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News Archive » Season Preview March 16, 2007 The lights go out next weekend for the first round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship on the other side of the world in the People’s Republic of China. The first race of the year is being held at the Zhuhai Circuit, close to Macau and Hong Kong. The team is fired up and ready to start its 2007 Championship campaign with Tomas Enge, Tim Mullen, Chris Niarchos and Andrew Kirkaldy at the wheel of its two Ferrari 430 GT cars. Scuderia Ecosse Team Principal, Stewart Roden, commented: “It’s great to go racing again as Dubai (last race of ’06) seems a long time ago now. We’re all really motivated for this season; we have a fantastic group of drivers and a very positive new relationship with Pirelli that I believe will see this team continue to go from strength-to-strength. It is vital that we start the season strongly at Zhuhai. We aim to hit the ground running this year.” Scuderia Ecosse’s 2007 season may start in China but round two is much closer to home. The team return to the UK for the Tourist Trophy meeting at Silverstone in May before heading east again just two weeks later. On the 19 and 20 May, the FIA GT Championship will race for the very first time in Bucharest, Romania, on a street circuit around the imposing ‘People’s Palace’, built during former dictator Ceausescu’s regime and one of the largest buildings in the world. With crowds of 80,000 spectators expected, the Bucharest race is going to be an incredible event. The Bucharest event will also be the first race with Scuderia Ecosse for Jarek Janis who will race for the team at four events this year. With three races completed, the Championship takes a break until late June so the teams can make their annual pilgrimage to France for the Le Mans 24 Hours, but it comes back with a bang at Monza in Italy for race four. Monza is the spiritual home of the ‘tifosi’, Ferrari’s loyal and enthusiastic fans, so it is always a joy for a Ferrari team to race there. The team went well during pre-season testing at Monza so the foundations have been laid for a successful race weekend. July sees the teams heading to Oschersleben in Germany, where Scuderia Ecosse took its first FIA GT victory last year, before heading to Belgium for the exhausting Proximus 24 Hours of Spa. The combination of a 24 hour race and the daunting Spa-Francorchamps track make this race the ultimate test of man and machine. After a short break to recover from the Spa 24 Hours the FIA GT teams return to Italy in late summer for a night race at Adria, a circuit that proved popular with Scuderia Ecosse in 2006 when the team took their 4th FIA GT victory. In September the event at Brno in the Czech Republic is the home race for Tomas Enge so he will be gunning for victory in front of his home crowd. The teams then travel straight to Nogaro in France before the Championship finale in Zolder in October. With the exception of the Spa 24 Hours, the FIA GT events in 2007 will be two-hour races and the events will be run over two days, rather than the usual three. On the Saturday the teams are given two 80-minute practice sessions to prepare for the crucial 15-minute qualifying session later that day. A further practice session on Sunday morning will give everyone a final chance to tune the cars into the circuit before the flag drops for the race start. ENDS 2007 FIA GT Championship Calendar 25 March – Zhuhai, China Le Mans 24 Hours 3 June - Test Day ENDS |
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