Coloni teams dominate in Slovenia.

Coloni Motorsport and satellite operation CMS Performance made the most of its invitation to Slovenia at the beginning of the month, winning a demonstration race around Portoroz airport, which had been closed especially for the occasion.

Patrick Friesacher, who won the Hungaroring round of the last-ever FIA F3000 Championship for Coloni earlier this season, took victory in the five-lap Grand Prix of Portoroz, finishing ahead of Italian duo Matteo Meneghello and Matteo Bobbi, who were driving for CMS. Alessandro Ciompi, who races for Coloni in the Italian Formula Three Championship, claimed eighth place to round off a successful day for Paolo Coloni's two teams.

"We were very honoured to have been invited to participate in this event, and we would love to come back next season," the team principal said, "It was very satisfying that all our drivers achieved good results, but it was more rewarding to have delivered a successful programme for our partners - Microsoft, X Box and MTV."

The Portoroz race, which was also contested by the AEZ and Durango sister teams, provided the Coloni and CMS squads with a welcome break from their extensive preparations for the 2005 season, which sees F3000 morph into the all-new GP2 category.

"We are working very hard to make our two teams even stronger for next season," Coloni commented, "We have recruited some new personnel, who will compliment the excellent work done by our existing staff. I am very pleased with how the new-look teams are performing.

"We look forward to announcing our plans for 2005 very soon. We have a number of very experienced people in our team and the knowledge gained from building a Formula One car and running an F1 team will make us very strong next year."