FIA GT 2003 Championship: victory and pole position for Ferrari - Pirelli with Bertolini and De Simone!

Oschersleben, September 21st 2003 - A great week-end for Pirelli. Saturday, in qualifying, pole position for Andrea Bertolini in the Ferrari 360 Modena - Pirelli.. Sunday, Andrea Bertolini and Fabrizio De Simone raced with a perfect car to a determined victory in N-GT.

As Bertolini has declared and the Italian press reported, in this phase of the championship the 360 Ferrari Modena - Pirelli of team JMB is the best "technical package" in circulation in N-GT category. The new Pirelli P Zero Race tyres, added to the new sequential gearbox of the Ferrari have made a jump of nearly two seconds per lap against the competition. Ortelli, the main adversary of Bertolini and De Simone, has personally congratulated both drivers and team for the new performance.

Another great performance came from the Chrysler Viper - Pirelli of the team Force One with Hezemans, Kumpen, Alliot and Hallyday. The two cars have demonstrated their speed and reliable engine during the race. The Viper n 5 in particular distinguished itself in the first part of the race: in second position on the starting grid but taking an immediate lead and protagonist of a hard fight in order to maintain that first position: they have concluded with honour after two thirds of race with a broken brake caliper. Whilst in 3rd place Alliot became an involuntary protagonist of a spectacular accident at the 103rd lap caused by the Lister of Cambell-Walter who was subsequently disqualified for his behaviour. Fortunately Alliot was uninjured.

A Sunday to remember for the supremacy Ferrari - Pirelli: the new compound of the Pirelli P Zero racing tyres worked perfectly, combining the objective to increase the softness, that is the adherence of the tyre, without any loss in terms of duration. It is also to add that the asphalt temperature was totally at summer levels, reaching 50C.

Continuing problems of engine reliability have plagued the Ferrari 550 of team JMB. From the next race in Portugal the new Ferrari 575 Maranello will be available, equipped with Pirelli P Zero Racing tyres specifically developed for this car, and will hopefully supply an injection of confidence to its drivers.

Next race: Estoril, Portugal, October 4th / 5th