2003 FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP – ROUND 1, BARCELONA
RACE REPORT – Sunday, 6th April

Ferraris owned by Care Racing, managed by BMS Scuderia Italia, and built by British-based Prodrive filled all three of the top podium spots today after an exciting and closely-fought opening round of the FIA GT Championship.

BMS Scuderia Italia newcomers Thomas Biagi and Matteo Bobbi claimed the victors’ laurels in their first ever sportscar race. They beat Luca Cappellari and Fabrizio Gollin into second by 15 seconds, and were followed home in 3rd by the Care Racing entry of Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderari and Stefano Livio.

The first 30 laps of the race featured very close competition between the pole-sitting Lister Storm of Jamie Campbell-Walter and Nathan Kinch and the two BMS cars. On lap 27 Fabrizio Gollin made his move and took the lead, only to come across an abandoned piece of bodywork [later confirmed to be a splitter from the no.4 Viper] which inflicted slight damage to the Ferrari and severe damage to the Lister, removing its roof and breaking the windscreen.

This was the only major incident to befall any of the Care Racing and BMS Ferrari 550 Maranellos during the race.

Matteo Bobbi (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 23: “It’s unbelievable! The whole team did very, very good work, especially Thomas and I, and we didn’t make any mistakes during the whole race. I could never have imagined this result before we started. Now we are looking towards the next race and the Championship. I think we had a lot of luck today, and the Lister was not so lucky, and for sure the competition will be strong again in the next race which is good for the Championship.”

Thomas Biagi (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 23: “This result is very important for me. I pushed 120% for the team because they did a really fantastic job and I wanted to repay the confidence they have shown in me and Matteo. The car, the engine, the Michelin tyres, were all perfect so this is the only result they deserve. The only thing I was a bit worried about was the rolling start – because it was the first time for me – but I was confident that all the drivers in the Championship were professionals so everything was okay.”

Luca Cappellari (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 22: “I had a great fight with Matteo and the car was running very well with the tyres perfect right to the end of each stint. I am very happy.”

Fabrizio Gollin (I), BMS Scuderia Italia no. 22: “I’m sorry I wasn’t able to give Luca a perfect car at the end of the first stint. After running over the splitter, which nearly “killed” Jamie Campbell-Walter (!), it did a little damage to the front of our car and so the car was not 100% after that.

Lilian Bryner (CH), BMS Care Racing no. 21: “I’m really pleased for the team as we were a little worried at the beginning about three cars being under their control. They did a really great job though. We only had a few small problems, one with a long brake pedal and then when we lost a bit of time with our last pit stop, but 3rd place is a good start for the season.”

Enzo Calderari (CH), BMS Care Racing no. 21: “Michelin did a great job with the tyres which were really consistent throughout the race. I never would have believed before the race that we would be filling all three podium places. We are all very happy.”

2…

Stefano Livio (I), BMS Care Racing no. 21: “It’s a great day for us. It was a very good first race and I was lucky. I had to do regular, consistent times and bring the car to the finish – it was my first time at Barcelona so I am very pleased.”

Frédéric Dor, founder of Care Racing Development: “There couldn’t be a better start to the season, and I think it’s fantastic especially with new drivers and new organisation in the team to cover the management of three cars. BMS have done very well - I had confidence in them but until you see it happening you don’t really know. The performance of our Ferraris, the Listers and the Larbre Viper is very close so I think it will be a hard fight with them in the coming races.”

Race Classification:

1 23 Biagi/Bobbi Ferrari 550 96 laps
2 22 Cappellari/Gollin Ferrari 550 -15.663s
3 21 Bryner/Calderari/Livio Ferrari 550 1 lap
4 15 Deletraz/Piccini Lister Storm 1 lap
5 6 Verdon-Roe/Snowdon Lister Storm 1 lap
6 11 Roos/Wallinder Chrysler Viper 2 laps
7 18 Zwaan/Zwaan/Abbelen Chrysler Viper 3 laps
8 52 Bertolini/De Simone Ferrari 360 (NGT) 4 laps
9 88 Davies/Mullen Ferrari 360 (NGT) 4 laps
10 89 Burt/Turner Ferrari 360 (NGT) 4 laps