Excellent overall result for Pirelli: two PZero-tyred Maseratis on the podium

Monza, 10 April 2005 - The FIA-GT championship opened with an excellent overall result for Pirelli, with the four PZero-tyred Maseratis finishing in the first five places. A mistake during the final refuelling stop, with the Biagi-Babini MC12 halting too far from the fuel filler, cost 15 seconds and prevented the Vitaphone team's Maserati number 10 from frustrating the late charge of the Gardel-Lamy Ferrari 550 that eventually got the better of the German team's second Maserati driven by Scheider and Bartels. The final stages also saw the Kumpen-Hezemans Corvette C5R (another Pirelli client) betrayed by a broken engine when challenging for overall victory after a magnificent race. Michael Bartels, who led much of the race in the second Vitaphone Maserati MC12 and eventually finished in a fine second place, said that he was highly satisfied with his PZeros. " The tyres worked well throughout the race, guaranteeing great consistency of performance even when used for a double stint. Of course, it was a shame to lose the race right at the end, but clearly it has to be seen as very positive that the Maseratis proved to be so competitive in all conditions, and were always well supported by the Pirelli PZeros". Luigi Moccia, who took the chequered flag third in the GT2 category with the Ebimotor Porsche 996 GT3 RSR, also expressed his confidence for the forthcoming races. " We owe much to Pirelli for this result as they provided us with fantastic tyres capable of offering consistent performance even when exploited to the full". Pierluigi De Cancellis, Pirelli's Circuit Manager, was pleased with the result. " It's worth pointing out that the Maserati MC12s completed a double stint without changing tyres. The PZeros provided significantly consistent performance for all the cars supported by Pirelli, as confirmed by the excellent performance of the GPLK Corvette C5R that was immediately competitive despite having been assembled on the eve of the race". The Milanese engineer also pointed out " the high mileage offered by the PZeros on all the cars in the GT1 class" . De Cancellis sees as positive " the overall result obtained by Pirelli, which also tyred Ruberti-Camathias Saleen S7-R that finished in tenth place, despite the Swiss driver having had very little opportunity to test the car before ling up at Monza. We can, therefore, be very confident ahead of the forthcoming races". The next round of the championship is due to be held on 1 May at the Magny-Cours circuit (France). Final result -Monza FIA-GT race 2005: 1. Gardel-Lamy (Ferrari 550 Maranello), 87 laps in 2h40'30''881 2. Bartels-Scheider (Maserati MC12) +0''921 3. Biagi-Babini (Maserati MC12) +1''456 4. Peter-Buncombe-Rusinov (Maserati MC12) +1 lap 5. Bertolini-Wendlinger (Maserati MC12) +3 laps Also: 10. Ruberti-Camathias (Saleen S7-R) +5 giri 11. Moccia-Busnelli (Porsche 996 GT3 RSR) +5 giri Information and images regarding Pirelli racing are available on the site www.pirellicompetizioni.com