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>>> 2002 FIA GT Championship calender

>>> 4th August 2002:  Proximus Spa 24 hrs, FIA GT Championship Rd 7: JMB Ferrari 360 comes home fourth overall
 
The Montermini/Pescatori/Garbagnati/Bertolini Ferrari 360 Modena on its way to 4th overall and second in the N-GT class. click here to enlarge this image and view statistics of the Spa 24 hoursFIA N-GT championship leaders Christian Pescatori and Andrea Montermini were joined in the lead JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modena by team mates Andra Garbagnati and Andrea Bertolini, surviving an action packed Proximus Spa 24 hours to bring the Ferrari home fourth overall, second in N-GT after a race in which they had been rarely out of the top ten positions. After fighting with the N-GT Ortelli/Dumas/Collard Porsche 996GT3 for much of the race they eventually finished five laps behind them and twelve behind the overall winning Chrysler Viper of Vosse, Bouchet and Terrian which edged out the surviving Lister Storm. It was the first time that a Ferrari 360 Modena had completed 24 hours of racing.

The seventh round of the FIA GT Championship at Spa, was scheduled over 24 hours with championship points to be awarded for positions at 6, 12 and 24 hours. The regular FIA GT field was swollen by a number of newcomers to give an entry of more than 50 cars. The race was a huge success, more than 65,000 spectators attending on the Saturday alone. Andrea Piccini took his second pole position of the year, his 2:16.393, nearly half a second faster than the Carsport Chrysler Viper of Fabrizio Gollin. Dutchman Peter Kox, joining the crew of the second BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello for the weekend, lined up third, 1.5s slower than the sister car. In N-GT Stephane Ortelli in the Freisinger Porsche edged out Christian Pescatori, with Bert Longin lining up the second Freisinger car third.

The BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello cars dominated the start of the race. Winner of the last three races, Andrea Piccini led away from pole, keeping the lead throughout his stint and posting many of the race's fastest lap times. However, as the GT cars came in for their first scheduled pit stops, the second BMS Ferrari 550 of Frederik Dor and Enzo Calderai, joined for this race by Peter Kox swept into the lead as it remained on worn tyres. The Ferrari challenge was not to last long though, with Piccini's team mate Jean-Denis Deletraz dropping back slightly before stopping with oil pressure problems and Kox quickly returning to the pits with a broken transmission. 

With the winning Chrysler Viper scoring maximum points at all three opportunities, an eventual total of 20 points, double the usual maximum, overall championship leaders Piccini and Deletraz have slipped down the points standings.

Elsewhere Philippe Alliot retired the Force One Ferrari 550 Maranello early in the race with transmission failure. Yah-Man, Caffi and Chiesa rounded off the top ten finishers in their Ferrari 360 Modena, while a independently entered Lamborghini Diablo ran steadily all race to come home in a respectable 17th place.


>>> 28th July 2002:  Lamborghini GTR Supertrophy update
 
Lamborghini Diablo GTR at the opening round at Magny Cours. Click here for an update of the GTR Supertrophy series to dateThe Lamborghi GTR Supertrophy for "Gentleman" and professional driver pairings, driving 600 bhp Lamborghini Diablo GTR's has supported the Super Racing Weekends programme all season which includes the FIA GT's and FIA European Touring Cars. After the Oscersleben round, Jean-Marc Gounon and Franck Sevin head the standings in their distinctive Corona-backed Hidar Motorsport Lamborghini Diablo GTR.

The Lamborghini VIP car has seen some interesting personalities take the wheel and has always been in the thick of the action. Singer David Halliday and famous Spanish racing driver Emillio de Villota won at Jarama, while BBC TV's Tiff Needell and journalist Mark Hales took a victory at Silverstone. Ex-F1 racer Parick Tambary and legendary French skier, Luc Alphand teamed up at Magny-Cours, but after a promising start were sidelined by mechanical failures.


>>> 22nd July 2002:  Badoer out again in Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo at Fiorano
 
click here for more images of Luca Badoer at the wheel of the Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo car at Fiorano click here for more images of Luca Badoer at the wheel of the Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo car at Fiorano Ferrari F1 test driver Luca Badoer has just finished a two day trouble free test session at Fiorano in the Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo prototype. 

>>> 14th July 2002:  Piccini and Deletraz win again at Oschersleben FIA GT Race
 
The BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello of Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz took their third consecutive FIA GT Championship win at Oschersleben in Germany to move into the championship lead by a single point from the Lister Storm duo of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Niclaus Springer with four races remaining.

