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Monza

Eurosport Super Racing Weekends

01/04/2001

Monza

Preview

The long wait for the European season to start is nearly over, but as far as this FIA Championship is concerned, it's been a fascinating winter period. Just last week came confrmation that one of the 2000 GT Champions would be returning to the series (Julian Bailey), while barely a week before that, the line-up in the lead Lister changed dramatically with the announcement that Tom Coronel (not Ian McKellar) would partner Jamie Campbell-Walter. That suggested that a third Lister would appear throughout the season, but with McKellar severing his ties to Lister Cars, the third Lister could / will be a late entry into the Championship.

Lister cars haven't been making all the news. Mike and Toine Hezemans have created a particularly Dutch version of the Viper, with a whole raft of changes to enable them to take on the 2001 version of the Lister Storm. The second car for Sebsatiaan and Michael Bleekemolen is having its shakedown early this week, while the first one hinted at its potential in the Monza Test. It certainly did enough to persuade Paul Belmondo that his Vipers need some attention, and they'll display some aerodynamic / airflow changes by this weekend.

If these three teams were the main GT contenders during 2000, this select group is bound to grow to five teams (at least) for the 2001 series. Add the Rafanelli Ferraris and the Larbre Viper and there's going to be fireworks at the front of the field. Add the likes of Mimmo Schiattarella, Christophe Bouchut, Jean-Philippe Belloc and Marc Duez and suddenly we have a driver line up in the GT class that will elevate this Championship to levels not seen since 1997.

It doesn't stop there; Jean-Pierre Jarier will take on anyone given half a chance, while Anthony Kumpen, Wim Daems and Tamas Illes (the latter two in the photograph) are just the sort to face up to established stars and race them wheel to wheel. The FIA GT Championship should see a fascinating mix of endurance and sprint racing; 'sprint' because if you ease off for one stint your car will be left behind, 'endurance' because some drivers may forget this aspect of the races in their desire to stake their claim to fame.

Bouchut and company aside, it should be the Ferrari 550s that do most to attract attention to the FIA GT Championship. This is what a racing Ferrari should look like, not some pointy-nosed thing that alternates between a screaming dervish and a spluttery traction-controlled (or not) lump.

It's not just about the GT class of course, and the JMB Ferraris might - in time - threaten the Porsche GT3Rs in N-GT. Terrien and Pescatori...a very interesting combination, but Monza won’t suit the car as much as most circuits.

Tim Sugden was fastest at the Monza Test in the EMKA Porsche, but was at a loss to explain how he did it. He expected others to be quicker, but the pre-season test was more of a shakedown for many. Who will be race ready for Round 1? It’s been a particularly difficult time for Rudi Walch at RWS Motorsport: the crash at Monza, then the loss of Bob Wollek, plus Hans-Jorg Hofer being taken ill. They’ll do well to recover in time to challenge hard at Monza. Luca Riccitelli should be fit enough to drive.

Larbre don’t look quite so threatening without Christophe Bouchut, so perhaps the pendulum is about to swing towards Freisinger and their lead pair. Ortelli and Kaufmann? Is there a stronger pair in either class?

Some of the N-GT entries have yet to stake a claim for honours, but there are sure to be a number of them threatening the podium, at least. Without Pirellis this year, Tim Sugden might be the man to haunt Freisinger most often; or will it be Michel Neugarten in the Perspective car?

All the Porsches are currently listed as GT3R models; we’ll try to establish which are RSs in due course.