and lighter and features new diffusers front and rear which substantially improve aerodynamic efficiency. Both front and rear suspensions have been replaced with improved designs with new mounting points, all-new components and sharply improved kinematics. Hewland has provided a lighter evolution gearbox, now with sequential shift. Elan Power Products have provided a much more powerful Ferrari V12 engine than the team used in the 2002 ALMS.