Fia-Gt: Pirelli In Pole Position At Imola With The Corvette C5r On Pzero Racing

Imola (I), 28 May 2005 - Pirelli has even confirmed the competitiveness of its P Zero Racing tyres in the searing heat ( 38 C ) of Imola by taking pole position with the Corvette C5R of GLPK-Carsport, driven by Longin-Hezemans-Kumpen. After an unlucky Silverstone, where it was forced to retire with brake problems, this is the first major result for the American coup, which was showing its pace as early as free testing, its nearest rival no less than eight tenths of a second behind it. On tomorrow's starting grid, the Corvette will be flanked by the Ferrari 550 Maranello of Gardel-Lamy, while the second row will be monopolised by the Pirelli - Maserati duo and the MC12s of Rusinov-Buncombe-Peter (JMB Racing) and Bartels-Scheider (Vitaphone Racing). The best chronometric results were obtained during the morning qualifying session, when the air and asphalt temperatures were obviously lower than those of the afternoon's torrid heat. The supremacy shown by the Pirelli P Zero - shod Corvette is the result of some significant work of car refinement, as explained by the man who set the fastest time, Mike Hezemans. He said, "The Corvette is an incredibly solid and reliable car, which reacts well and rapidly to set-up modifications and does not demand complex solutions to adapt itself to the various P Zero Racing tyre evolutions supplied by Pirelli Competizioni. Tomorrow, with suffocating heat forecast for the entire three hours of the race, that contribution will be really useful". Chris Buncombe, Maserati driver, was especially satisfied with his third fastest time, and said, "How much more difficult it is to drive a car without ballast on a demanding track like Imola! Our Pirelli s were optimum, even on the scorching asphalt of the second qualifying session, for which one can be sure the race will not be complete relaxation". Pierluigi De Cancellis, Circuit Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, also formed a favourable impression of the qualifying sessions. As well as the third fastest time in the GT2 category with Busnelli-Moccia's Porsche 996 GT3 RS (Ebimotor), Pirelli also scored an excellent sixth overall with Camathias-Ruberti's Saleen S7-R (GNM), which, because it had adopted a bigger rear wing plane, exploited the P Zero Racing tyres more effectively and had better aerodynamics and traction, which substantially improved the performance of the Saleen. T he Imola race is scheduled to start tomorrow at 11.20 am Italian time. Qualifying - Imola race, FIA-GT 2005:

1.	Longin-Kumpen-Hezemans	Corvette C5R	1'45''835
2.	Lamy-Gardel	Ferrari 550 Maranello	+0''291
3.	Peter-Buncombe-Rusinov	Maserati MC12	+0''392
4.	Bartels-Scheider	Maserati MC12	+0''538
5.	Bouchut-Fomenko-Vasiliev	Ferrari 550 Maranello	+0''631
6.	Ruberti-Camathias	Saleen S7-R	+0''801