Pirelli & Maserati Wear Triple Crown in FIA GT
Championship
Gardel’s Ferrari 550 Disqualified Pending Appeal

SAKHIR, Bahrain, November 26, 2005 – The Ferrari 550
Maranello driven by Gabriele Gardel has been excluded from the
final results of the last FIA GT event at Sakhir because the
vehicle did not contain the required minimum of three liters of
fuel in its tank at the end of the race. The disqualification
cancels the points earned by Gardel, so that the FIA GT Drivers’
championship goes to Michael Bartels and Timo Scheider in the
Pirelli P Zero Racing-shod Maserati MC12 of the Vitaphone
Racing Team.
Officials examined the cars that finished the race and, after more
than five hours, they excluded the Team Larbre Ferrari, thereby
adding this much-merited drivers’ title by Pirelli
to the constructors’ – thanks to Maserati – and the team
championship won with Vitaphone Racing.
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 tires win on the track eight times in 11 races
in the face of serious competition. 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 was
extremely pleased with the result. “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. While we wait for the outcome of Team Larbre’s protest, we
are optimistic because of the sporting spirit shown by the FIA
officials. We 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