FIA GTs, Barcelona: Ferrari whitewash
The opening round of the FIA GT Championship in Barcelona, Spain, was a benefit for Italian drivers in Ferrari cars, as the Prancing Horse scooped the podium in both the headline GT class and the N-GT category. Thomas Biaggi and Matteo Bobbi led the way overall in their BMS Scuderia Italia-run 550 Maranello, although they benefited from the bizarre exit of the pole position Lister Storm car
The works-run Lister of Jamie Campbell-Walter/Nathan Kinch led the early stages, having beaten off the Ferrari challenge in qualifying. Having lost the initiative to the Gollin/Cappellari Ferrari in traffic, Campbell-Walter was running right behind the 550 Maranello when the leader ran over a splitter that had fallen off a Chrysler Viper and flipped it into the Lister, smashing its windscreen and ripping the roof from the car.
With the lead Lister out of the frame, and frontrunning Viper of reigning champion Christophe Bouchut/Jean-Philippe Belloc also retiring, it left the Ferraris with a clear run to the finish. Biagi took the flag 15secs clear of the Gollin/Cappellari car, with the Care Racing 550 of Calderari/Bryner/Levio. Listers finished fourth and fifth, with Deletraz/Piccini and Verdon-Roe/Snowden respectively.
In the N-GT class, the leading Porsche of Sascha Maassen went out when it clipped another car and broke its cooling system. That left the door open for the JMB Ferrari 360 of Di Simone/Bertolini, which finished a lap ahead of the British Veloqx 360s of Mullen/Davies and Burt/Turner.
1 Biagi/Bobbi, Ferrari 550 Maranello
2 Gollin/Cappelari, Ferrari 550 Maranello, +15.663s
3 Calderari/Bryner/Levio, Ferrari 550 Maranello, +1 lap
4 Deletraz/Piccini, Lister Storm, +1 lap
5 Verdon-Roe/Snowden, Lister Storm, + 1 lap
6 Wallinder/Roos, Chrysler Viper, + 2 laps
1 Di Simone/Berolini, Ferrari 360, +3 laps
2 Mullen/Davies, Ferrari 360, + 4 laps
3 Burt/Turner, Ferrari 360, +4 laps
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