Making a poor start from second place on the grid, Piccini dropped down to fifth, but by the time he handed over to Jean-Denis Deletraz at the first round of pitstops he had brought the Ferrari back up into second. Deletraz took the lead from Niclaus Springer in the Lister during the second hour, and Piccini, despite worn front tyres, stroked home the Ferrari in the final stint to cross the line just 1 second ahead of the Lister.

Andrea Piccini, “At the start I thought that one of the cars passed before the green light. I couldn’t close the door so dropped to fifth. It was very difficult for me to pass the Carsport cars because they were very fast in a straight line. I don’t think that Gollin saw me and I hit him, and I am sorry about that. I didn’t hit him deliberately, I was all over the grass, but we touched. I started to push to catch the Lister, but there was always traffic. We lost time in the pit stop with the refuelling. When I took the car I was only five seconds behind. I had to close the gap which was hard because the front tyres were gone. It was a hard race."

Andrea Garbagnati and Andrea Bertolini took third place in the N-GT class in their JMB Ferrari 360 Modena, despite an end of race spin for Garbagnati.One spin each for Andrea Montermini and Christian Pescatori in the class championship leading JMB 360 Modena meant they finished 7th in class, outside the points scoring positions.

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2002 FIA GT Championship, Round 6, Oschersleben ( Germany ). Result after 3 hours:
1st Piccini/Deletraz  ( Ferrari 550 Maranello ) 3:00.15.664 120 laps, 2nd Campbell-Walter/Springer ( Lister Storm ) +1.012sec, 3rd Babini/Duez ( Chrysler Viper GTS-R ) +57.153secs, 10th ( 3rd N-GT ) Bertolini/Garbagniti ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +6 laps, 15th ( 7th N-GT ) Montermini/Pescatori ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +8 laps, 16th ( 8th N-GT )  Alexander/Kutemann/Pregliasco ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +8 laps, ret Alliot/Halliday ( Ferrari 550 Maranello ) +58 laps, Ret Belloc/Gianni ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +76 laps
Championship Positions: 1st= Jean-Denis Deletraz, Andrea Piccini 31pts, 3rd= Jamie-Campbell Walter, Nicolaus Springer, 30pts, 5th= Christophe Bouchet, David Terrien 24pts, 19th Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderai 2pts; N-GT Championship Positions: 1st= Christian Pescatori, Andrea Montermini 35pts, 3rd Stephane Ortelli 30pts, 5th Andrea Garbagnati, Andrea Bertolini 21pts

>>> 10th July 2002:  Fabrizio Giovanardi joins Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo test programme at Imola
 
click here to enlarge this photo of Fabrizio Giovanardi with the Maserati Cambiocorsa TrofeoThe development programme for the Maserati's Cambiocorsa Trophy sportscar moved to the Imola circuit, home of the San Marino Grand Prix, for a two day test session this week. Reigning European Touring Car Champion Fabrizio Giovanardi has been drafted into the test programme and he carried out testing duties, building on a previous Imola test last week which was carried out by Ferrari F1 test driver Luca Badoer.

The first day of the test was warm and sunny, the Alfa touring car pilot running 98 trouble-free laps as he got familiar with the car, posting a fastest time of 2:03.908. On the second day he completed 55 laps before an off at the Tosa corner resulted in minor damage to the car, curtailing the day's running. Along the way he set a fastest lap time of 2:02.991. Giovanardi was positive in his feedback on the Cambiocorsa Trofeo car, impressed at the car's handling around a demanding circuit like Imola, and confident that an increase in power and further weight loss should see the car become a competitive GT proposition. 

Click here to enlarge this image of the Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo at Imola
Click here to enlarge this image of the Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo at Imola
Click here to enlarge this image of the Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo at Imola
Click here to enlarge this image of the Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo at Imola

>>> 30th June 2002:  second consecutive FIA GT win for Piccini/Deletraz Ferrari 550 at Anderstorp
 
The BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello shared by Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz followed up on their Spanish victory by winning at a wet and cold Anderstorp. 

Round 5 of the FIA GT Championship saw the cars start behind the pace car due to the torrential rain and run for 54 minutes of the 3 hour race in formation. The BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari took the lead in the second hour and never looked back, romping home over 20 seconds ahead of the second placed Larbre Competition Chrysler Viper GTS of Christophe Bouchet and David Terrien. For the first time this season both the teams cars finished in the points, the sister car of Enzo Calderai and Lillian Bryner coming home in fifth place.

