TotalMotorSport All the latest Motorsport news, race reports and photographs from around the world. Alms, Touring Cars, Formula One & Le Mans 24 Hours

<body> <Table Width="550" border="0" style="border-collapse: collapse" cellpadding="0"><TR><TD Width="35"><IMG SRC="//www.totalmotorsport.com/images/spacer.gif" WIDTH="35" HEIGHT="1"></td><td> <CENTER><Table border="0" width="100%"> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="5">FIA GT CHAMPIONSHIP</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">27/04/2001</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">Prodrive</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">550 GTO Maranello </FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><img border="1" src="Storage/rive550%20FIA.jpg"></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="1">  </FONT></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2"> Prodrive has released details of its Ferrari 550 GTO Maranello that will compete for the first time at the Silverstone round of the FIA GT Championship on May 13.<BR> <BR> Work started on the project on January 2 this year and in just 16 weeks, Prodrive has designed, built and run the new car.<BR> <BR> “The team here at Prodrive has literally been working non-stop since the New Year to get this car ready,” said George Howard-Chappell, team principal. “The initial tests have been very promising, but I do not expect us to be on the pace at very first race. By the middle of the season, we should be far more competitive and beginning to secure some good results.”<BR> <BR> “We plan to continue development throughout the year and introduce a second car at round seven in Hungary,” continued Chappell. “Following this, customer specification cars will be available, that can be run in the FIA GT Championship, as well as potentially the American and European Le Mans series and the Le Mans 24 Hour itself.”<BR> <BR> The team’s drivers - Alain Menu, Rickard Rydell and Peter Kox - are currently undertaking an intensive period of testing prior to Silverstone, but due to time constraints, Prodrive will be using the first two races as an extension to the development programme. The car was running in Austria this week (the A1-Ring). <BR> <BR> It will be fascinating to see how it compares with the Rafanelli cars next month, although the Italian entries have a three or four month head start on Prodrive.<BR> <BR> Details: <BR> <BR> The road car’s original 1690kg has been trimmed down to 1100kg thanks to extensive use of carbon fibre bodywork and lightweight components, while Prodrive has redesigned the V12 engine to increase power output from 485 bhp to more than 600 bhp. This gives the car double the power to weight ratio of the road car, at around 550bhp / tonne. <BR> <BR> The standard six speed H-gate gearbox is replaced by a six-speed sequential box from Xtrac, while extra wide, 18 inch Prodrive P-WRC wheels and AP racing brakes are housed within the increased front and rear track.<BR> <BR> PS. Does anyone else notice a visual similarity in some of the angles to another Ferrari GTO?<BR> <BR> </FONT></TD></TR> </TABLE><BR> </CENTER> <BR><CENTER><font size="1" color="#808080" face="Tahoma">Copyright ©2000-©2023 TotalMotorSport</font></CENTER> </td> </tr> </table> </body>