09
September
2007
|
10:00
Europe/Amsterdam
FIA GT: Pirelli at the front in Adria, fighting for the title in all the classes
FIA GT: PIRELLI AT THE FRONT IN ADRIA,
FIGHTING FOR THE TITLE IN ALL THE CLASSES
Thanks to an excellent second place for the Bertolini-Piccini Maserati MC12 in GT1 and third for the Collard-Malucelli Porsche 997 GT3-RSR in GT2, Pirelli is now in a position to fight for both drivers' titles in the FIA GT Championship. As well as the usual excellent performance from the Bertolini-Piccini Maserati, the Aston Martin DBR9 of Babini and Davies was on top form all weekend to finish third overall.
Adria (I), 9 September 2007 - Pirelli just missed out on victory at the Adria circuit, but the result was still positive for the Italian tyre firm as well as for the entire FIA GT Championship.
The Pirelli-equipped Playteam Sarafree Maserati MC12 driven by Bertolini and Piccini was denied the win by a collision with a slower car, but the two Italian drivers have now closed to within three points of the lead of the FIA GT drivers' championship. The professional and experienced Bertolini said at the end of the race: "The extreme efficiency and consistent performance of our PZero Racing tyres, even at a rapid pace, underlines the usefulness of the tests carried out in Spain in August. Despite our ballast - on a track that combines heavy braking and brusque acceleration - our Pirelli tyres gave us an advantage. Without the Corvette that hit Piccini, we would probably have gone one better in our final result. But the main thing is that we have made our way back up the championship table".
Fabio Babini was also pleased after a hard-fought race in his Aston Martin Racing-BMS DBR9. Together with Jamie Davies, Pirelli's test driver was on the podium after a weekend in which the crew were always amongst the frontrunners - helping their morale as well as their prospects. Their third place was equalled by the Porsche 997 GT3-RSR pairing of Collard and Malucelli in GT2. This result allowed the French-Italian pairing to consolidate their second place in the GT2 drivers' championship. The Pirelli -equipped Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 GTC of Mullen and Turner was also a highlight of the class at Adria, driving continuously on a single set of tyres. The Ferrari crew set the same sort of pace as the leaders finishing fourth, but was later disqualified for a mistake in their pit stop procedure.
Pirelli's Circuit Manager Pierluigi De Cancellis, said: "I'm satisfied after a race in which Pirelli was constantly in the hunt for GT1 victory, thanks to the performance of our PZero Racing tyres on the MC12 and DBR9. We were also quick in GT2 throughout both qualifying and the race, as pole position for the Edil Cris Ferrari shows, as well as third place for the BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche - which was carrying ballast. The positive comments from the engineers of all our teams confirms that the work we carried out in testing at Valencia has paid off. Now we go to the next round in Brno knowing that we can challenge for the GT1 Championship with Maserati and with Porsche in the GT2 Championship".
Download the PDF (PDF, 70,1KB)
FIGHTING FOR THE TITLE IN ALL THE CLASSES
Thanks to an excellent second place for the Bertolini-Piccini Maserati MC12 in GT1 and third for the Collard-Malucelli Porsche 997 GT3-RSR in GT2, Pirelli is now in a position to fight for both drivers' titles in the FIA GT Championship. As well as the usual excellent performance from the Bertolini-Piccini Maserati, the Aston Martin DBR9 of Babini and Davies was on top form all weekend to finish third overall.
Adria (I), 9 September 2007 - Pirelli just missed out on victory at the Adria circuit, but the result was still positive for the Italian tyre firm as well as for the entire FIA GT Championship.
The Pirelli-equipped Playteam Sarafree Maserati MC12 driven by Bertolini and Piccini was denied the win by a collision with a slower car, but the two Italian drivers have now closed to within three points of the lead of the FIA GT drivers' championship. The professional and experienced Bertolini said at the end of the race: "The extreme efficiency and consistent performance of our PZero Racing tyres, even at a rapid pace, underlines the usefulness of the tests carried out in Spain in August. Despite our ballast - on a track that combines heavy braking and brusque acceleration - our Pirelli tyres gave us an advantage. Without the Corvette that hit Piccini, we would probably have gone one better in our final result. But the main thing is that we have made our way back up the championship table".
Fabio Babini was also pleased after a hard-fought race in his Aston Martin Racing-BMS DBR9. Together with Jamie Davies, Pirelli's test driver was on the podium after a weekend in which the crew were always amongst the frontrunners - helping their morale as well as their prospects. Their third place was equalled by the Porsche 997 GT3-RSR pairing of Collard and Malucelli in GT2. This result allowed the French-Italian pairing to consolidate their second place in the GT2 drivers' championship. The Pirelli -equipped Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 GTC of Mullen and Turner was also a highlight of the class at Adria, driving continuously on a single set of tyres. The Ferrari crew set the same sort of pace as the leaders finishing fourth, but was later disqualified for a mistake in their pit stop procedure.
Pirelli's Circuit Manager Pierluigi De Cancellis, said: "I'm satisfied after a race in which Pirelli was constantly in the hunt for GT1 victory, thanks to the performance of our PZero Racing tyres on the MC12 and DBR9. We were also quick in GT2 throughout both qualifying and the race, as pole position for the Edil Cris Ferrari shows, as well as third place for the BMS Scuderia Italia Porsche - which was carrying ballast. The positive comments from the engineers of all our teams confirms that the work we carried out in testing at Valencia has paid off. Now we go to the next round in Brno knowing that we can challenge for the GT1 Championship with Maserati and with Porsche in the GT2 Championship".
Download the PDF (PDF, 70,1KB)