The result lifts Piccini and Deletraz up to fifth place in the overall championship points standings with 21 points, three points behind the first four in the championship who all tie on 24 points, Bouchet and Terrian's second place putting them on equal points with the championship leading Lister drivers.

In the N-GT class both JMB Racing Ferrari 360 Modenas finished in the points, the Garbagnati/Bertolini car coming second, while the championship leaders Montermini/Pescatori picked up three points coming home fourth. However with Stephane Ortelli picking up his third class win on the trot in the Freisinger Porsche, this weekend sharing with his third consecutive different co-driver, Emmanuel Collard, the JMB drivers championship lead has now been whittled down to just five points.

Also making their series debut were two extra JMB Ferraris. Both had eventful races. The Gianni/Ring car had a warm-up accident and only just made the grid. Gianni spun out in the wet, losing three laps and with the windescreen wipers failing, team mate Tony Ring then miscalculated a bend and slid off, losing further track position. However they made in to the finish, 13th in class, one place behind Kutemann/Alexander's similar car which had started from the pitlane after a techical problem and ran as high as 3rd place in class before Iraj Alexander locked his brakes on cold tyres ran into the back of John Nielsen's Cirtek Porsche.

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2002 FIA GT Championship, Round 5, Anderstorp ( Sweden ). Result after 3 hours:
1st Piccini/Deletraz  ( Ferrari 550 Maranello ) 3:01.16.709, 84 laps, 2nd Bouchet/Terrian ( Chrysler Viper GTS-R ) +21.844, 3rd Hezemans/Kumpen ( Chrysler Viper GTS-R ) +25.720, 5th Calderai/Bryner ( Ferrari 550 Maranello ) +1 lap, 8th ( 1st N-GT ) Ortelli/Collard ( Porsche 996 GT3-R ) +1 lap, 10th ( 2nd N-GT ) Garbagnati/Bertolini ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +2 laps, 13th ( 4th N-GT ) Montermini/Pescatori ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +2 laps, 22nd ( 12th N-GT ) Kutemann/Alexander ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +9 laps, 24th ( 13th N-GT ) Gianni/Ring ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +11 laps
Fastest Lap: Piccini/Deletraz  1:41.603  88.61mph  142.61km/h  lap 23
Championship Positions: 1st= Jamie-Campbell Walter, Nicolaus Springer, Christophe Bouchet, David Terrien 24pts, 5th= Jean-Denis Deletraz, Andrea Piccini 21pts, 19th Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderai 2pts 

>>> 22nd June 2002:  Burti undertakes two day Fiorano test session for Maserati
 
Luciano Burti shakesdown the new Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo at Fiorano, click here for more detailBrazilian Luciano Burti has wrapped up a two day test session intended to shakedown the new Maserati Cambiocorsa Trofeo car. The test went smoothly with Burti and Maserati's engineers pronouncing themselves satisfied with the outcome. Ferrari-Maserati President, Luca di Montezemolo attended the final day and undertook a few laps himself in the car.

>>> 18th June 2002:  Maserati to get back on the track
 
Click here for more detail of the Maserati CambiocorsaMaserati have announced that a track test session of a modified Maserati Coupe, indended as the basis for a forthcoming one make series will take place in two days. The test will be carried out at the Fiorano track by Ferrari F1 test driver, Luciano Burti.

>>> 16th June 2002:  Ferrari's all out by the early hours at LeMans 24 Hour Race
 
the Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello ran perfectly, dominating the GTS class, until retiring in the early morningAll four Ferrari's competing at Le Mans had retired by the time first light broke on the Sunday morning. In the LM-GTS class, the Prodrive run Ferrari 550 Maranello had run a copybook race and was runaway class leader until at 4.30am the car stopped at the Porsche Turn as an onboard fire broke out while Alain Menu was at the wheel.

In the LM-GT class the lead JMB Competition 360 Modena had been only the race's third retirement, running off the track at 6.18pm during Hancock's stint. The sister car retired at 3.30am with electrical failure, while the Autopalace 360 Modena after making several early morning pitstops with battery problems was eventually withdrawn at 5.10am.


>>> 13th June 2002:  Prodrive Ferrari leads class after final LeMans qualifying
 
The JMB Ferrari 360 Modena during qualifying for the 2002 Le Mans 24 hour raceThe Prodrive developed and run LM-GTS class Ferrari 550 Maranello, set the class fastest time to line up 28th overall on the grid for Saturday's Le Mans 24 hour race. The car, driven by Tomas Enge, Rickard Rydell and Alain Menu, set a time of 3.54.091, 9/10ths faster than their nearest rival.

