17.08.2003 BOTH PRODRIVE FERRARIS ON THE PODIUM AFTER RACE LONG BATTLE
Tomas Enge and Peter Kox drove the race of their lives today, starting from the back of the grid and finishing inches behind the GTS category winner, in 5th place overall. Just 0.8 seconds separated the Dutchman and Johnny O'Connell's Corvette at the chequered flag, the closest GTS finish seen this year.
Enge and Kox were accompanied on the podium by David Brabham and Jan Magnussen who claimed 3rd place in the class and 6th overall in their Care Racing-owned and Prodrive-built Ferrari 550 Maranello.
The Toronto Grand Prix of Mosport presented fans with excitement, tension and plenty of scintillating track action. There was, however, disappointment for some - including the Prodrive Ferrari team as both the scarlet 550s had been clear class leaders for a large portion of the race.
Three full course yellow caution periods determined when the pit stops took place, and only one driver change took place in each car instead of the usual two. It was at the final round of pit stops that the change in the GTS leaderboard took place, after both Prodrive Ferraris lost valuable seconds due to pit congestion. The no80 car was further denied the opportunity to try and close the gap on the Corvette when it was handed a stop/go penalty for an alleged flag violation.
Tomas Enge (CZ), car 88: "It was pretty good in the beginning. I got out of the traffic well and our first pit stop was very good. I was able to pull away from Ron Fellows a bit and had a good race with Jan ahead of me, but couldn't get any closer because of traffic. It's disappointing to have lost the race in the pits."
Peter Kox (NL), car 88: "I think we really needed one more lap at the end of the day - then it might have been a different result. As it is, it's not what we wanted but we came from the back so, considering that, I suppose it's not so bad. It's probably more disappointing because it was so close. The team gave us a wonderful car and the Michelin tyres were great, but where we lost out was at the pit stops - having to push back our car into position each time."
David Brabham (AUS), car 80: "I'm so disappointed but it's just one of those things. We had a fast race car and it was handling really well but when I'd just got out of the pits, I was told we had a penalty which effectively took us out of race as there were no more yellows after that."
Jan
Magnussen (DK), car 80: "They threw a double-yellow as I was passing people,
actually in the middle of doing it, so didn't realise I'd done anything
wrong. Until then I was very happy about how the race was developing, keeping
the lead, fighting with our sister car, then something like this happens.
I think it's grossly unfair. I didn't cause the yellow, and it cost me
the race. Very disappointed."
| TORONTO
GRAND PRIX OF MOSPORT: PROVISIONAL RACE RESULT
Pos
Class Pos Car No. Class Drivers No. Laps Diff Total Time Best Time In Lap
Make Status
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