Pirelli Tyres at Road America 500

Teams Look to Improve on Near Podiums at Mosport

Elkhart Lake, Wis., August 22, 2003 - As the saying goes, close only counts in horseshoes! At last Sundays Grand Prix of Mosport, Pirelli-shod teams narrowly missed podium finishes in all three classes that the Italian tire manufacturer participates in. So with new sets of shoes arriving from Italy for this Sundays two-hour, 45-minute Road America 500 presented by The Chicago Tribune, Pirelli is looking to step up to the podium this weekend in the sixth round (of nine) of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS).
Celebrating its 96 th year of top-level motorsports competition this year, Pirelli is focusing primarily on GTS and GT customers during 2003. Pirellis strong bond with Ferrari includes two World Sports Car championships in 1995 and 1998, as well as winning the inaugural Petit Le Mans overall and the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the prototype class in the latter year.

Pirelli is, therefore, thrilled to be supporting the efforts of two outstanding Ferrari teams for the entire 2003 ALMS season. Ferrari 550 Maranellos have already demonstrated that they are capable of dethroning the Corvettes in the GTS championship this year and Gabriele Rafanellis Team Olive Garden is hungry to be that team. With a completely revised vehicle and the focus of Pirelli engineering, drivers Emanuele Naspetti (Italy) and Mimmo Schiattarella (Monaco) look to improve on last years record of three podium finishes and fourth place in the 2002 ALMS GTS team championship. After their first podium of the season at Trois-Rivieres, Team Olive Garden fought back from a devastating qualifying accident to finish in fourth place at Mosport last Sunday and look for a higher finish this weekend.
Meanwhile, in GT, the biggest surprise at Mosport was the performance of the brand new Ferrari of Canada 360 Modena entry driven by long-time Ferrari pilote, Mauro Baldi, and Andrea Bertolini, Ferraris test driver. With one hour to go, the new Ferrari was actually leading the race. Unfortunately, the car is not entered at Road America.
Multiple sports car champions in Europe, Miami-based JMB Racing USA will have its two Pirelli-shod Ferrari 360 Modenas at Road America to challenge the dominant Porsches of Alex Job Racing. Ferrari #28 will be driven at Road America by JMB regulars Stephane Gregoire (Carmel, Ind.) and Eliseo Salazar (Chile) while Philip Shearer (New York) and Peter Kutemann (Monaco) will man the #29 Ferrari.

Also committing to the ALMS for the year is the two-car team of London-based PK Sport with lead driver Scot Robin Liddell joined by Aussie Alex Davison, a four-year veteran of the German Carrera Cup, in the #60 Porsche 911 GT3 RS. Veteran Vic Rice (San Rafael, Calif.) and Keith Alexander (New York) will compete in the #61 Porsche. Liddell drove a double stint at Mosport and had the car in third place before changing drivers at the last pit stop, eventually finishing fifth.
Pirelli will also shod the Carsport America Viper of team owner Tom Weickardt (Whitefish Bay, Wis.) and experienced Frenchman Jean-Phillippe Belloc that finished fourth in GTS at Sebring, as well as the 675 Lola entry of Essex Racing for Jason Workman (Flowery Branch, Georgia). Essex Racing had two straight podiums for Pirelli at Sonoma and Trois-Rivieres before finishing fourth at Mosport.
Founded in 1872, the Pirelli Group is one of the worlds leading manufacturers of tires for most cars and light trucks plus cables for telecommunications, electronic data and power transmission. Pirelli tires are fitted as original equipment to more than 350 different vehicle models, from the worlds most powerful supercars to modest gas-, diesel- and electricity-driven city cars.

Pirelli Tire North America specializes in the manufacture and marketing of high-performance car, light truck and motorcycle tires and currently has three of its highly advanced MIRS (Modular Integrated Robotized System) modules in operation in a new factory in Rome, Georgia, to better serve the American OEM and Replacement markets. For more information, visit the Company's web site at: www.us.pirelli.com.

The race will be televised on Speed Channel from 2:00-5:00 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, Aug. 24. Race fans can listen to live coverage of the race on the American Le Mans Series Radio Web at www.americanlemans.com. In two weeks, the ALMS heads to Laguna Seca in Northern California for the seventh round of the series where it will be nationally televised on NBC at 2:00 p.m. (EDT) on Sunday, September 7.