Ferrari detail. Ferrari Owners' Club
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Ferrari Happenings

Zhuhai GT : Maseratis Are Unleashed
by Arthur Beattie
18.11.04

The eleventh and final round of the 2004 season of the FIA GT Championship came to an exciting finish at the Zhuhai International Circuit in China

Unfortunately, Ferrari didn't do too well well in the GT class as the two Maserati MC12s took a one-two in their first Championship race now that the cars' homologation had been accepted. This looks like the way of it in '05. Mika Salo and Andrea Bertolini were victorious, crossing the finish line just ahead of their team-mates Johnny Herbert and Fabrizio De Simone.

Maybe someone brighter than me can explain the marketing logic of racing an Enzo-based Maserati, apparently built in Maranello behind screens, and beating the Ferraris......

Matteo Bobbi and Gabriele Gardel were third and the first Ferrari home in their BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550M, after leading the race for the first hour and fighting until the end, despite problems with their brakes and a longer pit stop due to adding water to the engine.

The Care Racing Ferrari, shared by Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderari and Christophe Bouchut was fourth, giving Lilian and Enzo third place in the GT Drivers Championship - meaning an all-BMS top three for the second year in a row.

Karl Wendlinger, Tarso Marques and Iradj Alexander, in JMB Racing's Ferrari 575 GTC, were fifth, ahead of Naspetti and Peter in the GPC Giesse Ferrari, with Morbidelli and Babini, in the other GPC Giesse Ferrari 575 GTC, taking the final point for eighth.

It went much better for the Ferrari 360GTC of Christian Pescatori and Jaime Melo who won N-GT after starting in pole position. The car had a faultless race and the Italian-Brazilian duo gave the team its second win of the season ahead of the Porsche hordes, giving them third place in the Teams Classification. "I am very happy to have won this last race of the season," Pescatori said afterwards. "It is very important for the team, for Pirelli, and for next year."

In the GT teams' classification, GPC Giesse took second place in the Championship behind BMS Scuderia Italia, while JMB Racing finished third. Fourth went to the Vitaphone Racing Team, with Care Racing fifth.

 

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