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<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">ELSEWHERE AROUND THE WORLD</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="left"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="2">15/05/2001</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="4">New Italian Series</FONT></B></TD></TR> <TR><TD width="100%" align="center"><B><FONT FACE="Tahoma" SIZE="3">Supercars - First Race</FONT></B></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"> Francesco Tedeschi reports on the first round of the Supercars Series on May 6, at Monza.<BR> <BR> <BR> Each event will be composed by two 80 Km races (one in the morning and one in the afternoon) with a flying start. The cars with two drivers will do the first race with the first pilot and the other with the second, as happens in the Euro GT series.<BR> <BR> The organizers have also decided not to allow in ITC cars or old GTs such as the Porsche 935s. “In this way we are renouncing to 10 certain entries, but if we want a big, long term, launch for GT racing in Italy, we cannot start from cars too old (935s) or too different from the usual (ITC cars)...” Andrea Ialongo, press officer of Peroni Promotions, the organizers of the championship, explained. <BR> <BR> STC - The STC class saw six original entries, which will remain for the rest of the season. Four are Opel Vectras, three of them in the latest 1999 version. One of them is the 1999 Reuter works car, driven by Valmiro Presenzini. The other drivers are Martino Longoni, Maurizio Benfenati and Franco Destro.<BR> <BR> The other two cars are two BMW 320i for Antonio Materia and Fabio Fiasco. Both the cars are still backed by the works CiBiEmme team and will run also in some events of the ETCC.<BR> <BR> For the first race, the Fiasco BMW isn't present, while the Presenzini Opel had a problem during the scrutineering with the roll-cage.<BR> <BR> So the STC class for the race is:<BR> 2 Martino Longoni Opel Vectra<BR> 3 Antonio Materia BMW 320i<BR> 6 Maurizio Benfenati Opel Vectra<BR> 7 Franco Destro Opel Vectra<BR> <BR> GT – The GT cars are split into four classes<BR> GT1 – The GT1 class is for ACO GTS and FIA GT cars. <BR> GT2 – The GT2 class is for ACO GT and FIA N-GT cars.<BR> GT3 – The GT3 class is for all the other GT over 3.0 litres.<BR> GT4 – The GT4 class is for all the other GT under 3.0 litres.<BR> <BR> GT1 – On the original entry list for this race there were three different cars: a TVR Tuscan Challenge for Roberto Cairati, a Chevrolet Corvette for Maurizio Possumato and a Porsche 911 GT2 for Mastropietro / Padovani. For the rest of the season there are available, for whoever is interested, two more Tuscans. The Callaway Corvette and the Nissan Skyline won’t enter the championship, because of other commitments of their drivers. <BR> <BR> However in this first race the only car present is the Cairati’s Tuscan Challenge, a model which debuts in the Italian GT Championship. In practice and qualifying, the car demonstrated that it doesn’t lacks power or speed.....<BR> The Corvette, which was listed also in the provisional entry list of the 1000 Km, will join the series in the next race, the same for the 911 GT2.<BR> <BR> In the first race the only GT1 car has been:<BR> 16 Massimo Cairati TVR Tuscan Challenge<BR> <BR> GT2 – In the original entry list there was one 911 GT3R, one 911 3.8 RSR, two 911 3.6 RS and a Ferrari 360.<BR> <BR> One of the 911 RS is still not ready, while one more Porsche was running in the same weekend in a Porsche club race in Dijon (France) and will join the championship for the next race. The Ferrari 360 was also missing.<BR> <BR> So the GT2 class:<BR> 21 Mario Spagnoli Porsche 911 GT3R<BR> 22 Alessandro Dazzan Porsche 911 3.8 RSR<BR> 24 Antonio De Castro / Renato Premoli Porsche 911 3.6 RS<BR> <BR> GT3 – The class is composed of four Ferrari 355s and two Lotus Exiges. The Exige is only a 1.8 litre, but it is in this class because of its light weight. This is the debut of this car in an Italian GT championship (a really pretty car). All the cars on the entry list are confirmed. Regarding other possible cars, one or two Mazda RX-7 and one Nissan 300 ZX, are likely to join the championship later.<BR> <BR> This class is expected to have some more Ferraris and 911s for the next races.<BR> <BR> In Monza the GT3 class is:<BR> 31 Roberto Farneti Lotus Exige<BR> 32 Ivo Conci Lotus Exige<BR> 34 Gianluca Nattoni / Stefano Speranza Ferrari 355<BR> 35 Mario Benusiglio Ferrari 355<BR> 36 Gianni Bellandi / Steve Lisa (USA) Ferrari 355<BR> 37 Carlo Commis Ferrari 355<BR> <BR> GT4 – Only two cars were listed here, both 911 2.7 Carrera RS “Ducktail”. Only one of these is present, the Saturno Bandiera’s one, while the other is still unready. It is not a new model, but it is very fast on the straights (few Kph less than the GT3R), and it is also very attractive in its green.<BR> <BR> <BR> So the GT4 class is:<BR> 42 Saturno Bandiera Porsche 911 2.7 Carrera RS <BR> <BR> Qualifying<BR> <BR> The battle for the top grid spot was between the four cars from the GT1 and GT2 classes. <BR> <BR> In pole position satthe Spagnoli GT3R (1:59.020), which eventually gave went two tenths faster than the Premoli 3.6 RS (1’59.224). <BR> <BR> In the second row we find the steadily improving Cairati Tuscan (2.00.401), one full second better than the Dazzan 3.8 RSR (2:01.434).