In the LM-GT class the quickest of the two JMB Ferrari 360 Modena's, the Short/Wagner/Hancock car, set a time 4:15.951 to line up 44th overall and 6th in class, just under 5 seconds off the GT pole time which was set by the Racers Group Porsche of Luhr/Bernard. The Gomez/Fukuda Autopalace 360 Modena lined up in 47th place with a time of 4:19.536, 10th in class, while Schultheis/MacAllister/Earle in the second JMB Ferrari brought up the rear of the grid in 50th place with a time of 4:27.313.


>>> 3rd June 2002:  Ferrari 360's out in British GT Championship at May Bank Holiday round

Two Ferrari 360's turned out for round 6 of the British GT Championship at the Silverstone circuit, England. Lockie/Davies put their FIA N-GT spec Ferrari 360 onto 7th place on the grid and Attard/Woodford in another 360 lined up 14th. In the tightly contested GTO class the Lockie/Davies car eventually followed home class winners Short/Pullan, their powerful TVR Tuscan R at home on the circuits fast straights, less than 1/2 sec drift at the chequered flag and 7th overall, while the Attard/Woodford car came home 5th in class and 11th overall.


>>> 2nd June 2002:  Ferrari 550 records first win of the year at Jarama FIA GT Championship race
 
In blistering heat at the Jarama track in Spain, Andrea Piccini and Jean-Denis Deletraz scored Ferrari's first win of the season at the fourth round of the 2002 FIA GT Championship. Pole-sitter Piccini pulled away from the field at the start and was never threatened all afternoon, the Prodrive-developed 550 Maranello eventually finishing over half a minute ahead of the second place Carsport Holland Chrysler Viper, while the championship leading Lister Storm of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Nicolaus Springer was never on the pace around the twisty 3.8-km circuit, eventually coming home in 6th place.

Two weeks after Thomas Enge had given BMS Scuderia Italia their first pole position at Brno, the No 23 Ferrari 550 Maranello was placed on pole by Andrea Piccini after topping the times in almost every practice session. Piccini started the race and after the first hour, handed the car over to Jean-Denis Deletraz with a 26 second lead, which he maintained for the second hour, Piccini eventually finishing the third hour with a 33 cushion over the second place Viper.

Stephane Ortelli took his second consecutive win in the N-GT class in the Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-R, this time sharing driving duties with Sascha Maassen, a clear lap ahead of the championship leaders Andrea Montermini and Christian Pescatori in the JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena whose second place in class extended their N-GT lead. After struggling in qualifying, Montermini had started the car down in 7th place in class, fighting up to second before handing over to Pescatori just before half distance. He then battled with Antonio Garcia in the RWS Porsche, pulling away enough to allow him to make a splash-and-dash stop with 10 minutes left on the clock, crossing the line 1/4 second ahead of the Spanish driver.

Enzo Calderari retired the No22 BMS Ferrari 550 after the transmission bar broke causing a major vibration, while in N-GT Bertolini brought the second JMB 360 home for 4th place in class.
 
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result after 112 laps:
overall & GT class: 1st Piccini/Deletraz ( Ferrari 550 Maranello )  3:00.53.940  ave speed 143.01kmh,  2nd Hezemans/Kumpens ( Chrysler Viper GTS-R )  +33.720,  3rd Bouchet/Terrian ( Chrysler Viper GTS-R )  1:12.082, 9th ( 1st N-GT ) Ortelli/Maassen ( Porsche 996 GT3-R ) +4 laps, 10th ( 2nd N-GT ) Montermini/Pescatori ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +5 laps, 12th ( 4th N-GT ) Garbagnati/Bertolini ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +5 laps, 23rd ( 12th N-GT ) Pregliasco/Lambertini/Alexander ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) +32 laps, ret Calderari/Bryner/Dor ( Ferrari 550 Maranello ) 54 laps,  ret Alliot/Halliday ( Ferrari 550 Maranello ) 11 laps, ret Gianni/Giraudi ( Ferrari 360 Modena ) 9 laps.
Fastest Lap: Piccini ( Ferrari 550 Maranello )  1:32.404  ave speed 149.99kmh 93.20mph  lap 2

>>> 19th May 2002:  BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello takes pole at Brno GT race

Round 3 of the FIA GT Championship at Brno, in the Czech Republic, saw Thomas Enge take pole position in the no 23 BMS Ferrari 550 Maranello on his GT debut with a lap of 1:58.501 to line up ahead of Christophe Bouchet's Chrysler Viper. A difficult GT baptism continued for the no 5 Force One 550 Maranello, they failed a ride height check in the opening practice session and were hit by waterpump failure in the second practice. In the GT-N class the Ferrari 360 Modenas took a one-two with Christian Pescatori, despite carrying 40kg of "success" ballast after winning both the previous rounds, setting a class fastest time of 2:05.141 to take 12th spot on the grid, with team mate Andrea Bertonlini lining up behind him in 13th.

