06.10.2003 "THERE WERE A LOT OF EMOTIONS AT THE END OF THE RACE, ALL THE TEAM WERE CRYING" POST RACE REACTION FROM THE DRIVERS IN ESTORIL
Philipp Peter, nr 9 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello - 1st, GT: "There were a lot of emotions at the end of the race, all the team was crying. It was amazing to have this new 575, put it on the race track and win the first race. Even the most positive guys did not expect this. The race was really good. I would like to thank Pirelli as they changed the compound during the race. I was pushing really hard during the last stint. We did not really have problems. Fabio just had a light on the dashboard starting to smoke 10 minutes to the end. We thought he would have to pit but in the end, he was able to disconnect the cable and the smoke was less."

Fabio Babini, nr 9 JMB Racing Ferrari 575 M Maranello - 1st GT: "I am very happy with this first win and would like to thank JMB, Pirelli and N-technology for their work. It was a fantastic race, especially when we did not have an easy start of the season with the 550 Ferrari. I pushed a lot in the last stint. I like this track. It is fantastic !"

Fabrizio Gollin, nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello - 2nd GT : "Second place is a beautiful result. I hope to win the next race ! At the start, I had a very nice fight and overtaking manoeuvre with Hezemans. The car was fantastic. We are looking forward to the next race!"

Luca Cappellari, nr 22 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello 2nd GT : "I had a very difficult stint as I had a problem overtaking the Saleen. I went wide and went on the kerb, thus damaging the tyres. The next ten laps were very hard. Fabrizio did a great race and pushed very hard. Now, we are going to Monza, hoping for another good race and hope to be second in the Championship at the end of the season. "

Matteo Bobbi, nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello- 3rd GT: "It was a great day for us as we won the Championship, which was our target for the day. In the last stint, I pushed very hard for the first 6-7 laps but Fabio caught me. I did not want to take any risks as I wanted to win the Championship, not this race. The last 30 minutes were very difficult for me as last year, I lost the Championship in single-seaters in the last race... There was so much on my mind ! Anyway, we won the Championship and I would like to congratulate Prodrive, Michelin, BMS Scuderia Italia. We all did a very good job all together.  I would also like to congratulate Fabio and Philipp for their first win."

Thomas Biagi, nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello - 3rd GT: "For me, it was a very good race especially as we had 50kg ballast in the car. We were still competitive. It was very important to finish the race, get the points for the Championship and arrive in Monza more relaxed than before. We are two rookie drivers. It is amazing for us to win the Championship in the first year, especially for two Italians to win in a Ferrari car. I would like to thank Augusto Mensi, Tiziano Minuti, our race engineer, Michelin, Prodrive and Mr Frédéric Dor. They believed in us. I would like to dedicate this Championship title to my best friend, Alfredo Malandri. I lost him in a F3 test in 1998. At this time, I had two options : either to continue in motorsport or stop with it. I decided to continue as I had the feeling it was what he wanted me to do. I always remember him".

Andrea Bertolini, nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena - 1st N-GT: "I am very happy as we had an unbelievable race today! The car was very quick.  In the last stint, we had a stop & go penalty for a push start, which made things difficult. But I am very thankful to Pirelli as they have made this win possible"

Fabrizio de Simone, nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena - 1st, N-GT: "The race was OK today. We had fantastic tyres. Pirelli did incredible work. Their tyres were very consistent throughout the stint. It was quite easy work for me."

Darren Turner, nr 89 TMC Ferrari 360 Modena - 2nd N-GT: "It took us a while to get into the rhythm at the beginning as we did not have the pace of the front cars. We were on a one-pit stop strategy, so we were looking after the fuel. Our tyres were consistent, but we were struggling with brake problems to begin with. We wanted to make sure that they do the whole stint. And then Jamie went into the car and did a good job. We lost some time in the pits with a wheel nut problem. Maybe we could have got a step higher on the podium."

Jamie Davies, nr 89 TMC Ferrari 360 Modena - 2nd N-GT: "At the start of my stint, I was very unfortunate as we had a problem with the left rear wheel nut. We lost 10 to 15 seconds during our pit stop. I had a difficult stint as I was trying to defend my position, trying to be as quick as possible, trying to think about the Championship and trying to save fuel ; all at the same time. We then had a problem with the clutch quite early on in my stint. That cut my pace a little bit as well as I was unable to brake as late as previously in the corners. We just soldiered on and the lap times were not too bad after all. I just drove consistently up until the end".

Nr 57 MENX  Ferrari 360 Modena  - 5th in N-GT: the team did a splash and dash at the end of the race. "We could have finished on the fuel without a stop, but we would not have had enough fuel left for the obligatory scrutineering checks. But everything went well, the car was fine all weekend, with no glitches whatsoever, and we are all very happy. With hindsight we could have pushed harder, but I don't know if it would have made much difference," said a team spokesman.
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