Pirelli "Über Alles" At Oschersleben: Six Cars In The Top Six Fia-Gt's Places

Oschersleben, 28 August 2005 - The seventh round in the 2005 FIA-GT Championship at the Oschersleben circuit in Germany today was totally dominated by cars on Pirelli tyres, which monopolised the race's first six places. There was even greater satisfaction than usual for Pirelli in the German event, as victory went to the Team Vitaphone Maserati MC12 driven by the Milan tyre maker's official test driver Fabio Babini, who put up an extraordinary performance. Babini is, obviously, pleased to have returned to victory in a FIA-GT event two years after his success at the wheel of a Ferrari 575 GTC at Estoril, Portugal. "The positive side of this win", he said, "is, of course, the joy of being on the top step of the podium, but for me it is also important to see myself in contention for the title again and to offer another victory to Pirelli. The race was fairly hard, but once in the lead the Maserati and its Pirelli tyres were perfect. Andrea Bertolini, who drove another Maserati into second place, said, "The track was extremely slippery toward the end and that made it really difficult to maintain a good rhythm. The P Zero Racings gripped well over the entire distance of the race and guaranteed a high performance that was constant in conditions that were on the limit. I was really pleased with the Pirellis, especially during today's race. What counts is that, after a rather lack lustre qualifying session, Karl Wendlinger and I were able to score some extremely important points toward the championship, which is our principal objective". For Pierluigi De Cancellis, Pirelli Competizioni Circuit Manager, the Oschersleben race brought not only the joy of a great victory, which crowned a weekend dominated by the P Zero Racings, it also meant he had four different cars on Pirelli in the first six places, which dramatically confirms the high degree of competitivity Pirelli is able to offer extremely high-powered cars that are so different from each other. "Our soft compounds showed they were also exceptionally valid in difficult conditions like those of today. It is important to also underline the excellent race of the Saleen S7-R driven by Gounon-Lechner, who came fourth, and the sixth place of Piccini-Deletraz in the Ferrari 575 GTC, which has returned to competitiveness. The overall result is extraordinary and an incentive to continue the development of the P Zero Racing tyres, the performance of which enables us to be confident about a race full of unknowns, like the 18 September's one at Istanbul". Final results FIA-GT race at Oschersleben 2005: 1. Babini-Biagi (Maserati MC12) in 2h58'24"414 2. Bertolini-Wendlinger (Maserati MC12) +20"290 3. Kumpen-Longin-Hezemans (Corvette C5R) +24"990 4. Lechner-Gounon (Saleen S7-R) +58"102 5. Peter-Zwaan-Zani (Maserati MC12) +1'15"233 6. Deletraz-Piccini (Ferrari 575 GTC)+1 lap For more information and pictures on Pirelli's motorsport activities visit: www.pirellicompetizioni.com