The race saw both of the BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550s retire. Lilian Bryner, second car was involved in a shunt during the first hour of the race with Andrea Garbagnati’s 360 Modena, the accident bringing out the Safety Car. The leading Ferrari 550 Maranello of Tomas Enge stretched out a lead in the opening half hour of the race, and the Czech pitted when his team mate's collision brought out the Safety Car. However he then lost a lap to the leaders while waiting for the pit lane to reopen and while making rapid progress back to the front Enge spun the Ferrari, picking up a stone in the engine that caused his retirement.

In the GT-N class Christian Pescatori spent the first period of the race battling with the Freisinger Porsche 996GTSR3 of Stephane Ortell the JVG Racing Porsche of Jurgen Von Gartzen, and the similar Autorlando car of Phillipp Peter. After being passed by the Porche's after ten laps, Montermini spun while trying to regain position and the JMB Ferrari eventually settled for second in class, extending their championship lead. Andrea Garbagnati, in the second JMB car retired in the previously mentioned incident with the 550 Maranello of Lilian Bryner.


>>> 7th May 2002:  Prodrive Ferrari 550 sets fast pace at Le Mans pre-qualifying
 
The JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena on its way to third fastest GT-class pre-qualifying time for the Le Mans 24 hoursThe Prodrive developed and entered Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello set a rapid pace at the Le Mans pre-qualifying session, with lead driver Tomas Enge, ending up over 3 seconds ahead of the nearest GTS class rival with a time of 3:52.070 after competing 48 trouble-free laps of the French circuit. Next best GTS runner was Chrisophe Bouchet's Labre Competition Chrysler Viper, who eventually set a time of 3:55.901 after slowly chipping away at the Ferrari's time. Overall fastest time was set by Rinaldo Capelli in the LMP900 class Audi R8 with a lap of 3:30.296. Prodrive team manager George Howard-Chappell was delighted with the performance of the Ferrari, and confident that the team's aim of a class podium finish at Le Mans was on target.

In the GT class the lead Wagner/Hancock JMB Ferrari 360 Modena finished an impressive 3rd in class, just over 3 1/2 seconds behind the fastest GT class time, which was set by the dominant US Buckler/Luhr/Bernard Racers Group Porsche GT3.

overall fastest times: 26th Menu/Rydell/Enge ( Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello ) 3:52.070, 40th Wagner/Hancock ( JMB Ferrari 360 Modena ) 4:13.754, 46th Earle/McAllister ( JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena ) 4:25.267, 48th Gomez/Halliday/Casanave ( Autopalace Ferrari 360 Modena ) 4:25.267.


>>> 5th May 2002:  FIA GT Championship, Round 2: Pescatori/Montermini Ferrari wins N-GT Class again

Three Ferrari's made it to the finish in a tough race at Silverstone which produced a suprise winner in Marc Duez and Fabio Babini ( Chrysler Viper ) after the Lister Storm hit problems. Meanwhile the Pescatori/Montermini class N-GT Ferrari 360 Modena came home 9th overall, to win the class for the second race in succession, while the 550 Maranello of Calderari/Bryner/Dor made it to the flag 11th, one place ahead of the similar Alliot/Halliday car.


>>> 1st May 2002:  Le Mans 24 hours provisional entry list released

As expected there are four Ferrari's entered for June's Le Mans 24 hour, a single GTS class 550 Maranello from Prodrive, two of JMB Competition's GT class 360 Modenas and an all-American crew in the Autopalace 360 Modena. Further Italian interest is provided by the two front running Dallara-Judds.

entry list: No58 ( LM GTS ) T.Enge/R.Rydell/A.Menu ( Prodrive Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello ),  No70 ( LM GT ) C.Wagner/S.Hancock ( JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena ),  No71 ( LM GT ) S.Earle/C.McAllister ( JMB Competition Ferrari 360 Modena ), No74 ( LM GT ) G.Gomez/D.Halliday/L.Cazenave ( Autopalace Ferrari 360 Modena )


>>> 24th April 2002:  Prodrive scrap second Le Mans entry

Prodrive have announced that they will only run one of their Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello's at June's Le Mans 24 hour race, for Tomas Enge, Alain Menu and Rickard Rydell. The provisional second entry has been withdrawn allowing the team to concentrate on the one entry. The team will be at the Le Mans pre-qualifying session on 5th May. Prodrive made the decision after the first round of the FIA GT Championship, where they assessed that their prior commitment to support the customer BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari team precluded running two cars at Le Mans.


