Ferri Competizione: third quickest in first practice in the GT class

The debut of Ferri Competizione Team into the ALMS 2003 season proved to be
successful with the third quickest time in the first official practice at
Toronto's Grand Prix of Mosport. With an average speed of 109.315 miles per
hour and a lap time of 1:20.981, the Ontario based Ferrari Modena 360 team
is looking forward to an exciting weekend at their home track.

The #32 Ferrari 360 Modena driven by Andrea Bertolini (Italy) and Mauro
Baldi (Italy) look ready to perform at the ex-Formula 1, high-speed
Mosport track. Mr. Ferri, the team owner felt the car worked very well at
practice. "Considering we just got ready in the past ten days we are quite
happy to be among the top three fastest times set at this first practice. We
are going to push hard. Mosport is a track I like very much. We come here
quite often. It's just great to be here at my hometown track. We have
fantastic drivers. Baldi has tremendous experience and Bertolini knows the
car very well and is a very fast driver."

"We finalized the program for this race very late. It was a combined effort
as Risi prepared the car for the Ferri Competizione Team. The two teams
worked very hard together to get this car to the track. It's a tribute to
both teams that we can be competitive right out of the box given that the
car was built in such a small amount of time " said Engineer Rick Mayer.

"We are using the Pirelli tires that we use in Europe and we are very happy
with their performance. We lost a lot of practice time changing the
battery "
said Andrea Bertolini, the Italian driver. Team Manager Dave Simms added,
"The battery was down on voltage which caused the engine to have a slight
misfire. We replaced the battery, which cured the problem. Bertolini posted
a very good lap time; especially considering it was his first time here. I
am really happy about the overall performance of the team and the car."

Bertolini also said that he thought "Baldi made a fantastic lap at
the end. We had some pit traffic at the last stop, but overall we found a
good time and did a good job. I think all of the Ferraris will be tough
competition for the Porsches."

Baldi then commented, " I only did a few laps but I think overall we are
very pleased with the outcome of the first practice. I raced at this track a
few years ago and it is a very nice track. The new gearbox we are using is
extremely quick and precise. I will be doing Saturday morning's first
practice session and Andrea will be doing the second."

The team was satisfied with the balance of the car. "We have positive
hopes for the race as the car is extremely consistent, " said one team
member.



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