Pergusa: Race notes and quotes

Tomas Biagi -- nr 23 BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550 Maranello -- provisional GT winner:
"It was not really a difficult weekend, even with 80 kg in the car, it is fantastic. But there was a lot of traffic, and some very hard braking here, and with 80 kg it is like having another person in the car. In my stint, I was following one of the JMB cars, and it hit the throttle when I was very close, so I spun. But Matteo did a very good stint. Later I had problems with my pit speed limiter, and did the pit lane at 30 km/h instead of 60, so I lost a lot of time. But this is a very good result for the Championship."

Jamie Campbell-Walter -- nr 14 Lister Storm -- provisionally 2nd in GT:
"It's been very disappointing -- a hard weekend, because our car does not like the kerbs. It is a bad track for this car, even if we did win here in 2002. The Ferrari cars were very fast here, but we just battled on. I had a problem at the end of my stint with a puncture, so we pitted early. Due to this change of strategy, we were worried about fuel. We only changed two tyres, but we could not have won here today, and I am pleased to be on the podium."

Nathan Kinch -- nr 14 Lister Storm -- provisionally 2nd in GT:
"This is my first podium, and it's nice to be here. The car was really tricky on the kerbs, and it was really hot in the car too."

Andrea Piccini -- nr 15 Lister Storm -- provisional 5th in GT:
"Everything went wrong today, we had brake problems, and we were still not fast enough. Something was wrong as both Jean-Denis and I were very slow. This is not the sort of result I am looking for--"

Ni Amorim -- nr 8 Graham Nash Motorsport Saleen S7-R -- provisional 7th in GT:
"We had a problem with the engine, with the oil pressure. It's a shame as I think we could have finished in the top 5 like in Magny Cours. But that's racing -- we'll try again next time."

Jean-Marc Gounon -- nr 2 Konrad Motorsport Saleen S7-R:
"I am very disappointed, as the car was unbelievable today. I was keeping the lead easily, barely touching the kerbs at all. But in the end we had similar gearbox problems to those we had at Magny-Cours. It's a great shame."

Magnus Wallinder -- nr 11 Roos-Optima Racing Team -- DNF:
"We had gearbox problems after 20 minutes, so we had to come in to change it. We lost 45 minutes, but we still tried to get to the finish -- we don't give up. But now we have two gearboxes to repair before Brno."

Tim Sugden -- nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- winner, N-GT:
"This is quite surreal. EMKA raced in the Championship for two years, and although we were often quick, this is the first time we have managed to win. After we had massive problems in Barcelona, Martin and I were really quick in Magny Cours. Today, I was really surprised to take the flag -- I thought there were thirty minutes left. This is really amazing. The fight at the end was really good, and De Simone put in a great overtaking manoeuvre, and I would like to applaud him for that."

Martin Short -- nr 61 EMKA Racing Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- winner, N-GT:
"I must say I have one of the best team-mates possible. Along with Stephane Ortelli, he is one of the fastest men in a Porsche, and he has taught me how to drive it. We had a big fight this weekend, and the last lap was quite breathtaking. I could see the JMB team shouting on the wall, and then the Ferrari spun -- and it was our turn to shout !"

Andrea Bertolini -- nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Modena - 2nd in N-GT:
"On the fifth lap, on a straight, I was involved in a crash with the nr 50 Porsche. The tyres and mirror were damaged in the crash, but the suspension was OK, and so were able to continue. But this is not an ETCC race."

Fabrizio De Simone -- nr 52 JMB Racing Ferrari 550 Modena - 2nd in N-GT:
"I came in for a splash and dash at the end of the race. Unfortunately, although I feel we had the best car today, the crash did damage it, and we struggled to come back to the front today. But it was an excellent fight with the nr 61 Porsche."

David Jones -- nr 74 Eurotech Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- 3rd in N-GT:
"We had a pretty bad start to the season, but today everything went well. My stint went quickly and I had to come in early, so Godfrey had to do a longer stint. I don't know if we are the first twins to be on the podium of an FIA Championship, but I would think we must be the first 50-year olds !"

Godfrey Jones -- nr 74 Eurotech Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- 3rd in N-GT:
"With the three-hour races, this is very different from the one-hour British races. The car was perfect today. We'll have to take the rest of the season one race at a time -- it is all very new to us."

Nicolaj Fomenko -- nr 77 RWS Yukos Porsche 996 GT3-RS -- 4th in N-GT:
"This is a fantastic result for us -- the best finish for our team so far this year, and our best result ever. We had a really bad weekend, changing the gearbox 3 times and the engine once, missing out on free practice and the second qualifying session. The start was not good, but then we decided to change strategy after the nr 99 car developed engine problems, and went for two stops. The end of the race was great, overtaking the Polish car on the final lap. My dream was that the nr 61 and 52 would take each other out and we would be on the podium-- "

Bert Longin -- nr 51Freisinger Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS - DNF:
"It was not a good day for us. The nr 50 car of Lieb and Ortelli was in a crash with the nr 52 Ferrari early on. It came in several times, but they decided they could not fix it. We started seventh, and we were up as high as second, when the engine broke, which was a great shame. This is my second year in the Championship, and I am getting more consistent all the time. Ortelli and Lieb are helping me a lot, the lap times are good and fast. But when the engine breaks, it's no good at all--"

Andrej Dziurka -- nr 56 Alda Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS:
"I am extremely happy with this historic result for Polish motorsport -- for the first time, our team has scored points in the FIA GT Championship, and we did it on the most difficult track in the series. After a very bad day yesterday, with a broken suspension in the first qualifying session and an engine problem in the second, before the race we expected more misfortune. We started with a full tank, and for the second time in a row we managed to do the full distance with only one stop. The engine was not very healthy -- I was losing time on the straight. With 100% engine power, we should finish on the podium. Maybe next time --- Brno is our home circuit, we know it well and tested there in the winter. After this result we may expect many more Polish fans and journalists in the Morava capital."

Wojciech Dobrzanski (who celebrated his birthday yesterday) -- nr 56 Alda Motorsport Porsche 996 GT3-RS:
"I was completely exhausted by the end -- after driving for 90 minutes in this heat. We should have been in fourth position but Vasiliev caught me on the last lap. I made a mistake on the chicane and he passed me on the inside of the Curvone. Before the race I would have been in heaven with points for fifth place, but now I'm not so happy. But I would like to thank the team for the great work they have done."

Guillaume Gomez -- nr 58 Autopalace Ferrari 360 Modena -- DNF:
"We did not give up, despite our engine problems. We had to settle for a slow speed, but we were lying seventh, and hoped for another points finish, until the engine overheated and a belt broke. That's destiny. We'll keep on fighting."

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