Ferrari Alfa Romeo and Maserati will all be battling it out for glory when the lights go green for the 50th anniversary edition of the Mil Milhas Brasil - South America's most prestigious endurance race - later on this morning. The 1000 Milhas is Brazil's biggest annual sportscar race and an event that can trace its history right back to the famous days of top-level endurance racing on this continent.

Italian machinery will be well represented in all the categories: GPC Giesse Sport - one of the pre race favourites for overall honours - have brought their familiar brace of Ferrari 575 GTC sportscars to Interlagos to do battle once more with their regular FIA GT Championship rivals, the Konrad Saleen S7-R, the Cirtek Aston Martin DB9R and the GLPK Carsports Corvette C5-R, as well as against a DTM-specification Mercedes-Benz CLK and the ultra-quick ZL01 prototype. Meanwhile, in the 'SuperTouring' class, the Tekprom-run Alfa Romeo 156 starts from pole position as hot favourite for MMSTC class honours. Finally, Ferrari and Maserati will take head on the Porsche 911 hordes in MMGT2.

Today, the 100 Milas still attracts the cream of South American long-distance racing machinery together with a smattering of international competitors, all drawn by the lure of this event's evocative 50-year history. In fact next year the 1000 Milas is set to achieve much greater heights as, during a press conference held this week which was attended by Paolo Scaglione, President  of the Brazilian Motorsport Federation and Ciro José, Director of TV Globo, Antonio Hermann, organiser of the Mil Milhas Brasil, and Stephane Ratel, Promoter of the FIA GT Championship, it was announced that they have just signed an agreement to integrate the famous endurance race into the FIA GT Championship in 2007.

Having established one of the strongest grids in Europe, and brought together on the track some of the most legendary brands in motorsport, including Aston Martin, Corvette, Ferrari, Maserati and Lamborghini, the next objective of the FIA GT Championship is to concentrate on building up the calendar, and integrating major events. Since 2001, the Proximus 24 Hours of Spa has been slowly rebuilt and is now billed as the world's leading GT endurance race. It attracted no less than 124,500 spectators last year. The extremely successful revival of the RAC Tourist Trophy at Silverstone has also added another former jewel to the calendar, with the second running of the TT to take place on May 7th this year.

The next step is now to add the Mil Milhas Brasil. This prestigious event, which has somewhat faded away from international attention for a number of years mow, will thus see a major revival, starting from this year, thanks to the enthusiasm and investment of Antonio Hermann and Ricardo Pereira. It is now set to become a major event once again, and from 2007 onwards, it will be the opening round of the FIA GT Championship, although held at a later calendar date than in 2006. Adding the motorsport-mad nation of Brazil together with the legendary track of Interlagos, is another big step forward in the ambitions of the FIA GT Championship. Along with its already well-established race in China, and those in the Middle East, it is one step further towards building a truly global Championship. Having a second longer race in the FIA GT calendar anchors the true endurance nature of the series.

"The sight of the six cars from the FIA GT Championship competing in Interlagos this weekend will give the Brazilian public an idea of the sheer sound and spectacle offered by a full grid of 20 GT1 cars," said Stephane Ratel during the press conference, held to announce the news. "We are confident that the crowds in Sao Paolo will really enjoy the glamour, the diversity and the extremely close racing offered by the FIA GT Championship. We also hope that this flagship event will help the development of GT racing in Brazil."
 

Pole position for today's race went to Paulo Roberto Bonifácio, Vitor Meira and Felipe Giaffone in the Scuderia 111-run ZF01, the prototype's third consecutive pole position in this race. Its fastest lap of 1m30s247, an average speed of 171,888 km/h, was set during the third qualifying session on Thursday, and with strong rain setting in after the car posted its time, no one else had a chance to respond. "The car is so fast that I made pole during the night with a very good time. The car great, we also have a good team of pilots, and we start from pole for a long test such as the Mil Mihlas. I do not want to say anything beyond people placing the name in the history of the race," said Bonifácio who usually races in the 'V8 Lights' stock car series. Felipe Giaffone has been on the driving strength for all three of the ZF01's pole positions in this race. "This is the third time that the ZF participates of the 1000 Miles and it is its third pole. The car is good, it has an engine of 650 horses, the same power of the Corvette, but the ZF was built for racing, while that the Corvette was adapted to run."

