PIRELLI PODIUMS TWICE AT DUBAI
Continues to Lead Drivers Championship with One Race
Left

DUBAI, November 18, 2005 Pirelli
will return from Dubai strengthened by its umpteenth excellent
overall result, in which five of its crews competing on P
Zero Racing tires in three different types of cars took
five of the first six places. Right up until the last lap, the
Scheider-Bartels Maserati MC12 fought strenuously with the winning
Ferrari of Gardel-Lamy, even though the MC12 carried 150 kg of
ballast against just 30 kg aboard the 550 Maranello. The difference
in weight played a decisive role in the result of the race since
all of the Maseratis competed with more than 100 kilos of ballast
and just fell short against the lighter and, therefore, more agile
Ferrari.

The performance of the Pirelli-shod Corvette C5R
driven by Kumpen-Hezemans-Longin is also worthy of note, as it held
the lead for a long time before yielding to Lamy and Scheider in
the finale, finishing third. Bertolini-Wendlinger were fourth in
the Team JMB Maserati MC12 and remain at the top of the
Drivers championship, just one point ahead of
Bartels-Scheider and Gardel and eight points ahead of Babini-Biagi
(Maserati MC12).

Michael Bartels said, The result obtained is satisfactory,
even if losing command of the race on the last lap is never
pleasant. But we did everything we could to resist Lamys
pressure, his 30 kg of ballast obviously an advantage on a tortuous
track like Dubai, which was not an easy circuit for people like us
who were made to race with so much extra weight. The fact is, that
despite the sand and problems caused by the ballast, the
Pirelli P Zero Racing on my Maserati maintained a
high degree of competitiveness throughout the entire
race.

Andrea Bertolini is still optimistic in spite of his slim one-point
lead in the championship, as the series approaches its last race
next Friday at Sakhir in Bahrain. We limited the damage and
that is the essential point. With all that ballast on a track
demanding harsh braking and acceleration, the MC12s were manifestly
handicapped and we were unable to do more. But, with the last race
in view, I am confident: the Maserati and Pirelli
drivers are still well placed for the title.