Sakhir, Bahrain, 26 November 2005 – The Ferrari 550
Maranello driven by Gabriele Gardel, which did not contain the
regulation minimum of three litres of fuel in its tank at the end
of the race, has been excluded from the final results of the last
FIA-GT event at Sakhir. The disqualification brings with it the
cancellation of the points earned by Gardel, so that the drivers’
championship goes to Scheider-Bartels in the Pirelli P Zero
Racing-shod Maserati MC12 of the Vitaphone Racing Team.

Officials examined the cars that finished the race
extremely carefully and, after more than five hours, they
sanctioned the exclusion of the Team Larbre Ferrari, which opened
the road to the conquest of this much-merited drivers’ title by
Pirelli to add to the constructors’ – thanks to
Ma-serati – and the team championship won with Vitaphone
Racing.

A further title won in Bahrain on which Paul
Hembery, director of Pirelli Competizioni,
congratulated the German drivers, saying, “Even though won
through disqualification, this drivers’ championship rewards
Maserati’s great technical effort and, obviously, that of Pirelli,
throughout the entire gruelling season, which has seen our tyres
win on the track seven times in 11 races in the face of extremely
competitive adversaries, especially in the case of the Gardel
Ferrari. This victory is a testimony to the effectiveness of our
cars. It also underlines the fact that we have five crews on
P Zero Racing in the first six places in the
Sakhir race and they drove four different cars – Maserati,
Corvette, Ferrari and Saleen – which should not be
underestimated”.


Happiness was firmly stamped on the face of
Michael Bartels who, after hours of tension, was ex-tremely pleased
with the result after the disqualification of the French team’s
Ferrari 550. “I would obviously have preferred to win on the
track, but the officials’ decision did nothing other than give us a
result which we earned fully on the circuit. Now we wait with
confidence for the outcome of the protest made by Team Larbre, but
the respect for the sporting spirit shown by the FIA technicians
enable me to be optimistic and to justly celebrate winning this
important title for Pirelli as much as for
Maserati and Vitaphone”.


Race results, Sakhir FIA-GT, 2005:
1. Bouchut-Garcia (Aston Martin DBR9), 90 laps in
3h01’36”661;
2. Peter-Davies (Maserati MC12), +26”209
3. Longin-Kumpen-Hezemans (Corvette C5R), +1’33”423;
4. Scheider-Bartels (Maserati MC12), +1 lap;
5. Cioci-Montermini (Ferrari 575 GTC), +1 lap;
6. Lechner-Ruberti (Saleen S7-R), +2 laps.


For more information and pictures on Pirelli’s motorsport
activities visit: www.pirellicompetizioni.com