Second place on the grid went to the first of the FIA GT Championship regulars, the GLPK Carsports Chevrolet Corvette C5-R which is being driven by regular pilot Mike Hezemans who has been joined for the race by Pablo Gomes, Clemente Lunardi, and the recent winner of the Vodafone Maserati Trofeo 'World Finals', Alencar Jr. Third went to the DTM series Mercedes-Benz CLK driven by Indy Racing League star Tony Kanaan, regular FIA GT Championship and LMES pilot Pedro Lamy, Giuliano Losacco and for F1 driver Raul Boesel.

Fourth qualifying position went to the first of the two GPC Giesse Sport Ferrari 575 GTC racers to be shipped over especially for this event. Regular pilot Philipp Peter is joined by the South Americans, Thiago Marques, former F1 driver Tarso Marques, and Paolo de Tarso. With all the European teams being anxious to learn about the Interlagos track and local conditions during practice their best time, a lap of 1:33.210 keeps them very close to the pace. The second GPC Sport Ferrari 575 GTC, which includes Italian racing veteran Luca Drudi on the driving strength, is slightly further back in seventh place, split from its sister car by two further European entries, the Cirtek Aston Martin DB9R, and the Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7-R.

A third MMGT1 class Ferrari is on the grid, this time the 550 Maranello of South American outfit, Tekprom, which is being piloted by Lucas Molo, Maurício Neves and Nelson Siva Jr, who plan to put their excellent local knowledge to good use. Tekprom are mounting a double challenge as they have also entered an Alfa Romeo 156 'Super Touring' specification racer for Uberto Molo, Claudio Capparelli and Istvan Minashin in the MMSTC category, which is open to local stock cars, as well as FIA WTCC and BTCC specification touring cars. Their fastest lap of 1:46.209 puts them first on MMSTC pole position, two places and over half a second ahead of the Omega of Fernanda Parra, and four places and 1.8 seconds in front of the BMW M3 of Fábio Souto Mayor, Henry Visconde, Luiz Coutinho and Ronaldo Sampaio.

Further competitive Italian machinery is also on show in MMGT2 where the Scuderia Playteam Ferrari 360 Modena shared by Giambasttista Giannoccaro, Alessandro Pierguidi and Toni Vilander; and the Masetari Competições Maserati Light GT of Francisco Longo, Daniel Serra and João Adibe will take on the Porsche 911 runners.

Mil Milhas Final Qualifying Times

1. Paulo Roberto Bonifácio, Vitor Meira, Felipe Giaffone (ZF 01/Scuderia 111/GT1), 1m30s247, av.speed 171,888 km/h; 2. Paulo Gomes, Mike Hezemans, Alencar Jr., Clemente Lunardi (Corvette/GLPK Carsport/GT1), 1m32s586; 3. Tony Kanaan, Pedro Lamy, Giuliano Losacco, Raul Boesel (Mercedes CLK DTM/Capuava/GT1), 1m32s994; 4. Philipp Peter, Thiago Marques, Tarso Marques, Paulo de Tarso (Ferrari 575/Giesse Squadra Corse/GT1), 1m33s210; 5. Nelson Piquet, Nelsinho Piquet, Christophe Bouchut, Hélio Castro Neves (Aston Martin DB9R/Cirtek Motorsport/GT1), 1m33s230; 6. Antonio Hermann, Didier Theys, Jean-Marc Gounon (Saleen SR-7/Konrad/GT1), 1m33s950; 7. Philipp Peter, Luca Drudi, Marco Cioci (Ferrari 575 GTC/Giesse Squadra Corse/GT1), 1m33s956; 8. Robert Lechner, Tom Weickardt, Franz Konrad (Saleen S7R-R/Konrad Motorsport / GT1), 1m34s617; 9. Pedro Lamy (Lister/Capuava Racing/GT1), 1m36s437; 10. Lucas Molo, Maurício Neves e Nelson Siva Jr. (Ferrari 550/Tekprom/GT1), 1m36s691; Selected: 11. Giambasttista Giannoccaro, Alessandro Pierguidi, Toni Vilander (Scuderia Playteam/Ferrari 360 Modena/GT2), 1m37s528; 18. Uberto Molo, Claudio Capparelli, Istvan Minash (Alfa Romeo 156/Tekprom/STC), 1m46s209. Drivers listed qualified cars.