The quartet of Care Racing Ferrari 550 Maranellos completed their preparations for this weekend's 24 Hours of Le Mans last night during final qualifying. However, those preparations were not without drama as all four entries battled misfortune during the night.

Christophe Bouchet set the fastest time of the four Ferrari 550 Maranellos, placing his Russian Age Racing entry fourth fastest in the GT1 class with a lap of 3 minutes and 55.309 seconds. The Cirtek run entry suffered rear wheel bearing and suspension upright problems in the first two hour qualifying session tonight, restricting the number of laps the team was able to do.

Last night's fastest GT1 qualifier, Vincent Vosse, was just as competitive in the dry - finishing marginally slower than Bouchut. The Larbre Competition driver was sixth fastest overall at 3:55.983. The time came after the team only completed a single lap in the opening session after suffering delays with the installation of the race gearbox.

The two BMS Scuderia Italia entries looked set to complete a virtual trouble free run until problems struck both cars with only 45 minutes remaining in the final qualifying session. Fabrizio Gollin was left stranded on the circuit after suffering a tyre problem. The Italian attempted to bring the no 51 car back to pit lane, but the deflated Pirelli tyre risked damaging the race suspension on the car so the team elected to park the car.

Young Le Mans rookie Matteo Malucelli was on a fast lap until he struck a kerb in the final chicane before the start-finish line and spun. The Ferrari 550 Maranello made light contact with the wall, causing minor damage to the rear bodywork and rear wing.

All four Ferrari teams will now have a complete day today to complete final repairs and preparations before the green flag falls on the 73rd running of the 24 Hours of Le Mans at 4pm (local time) on Saturday.

Christophe Bouchut - Russian Age Racing (Cirtek), "After the terrible end of the first qualifying yesterday when I spun, probably on some oil because the no 2 car was following me and spun also, we had to repair the car today and the mechanics did a wonderful job. They worked very, very well, the car was perfect. We put on some new parts for the race and we had a problem with a wheel bearing and an upright and we had to locate and find out where the problem was so we missed the beginning of the evening's session.
 

"After this we decided not to push too hard so I just did an easy lap and I think it would have been possible to do a 53 or 52.  We are the best of the Ferrari 550s and we are leading a Corvette." 

Vincent Vosse - Larbre Compétition, "I had a bit of traffic on my fastest lap which spoilt my time a little which is a little frustrating but that is what Le Mans is all about. I pushed very hard and actually got pretty sideways in the final chicane. I think I could have got down to a 3:53, but overall I am very happy. This is my first time here in a 550 Ferrari and it is just a fantastic car to drive - I am very impressed. We have a strong team, good Michelin tyres - I am really looking forward to the race."

Oscar Berselli - BMS Scuderia Italia Sporting Director, "We had a little electrical problem early in the night but the car ran really well in the second session until Fabrizio (Gollin) stuck some debris and had a tyre problem at the first chicane. He tried to get the car back to the pits, but the tyre was damaging the bodywork and he parked the car out on the circuit. "We had the race suspension fitted on the car and didn't do any additional damage. We had basically completed everything we needed to try before the race so it was better to park the car, rather than risk doing more damage bringing it back."

Michele Bartyan - BMS Scuderia Italia, "It was unlucky what happened to Matteo right at the end of the session, but the damage was only very light. It is the first time here for Matteo and me so our main goal is to get through to the finish on Sunday - that is our target. "It is very different here at night - it takes a little while to get used to but the circuit is fantastic to drive. I can't wait for the race to start."

GT1 Qualifying Times: 1st Enge / Kox / Lamy Aston Martin DBR9 3:48.576; 2nd Brabham / Sarrazin / Turner Aston Martin DBR9 3:48.739; 3rd Beretta / Gavin / Magnussen Corvette C6R 3:52.426; 4th Bouchut / Fomenko / Vasiliev Ferrari 550 Maranello 3:55.309; 5th Fellows / O'Connell / Papis Corvette C6R; 3:55.914; 6th Dupard / Goueslard / Vosse Ferrari 550 Maranello 3:55.983; 7th Gollin / Pescatori / Ramos Ferrari 550 Maranello 3:57.676; 8th Bartyan / Malucelli / Seiler Ferrari 550 Maranello 3:59.475