'Podio Ferrari' awards handed out.

The first staging of the "Podio Ferrari" awards, reserved for Ferrari and Maserati partners, was held yesterday at Maranello, Italy.

The establishment of the 'Podio Ferrari', which had the honour this year of welcoming the President of the European Commission Romano Prodi, signals the start of an annual event at which the Ferrari group seeks to recognise and reward excellence and innovation from its suppliers with two distinct awards.

There are two awards making up the "Podio Ferrari;" the President's Prize and the Ferrari Innovation Award and for 2001, these have gone to the Japanese company Bridgestone and the Italian company Brembo.

The prize was presented to the President and CEO of Bridgestone Europe S.A. Shoshi Arakawa by Ferrari President Luca di Montezemolo. The citation read: "For having ably assisted Ferrari in winning the Constructors' and Drivers' World Championship, giving proof of an excellent technical capacity and of development for the best possible support supplied to the Gran Turismo cars."

The other award was presented by President Romano Prodi to the President of Brembo SpA, Alberto Bombassei, with the following citation: "For having consistently and tenaciously contributed through the innovation of its products to the excellent performance of our F1 cars as well as the Ferrari and Maserati Gran Turismo cars."

The day was entirely dedicated to Ferrari and Maserati technical partners with the "Podio Ferrari" event starting with a meeting of the representatives of companies which supply the Group and the management from Maranello: Andrea Bozzoli (Purchasing Director), Amedeo Felisa (Technical Director), Franco Magagni (Director of Industry) and Jean Todt (Sporting Director). Also taking part was Tommaso Le Pera (CEO of GM-Fiat Worldwide Purchasing), which develops the European integration of purchasing for both large groups.

In the second part of the day, before an audience of national and international media, President Montezemolo drew the following conclusions from the meeting between Ferrari and Maserati and their suppliers. "We live a continuous challenge with innovation, but challenge has always been in the blood of those who have worked for Ferrari and Maserati since their inception. We need partners who are motivated and prepared to share in our development as we succeed in meeting these challenges. In order to reach this goal, the role of our technical partners is indispensable."