Friday, 25th April 2008

Ferrari squad hits track in Silverstone bow.

Scuderia AC Argentina made a successful FIA GT Championship debut at Silverstone, with drivers Gaston Mazzacane and Esteban Tuero finishing a solid 13th in class on their series debut.

The Argentine team have joined the series to celebrate the championship's first ever visit to their homeland later in the season, with multiple champions Larbre Competition have been given responsibility for running the GT1 Ferrari 550 Maranello – the same car with which the French team won the title in 2005 with Pedro Lamy and Gabriele Gardel.

Former Minardi F1 drivers Mazzacane and Tuero will share the car with Jose Maria Lopez and Martin Basso as the season progresses before a second car runs in the Argentine event that acts as the season finale and team boss Jack Leconte said he was pleased with how the opening round had gone.

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“The programme took a lot of organising and all the logistics were put in place very late,” he said. “We didn't have time for any testing and the wet, cold and foggy conditions at Silverstone made it very difficult for the drivers to learn the car.

“However, Gaston and Esteban didn't put a foot wrong all weekend, adapted to the car very professionally and improved their lap times significantly throughout the three days. Overall it was a very encouraging start to the season.”

Mazzacane meanwhile admitted that he too was happy with the performance despite the late nature of the deal to contest the 2008 campaign.

“Despite our lack of testing, everything went quite well,” he said. “It wasn't easy in the wet, but we used the race to get some mileage under our belts. I'm very happy to be racing in co-operation Larbre Competition in the FIA GT Championship.

“This series is very professional and demanding and to be with a team as experienced and successful as Larbre is fantastic. I spent many happy years racing in Europe and I'm delighted to be back.”

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