Like in Monaco - 1-2-win for Ferrari

Spa-Francorchamps, May 16, 1999

 

A new name, the same successful concept

Lola dominant in training

1-2-win for JB-Giesse

Ferrari on positions 4, 5 and 6

"Upgrade" to the 1999 ISRS calendar

Results

One week prior to the 500 Kilometers of Spa-Francorchamps – the third heat of the 1999 ISRS – the manager of the series, John Mangoletsi, proudly spread good news: He had just received the permission by the FIA to rename the ISRS into "Sports Racing World Cup", which clearly proves the FIA’s trust in the success of the just two-years old sports racing series. For the rest of the season, the ISRS will yield a double name, but from next year on it will simply be the SRWC.

The first training session already unveiled that the Ferrari would not have an easy race on the traditional circuit in the Ardennes. Their dominance during the entire last season and in this year’s first event at Barcelona was broken by the new Lola of the French DAMS Team. The black car is a completely new design and houses an engine which – like the one in the 333 SP – is a derivative from the Formula One: a V8 by John Judd. Furthermore, the DAMS Team has two very capable former Formula One pliots, Jean-Marc Gounon and Eric Bernard.

In the qualifying session, the Lola proved its excellent potential; Gounon set a time of 2:07,715 min, leaving behind the 333 SP s/n 023 of the 1998 champions Sospiri/Collard by 1,5 seconds.

Despite of this, JB-Giesse boss Jean-Pierre Jabouille showed confidence: "Francorchamps is not as fast as Monza, hence I believe that we will be able to keep up with them in the race." The Frenchman was right: When the lights turned green on Sunday afternoon, the leading three cars (the Lola and the two JB-Giesse enteres 333 SPs) left the rest of the pack behind them very quickly.

After the Lola had managed to defend its leading position during the first laps, it soon had to surrender to the 333 SP s/n 022 (race# 2) of Mauro Baldi and Benetton test-driver Laurent Redon. After two hours, the Lola’s race was over due to a broken wheel bearing. From that point on, the victory of the Baldi/Redon Ferrari was only endangered by their teammates Emmanuel Collard and Vincenzo Sospiri, but a penalty stop made the maybe-hattrick impossible for the experienced drivers. The Riley&Scott of Alex Caffi and Andrea de Lorenzi eventually came in on third, which is quite remarkable since the car had caught fire during a pitstop!

The positions 4 and 5 were taken by the Scuderia Italia who are newcomers to the ISRS. The two cars – which are driven by the teams of Christian Pescatori/Emanuele Moncini s/n 024 and Angelo Zadra/Marco Zadra (s/n 029) – crossed the finishing line 1:15,882 minutes (or about one lap) later than the winning car.

The Ferrari success was completed by Lilian Bryner and Enzo Calderari from Switzerland in their 333 SP s/n 020. Bad luck for Dutchmen Dick Waaijenberg and Alexander van der Lof in 333 SP s/n 021 as well as for Giovanni Lavaggi: The 333 SP s/n 003 of his Monaco-based GLV Brums Team dropped out, as did the car of the aforementioned Dutch National Racing Team. Lavaggi had teamed-up with Dr. Thomas Bscher – the 1995 BPR GT World Champion – for this race for the first time.

The 1999 calendar of the ISRS recently received an "upgrade": The first weekend in July will see a sports car race on the Norisring in Nuremberg, site of the German Super Touring Car Championship which will be the main event of that weekend. However, the ISRS included this date in its schedule as an invitational race. Ferrari sports cars have a tradition on the Norisring: In 1968, David Piper won the 200 Miles of Nuremberg in his 412 P.

Text Gregor Schulz

Translation Andreas Birner