A Pirelli Pzero's Absolute Domination:Four Cars In The First Four Fia-Gt Places
Magny-Cours, 1 May 2005 - Pirelli Competizioni played an extraordinary hand of poker in the second round of the FIA-GT Championship, which took place on the Magny-Cours circuit in France today. The Pirelli tyres dominated the race due to the superiority of the three Maserati MC12s, which monopolised the podium, and the excellent fourth place of the Corvette C5R. The latest evolution of the Pirelli PZero Racing taken to France immediately demonstrated a high degree of competitivity, permitting the Maseratis and the Corvette to take command of the race from the early stages. Today's victory assumes a special value, being Pirelli -Maserati's third win in six races from the start of their joint FIA-GT Championship's commitment, which began last September. After two 1-2 double victories in 2004 (Oschersleben and Zhuhai), today's at Magny-Cours is their first triple - to which should be added many podium places. Karl Wendlinger, winner of the race together with Andrea Bertolini in the JMB Racing's Maserati MC12, said, "The competitivity we were offered by the new Pirelli PZero Racing was decidedly impressive, both for their regularity of performance and their grip on the limit, like that which we experienced today. The Pirelli technicians have been extremely important to this race, producing tyres that performed at a high level throughout the entire 104 laps of the event". A positive opinion was also expressed of the new Pirelli tyres by Fabio Babini, who came third in the second MC12 of the Vitaphone Racing team behind the sister car of Bartels-Schneider. He said, "The PZero Racing tyres were essential to the excellent Maseratis performance: they enabled us to always have the ideal grip when exiting the corners, a major advantage for acceleration". Pierluigi De Cancellis, Pirelli Competizioni Circuit Manager, commented positively on the latest evolution PZero Racing tyre . "Both the new tread compound for the front tyres - in which innovative components made their debut - and the new structure of the rear tyres in the case of the Maseratis, the Corvette and the Ferraris, produced optimum results in absolute performance and consistency of yield. That is confirmed by the fastest lap set by Bertolini and the fact that the race was run in difficult ambient conditions. The high external temperature made the asphalt very hot ( 40C ) and even slipperier". Next FIA-GT race: Silverstone (GB) on May 15, 2005. Final results - Magny-Cours race, FIA-GT 2005:
- Bertolini-Wendlinger (Maserati MC12) , 104 laps in 3h01'20''442
- Bartels-Scheider (Maserati MC12) +4''701
- Biagi-Babini (Maserati MC12) +36''739
- Kumpen-Hezemans-Longin (Corvette C5R) +1'27''458
Gardel-Lamy (Ferrari 550 Maranello) +2 laps For more information and pictures on Pirelli's motorsport activities visit: www.pirellicompetizioni.com