<BR> A good shot came from Antonio Materia’s BMW (2:03.637). Despite the four second gap from the pole, Materia is not yet beaten for the overall win. The third row is completed by the Bellandi’s 355 (2:06.276), best among the GT3 cars.<BR> <BR> In the fourth row we find the best Vectra, the Longoni one, only seven tenths slower than the Ferrari (2:06.956). The Benusiglio Ferrari is also in sight of Bellandi, with a 2:07.659.<BR> <BR> The third 355 is definitely slower than the others with a 2:09.472. The Porsche Carrera 2.7 RS beats both the Exiges with a 2:11.994, but in slower circuits, the Exiges should get their revenge. Conci is the best Lotus driver with a 2:15.041, while Farneti set a 2:15.773.<BR> <BR> The slowest car which set a time has been the Commis 355 with a 2:18.949, while the Benfenati and Destro Vectras have had a technical failure during their first lap out of the pits and tomorrow will start without a time in 14th and 15th positions.<BR> <BR> Race 1<BR> <BR> The first race confirmed the hope for some close racing. The Cairati Tuscan (3rd on the grid), took the lead in the flying start, hounded by the Spagnoli GT3R and the Premoli 3.6 RS. Dazzan (fourth on the grid), started from the pits. The first four laps saw Cairati and Spagnoli having a great battle with many changes in the first two positions, while De Castro lost contact with them.<BR> <BR> In fourth, Materia was not disturbed by anyone and the first real danger for him was a possible return of Dazzan, who was passing without great difficulties all the GT3 and the only GT4 car, which had no problems in leading the two Exiges. The only other STC car in the top positions was the Longoni Vectra, which started from the seventh and was doing a regular race in sixth position, before being passed by Dazzan. The other two Vectras were unable to join the class battle. Benfenati, starting from the last spot, didn’t finish the first lap for a technical problem, while the Destro car, started from the pits, made only one passing manoeuvre, the slowest GT, the Steve Lisa Ferrari 355. <BR> <BR> By the fifth lap Spagnoli gained a one second lead on the Tuscan. Dazzan wasn’t able to reach Materia in fourth place, while in fifth Benusiglio was in a comfortable lead in the GT3 class. <BR> Despite the escape attempt of Spagnoli, Cairati continued to push hard, lapping on the same level of his qualifying time, but eventually crashed in the Parabolica in the 10th lap, eventually being classified in the 12th final position.<BR> <BR> 1.(21) Mario Spagnoli Porsche 911 GT3R 12 laps (first in GT2 class)<BR> 2.(24) Renato Premoli Porsche 911 3.6 RS 12 laps (2nd GT2)<BR> 3.(3) Antonio Materia BMW 320i 12 laps (first in STC class)<BR> 4.(22) Alessandro Dazzan Porsche 911 3.8 RSR 12 laps (3rd GT2)<BR> 5.(35) Mario Benusiglio Ferrari 355 12 laps (first in GT3 class)<BR> 6.(2) Martino Longoni Opel Vectra 12 laps (2nd STC)<BR> 7.(34) Gianluca Nattoni Ferrari 355 12 laps (2nd GT3)<BR> 8.(42) Saturno Bandiera Porsche 911 2.7 RS 11 laps (first in GT4 class)<BR> 9.(32) Ivo Conci Lotus Exige 11 laps (3rd GT3)<BR> 10.(31) Roberto Farneti Lotus Exige 11 laps (4th GT3)<BR> <BR> Race 2<BR> <BR> This race was a little less interesting. The repaired Tuscan exited from the pits, as all of us were hoping it would, but returned into the pits before stopping on the grid. Dazzan failed to fix a mechanical problem from the final laps of the first race. <BR> <BR> Without Cairati, Spagnoli had a comfortable lead for all the race, apart for the first half of the first lap, thanks to a good start by the De Castro Porsche (the car driven by Premoli in the first race).<BR> <BR> A good battle was the one for the third place, between the Materia BMW, the Longoni Vectra and the two best 355s (Benusiglio and Speranza). In the early stages, Benusiglio was third, pressed by the other two cars. Materia passed Benusiglio, gaining a good lead on the other three. Benusiglio had later to surrender also to Longoni, who wasn’t able to get in sight of a really fast Materia. For the other positions the second race repeated almost the result of the first race. <BR> <BR> <BR> <BR> 1. (21) Mario Spagnoli Porsche 911 GT3R 12 laps (first in GT2 class)<BR> 2.(24) Antonio De Castro Porsche 911 3.6 RS 12 laps (2nd GT2)<BR> 3.(3) Antonio Materia BMW 320i 12 laps (first in STC class)<BR> 4.(2) Martino Longoni Opel Vectra 12 laps (2nd STC)<BR> 5.(35) Mario Benusiglio Ferrari 355 12 laps (first in GT3 class)<BR> 6.(34) Stefano Speranza Ferrari 355 11 laps (2nd GT3)<BR> 7.(42) Saturno Bandiera Porsche 911 2.7 RS11 laps (first in GT4 class)<BR> 8.(32) Ivo Conci Lotus Exige 11 laps (3rd GT3)<BR> 9.(31) Roberto Farneti Lotus Exige 11 laps (4th GT3)<BR> 10.(37) Carlo Commis Ferrari 355 11 laps (5th GT3)<BR> <BR> The Championship needs without any doubt a revitalisation but for the next races, with some more front of the grid cars (the Porsche GT2 and the Chevrolet Corvette, plus one or two more Tuscans), can offer to the fans some good entertainment. It is not a great field indeed, but this is something good to work on, considering the small grids of last year.<BR> <BR> Francesco Tedeschi <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>