Magnificent Pirelli And Maserati 1-2 At The 2005 "24 Hours Of Spa-Francorchamps"
Spa, 31 July 2005 - The 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, the key event of the 2005 FIA-GT Championship, came to an end with an extraordinary Pirelli-Maserati 1-2 and an outstanding victory for the Team Vitaphone MC12 driven by Van De Poele-Scheider-Bartels, who were followed across the finish line by a sister car crewed by Bertolini-Wendlinger-Peter. This excellent result - Pirelli' s first 24-hour race win for nine years, since Taylor-Sharp-Pace won Daytona in a Riley-Scott - was reinforced by an optimum fourth place by the Corvette C5R of Kumpen-Bleekemolen-Longin-Hezemans, who climbed back up the field after an accident that had relegated them to the back markers. But the drivers of the other Vitaphone Maserati MC12 on Pirelli P Zero Racing, Babini-Davies-Biagi, did not make the podium as they were forced to retire with a broken gearbox. Eric Van De Poele, who won the 12 Hours of Sebring on Pirelli in a Ferrari 333 SP nine years ago, was obviously delighted. He said, " It was a very hard race, but everything went marvellously despite the sudden and numerous changes in the weather. The P Zero Racing tyres were excellent in both the unbeatable intermediate and dry asphalt forms". Karl Wendlinger was also in good humour after driving his Maserati MC12 into second place for JMB Racing. " The unpredictable weather conditions that characterised this 24 Hours of Spa certainly did not put the P Zero Racing s - in difficulty. I would especially like to underline the performance of the intermediates, which enabled us to make the difference against the opposition, especially in the beginning. The Maserati-Pirelli duo fully merited a result of this importance, that is also proof of the notable quality of the car and the Pirelli tyres". As well as the 1- 2 in the GT1 category, Pirelli Competizioni will return from the Ardennes with an excellent second place in GT2, thanks to the Porsche of Camathias-Moccia-Groppi. Franco Groppi, who drove the car over the finish line to take second, explained, " It's a great satisfaction to end up on the podium in such a demanding and historic race. We were able to best exploit the qualities of an excellent car and tyres that performed particularly well in all conditions". Pierluigi De Cancellis, Circuit Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, said, " This exceptional overall result of Pirelli's confirms that the front row of the grid taken by cars on P Zero Racing was no coincidence, because the same cars won this extremely neck-and-neck race. It is also a result that enables Pirelli to monopolise the top places in all three championships, with a first place in the drivers table, Vitaphone topping the teams' list and Maserati the constructors title chase". Final results - Spa-Francorchamps FIA-GT Race 2005:
- V.D. Poele-Bartels-Scheider (Maserati MC12), in 24h00'34''160
- Bertolini-Peter-Wendlinger (Maserati MC12) +2 laps
- Gardel-Bouchut-Mollekens-Vosse (Ferrari 550 Maranello) +9 laps
- Kumpen-Longin-Hezemans-Bleekemolen (Corvette C5R) +13 laps