Care sweeps Spa GT podium.

Care Racing supported Ferrari 550s finished 1-2-3 in the GT1 class in the opening round of the 2005 Le Mans Endurance Series, sweeping the class podium at the end of six hours' racing at Spa-Francorchamps.

The result marked an historic moment for the Pirelli shod BMS Scuderia Italia cars which finished first and third, as their success was the first time than anything other than Michelin had won the GT1 - or former GTS - class in the LMES.

Reigning FIA GT champion Fabrizio Gollin led the #52 car to victory, and sixth place overall, after a remarkably trouble-free race, despite the persistent drizzle and fog the accompanied the 40+ car field throughout. The Italian, who is also racing in the US-based Rolex Grand-Am Series this season, was delighted to achieve his first victory of the year having had unfortunate run of luck before arriving in Belgium.

"It's unbelievable," he said afterwards, "It's my fifth race this season and my first win, so I am very happy. It's incredible - I think I'm dreaming! It's very important because it shows we can win again here in the LMES."

Gollin was joined by sometime Saleen racer Miguel Ramos and Italian F3 ace Matteo Cressoni in the lead Scuderia Italia entry, with the youngster making his first appearance in a sportscar event.

"It's a very good start!" Cressoni smiled, "The whole [sportscar] world is new to me, so I am very happy with this start."

Despite some setbacks on the track and in the pits, due to a faulty wheel pin, the Cirtek-run Convers team, running on Michelin tyres, fought back to take second place in the GT1 class. Christophe Bouchut drove for just under three hours to put the team into contention for a podium place, before handing over to his two Russian team-mate, who performed steadily in the tricky conditions.

"It's good to be on the podium at the finish because, for us, the LMES title is our target this year," Bouchut commented, "We want to be strong so, of course, we have to finish. The conditions were really hard for everybody and, although we had some problems which lost us time, the result was good for the whole team and for the championship."

"In Spa, the weather is very special!" reflected team-mate Nikolay Fomenko, "It was difficult in these conditions and we didn't really have enough time in practice or warm-up to get used to them. I had a few problems, but we have to continue to work better. Next time, we will have a good chance with better conditions."

The final podium place in GT1 was taken by the second BMS Scuderia Italia entry, which had a more troublesome race than its sister car, but never gave up. A power steering problem lost Christian Pescatori three laps in the pits, while the weather conditions caught out both Michele Bartyan and Toni Seiler during their stints.

"I tried to continue without the power steering but, with slicks, it was very difficult,"Pescatori admitted, "I tried for an hour, but it was too much for me, so we decided to repair it. In the last hour, I had another problem with the wheel, but this is the first race, so it's important for the team to have these points and this result."

Spa did not treat the Czech Team MenX so well, despite IRL ace Tomas Enge taking just six laps to overtake the Convers Ferrari at the start of the race. After his first stint, Enge handed over to team-mate Robert Pergl but, having changed to slick tyres as the track has continued to dry, the Ferrari suffered a big accident at Les Combes at the 75-minute mark.

"It's always sad when an accident happens but, when it is not your fault, it's even more difficult to take," Pergl sighed, "I hit oil on the track, that's the only explanation I can give for what happened.

"I saw a yellow flag, so I slowed and wasn't pushing hard at all. I was on a dry line and had had no problems with the car or tyres up until then. I started to brake at the
200m board, which is earlier than I usually do, and the car just completely went from under me and I was just a passenger after that."

The MenX entry was beyond repair and did not rejoin the race.