>>> 21st April 2002:  Ferrari's out in force at opening round of FIA GT Championship

In a race dominated by the Lister Storm, several new Ferrari 550 Maranellos and 360 Modenas were entered. Best finisher was the Deletraz/Piccini 550, which completed the race in 6th place, two laps down on the winners. In GT-N the Pescatori/Montermini Ferrari 360 Modena took class honours and 8th place overall, while the 360 Modenas of Garbagnati/Bertolini 10th overall, Gianni/Giraudi 11th overall and Alexander/Kutemann/Pregliasco 13th overall, completed the Ferrari finishers.


>>> 14th April 2002: Ferrari President hints at Maserati racing programme

In the broadest hint yet that a full works racing comeback is planned for Maserati, Ferrari and Maserati President, Luca di Montezemolo, in an interview at the San Marino Grand Prix today, commented that the proposed float of Ferrari on the stockmarket would release funds to assist a Maserati racing programme.


>>> 17th March 2002:  Team Rafanelli 550 just makes Sebring grid

Team Rafanelli's brand new GTS class Ferrari 550 Maranello, in the hands of Emanuele Naspetti, Domenico Schiatarella and Johnny Cecotto, only just made it to the Sebring 12 hours, being finished in the pitlane hours before qualifying was due to begin. Unable to set a qualifying time, the car lined up in 59th place, the Ferrari 550 lasted only 10 laps before being forced to retire. In the GT class the MSB Motorsport Ferrari 360 Modena of Ralf Kelleners and Dario Franchitti's younger brother, Marino, qualified in 43rd place but lasted only two laps longer than the larger class Ferrari, becoming the race's second retirement on lap 12.


>>> 16-17th March 2002:  Italian cars dominate opening Australian Sportscar races

The first round of the Australian Nations Cup took place with a three race format. Paul Stokell put his Lamborghini Diablo on pole for the first race, joined on the front row by John Bowe's Ferrari 360 Modena. In the first race Stokell led from lights to flag, with Bowe coming in second. Race two saw positions reversed, Bowe getting the jump on Stokell at the start, and holding the Diablo driver off to the flag. The third and final race saw Stokell first and Bowe second, completing an Italian shut out in round 1.


>>> 15th March 2002:  Scuderia Italia confirm Ferrari 550 Maranello

Crack Italian team Scuderia Italia, have confirmed that Antonio Piccini will be joined by veteran sportscar driver Jean-Denis Deletraz, for their campaign in this years FIA GT Championship.


>>> 5th February 2002:  Prodrive to run their Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello at Le Mans
 
Prodrive are to enter two of their own developed FIA GT Ferrari 550 Maranello's at Le Mans Prodrive, who ran their developement Ferrari 550 GTS Maranello in last years FIA GT Championship, have announced that they will be taking two of the cars to Le Mans this year. They will be leaving the GT Championship open this year to customers running their 550. Last years GT Championship drivers Rickard Rydell and Alain Menu have been confirmed, with the team now looking to recruit a further four drivers. Prodrive's ambition will be to record a class podium finish at the classic race. A front engined Ferrari, the 275GTB last entered the event in 1966, a year after the marque last won the event.

>>> 2nd February 2002:  Ferrari to put 360GT into production

Ferrari announce that they will be producing a limited number of racing 360GT models. Based on the 360 Modena Maranello Challenge car it will be available in either FIA Group N-GT specification or to ACO Le Mans regulations. It follows on from the success of the JMB Competition Ferrari 360 which won the 2001 FIA Group GT-N class and was evolved from a challenge car.

The 360 Modena Maranello Challenge car will continue in production to meet increasing demand for the series which will see close to 200 cars taking part in the various series worldwide.


>>> archive:

>>> 2001: The Prodrive-developed Ferrari 550 Maranello made its debut in the FIA GT Championship while David Terrian and Henri Pescatori wrapped up the Group N-GT class in their Ferrari 360 Modena. Marco Zadra won the World Sportscar Championship in a Ferrari 333SP, while rumours persisted that Maserati would make a sportscar comeback


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