[Werner333]

Deel 2

AUTOMOTIVE DURANGO (I)

Durango are back this year with their pretty Durango GMS chassis and will compete in the whole championship with promising Italian youngster Mirco Venturi and ex rally driver Alessandro Battaglin. Venturi, was a race winner in last years Italian Formula Renault Championship and is highly rated in his homeland. Battaglin, has a wealth of experience on the European Rally scene and now turns his attentions to circuit racing with Durango.

Ivone Pintone's crack team have also changed their engine for the new season with a Judd V10 replacing the V8 Mader prepared BMW that has previously powered the chassis.

The team will continue to run their FIA Sportscar campaign in conjunction with a full assault on the International F3000 Championship which got off to a fantastic start at Interlagos last weekend when Rodrigo Sperafico took a first win for the team since 1998.



SIMPSON ENGINEERING

A real racing enthusiast, Robin Smith makes a welcome return to the championship with the ex R&M Riley & Scott Chevrolet combination that was last raced in 1999. The Scot has been a sportscar stalwart since the 1970's and has assembled an equally experienced driver line up with ex Harrier driver Richard Jones and former Euro GT racer Peter Cook joining Robin himself on the driver strength.

The 5.1 litre Chevy unit is sure to complement the wail of the Judd powered cars, with it's thunderous rumble this year and Robin is as enthusiastic as ever on the eve of the first race. "It’s good to have another project up and running," said Robin. "The car should still be quick and we have the experience to make a good go of it. Our aim is to pick up some good points early in the season and we'll build from there."



EVENTUS MOTORSPORT (D)

This new team to sportscar racing, established by the former Thoroughbred F1 racer Ralph Moog, have acquired the ex Franz Konrad Lola B98/10 that led the Monza 1000kms in 2000 in the hands of Tom Coronel. Eventus Motorsport, based in Luxembourg, was set up by Dr Moog last year and they plan to contest five races in their debut season. The day to day running of the team is handled by ex Bertram Schafer engineer, Uwe Reuter

Moog will race the car at Barcelona along with veteran sportscar driver John Burton and enjoys the assistance of some Konrad Motorsport engineers. Moog has tested the car over the winter at both Barcelona and at Dijon and believes that both he and the team still need some time before full potential is realised."Both myself and the team are still learning a lot about the car, so we will use the first races as development time."



SR2 PREVIEW



SPORTSRACING TEAM SWEDEN (S)

The reigning champions return to defend their crown this year with an all Swedish line up and renewed ambition to take another SR2 title. The Stanley Dickens led team has the superb Lola B2K/40 chassis once again and with the combined engineering talents of Dick Jonsson and Markus Hotz, they start the year as favourites.

The driving strength too is impressive with ex Indy Lights front runner Mattias Andersson teaming up with Niklas Loven. Mattias has raced in the Championship before with Gebhardt in 1999, but now has the chance to shine in a full season for SRTS. "It's all very nice to be racing for what is really the Swedish national team and apart from Barcelona I know most of the tracks. I hope we can do just as well as the team did last year."

Niklas Loven was last seen in the series with Tampolli Engineering in 2000 and after a year racing for the works Opel team in Scandinavia has returned to his first love of sportscar racing. Ironically the 27-year-old was Mattias Andersson's team mate in Swedish Touring Cars last year and he will be hoping to add to his haul of two SR2 victories in 2000.



LUCCHINI ENGINEERING (I)

Lucchini Engineering once again approach the season as committed as ever with a brace of the stunning 2001 spec Lucchini SR2 chassis. Giorgio Lucchini has consistently produced race-winning cars, even taking an outright victory at that famous race in Spa two years ago.

Now though, the team firmly believes they can take their first SR2 title with Fabio Mancini and Gianni Collini moving from the FIA GT Championship to sportscars for the 2002 season. The experienced pair have been testing intensively over the winter and Fabio gave hope for a championship push by breaking the lap record at Vallelunga last month.

A second chassis will be run for team regular Piergiuseppe Peroni and his team mate - Mirko Savoldi. Mirko was a contender in the British Formula 3000 Championship back in the early nineties. The team once again opts for Alfa power.



TEAM JOTA (GB)



Another new team joining the FIA Sportscar Championship grid is the British Team Jota outfit, run and driven by John Stack and Sam Hignett. One of the ultra successful Pilbeam MP84's will be their charge in 2002 as the pair take up the challenge of international sportscar racing for the first time.

Having run in the Renault Clio European trophy last year the pair already have some experience of the circuits they will race on in 2002. After good tests at Silverstone and Donington over the winter they are well prepared to mix it with the other more experienced teams in the three-litre category. Team principal and driver Sam Hignett is looking forward to the task in hand."We're a new team but we have our ambitions and the key for the year is to run at the front. We are realistic as well and are very much looking at this move in to the championship as a long term plan."



PIR COMPETITION (F)

Longtime championship supporter Pierre Bruneau has increased his programme in 2002 to run two cars in SR2, complementing his familiar Debora with a Pilbeam that has been mated to the new Sodemo Peugeot engine.

The well organised PiR Competition team have expanded for 2002 but team boss Pierre Bruneau will still be racing, sharing the Debora, which is now powered by an IES prepared Nissan engine, with talented French F3 Promotion Class champion Philippe Hottinguer.

Longtime PIR driver Marc Rostan and the veritable Arturo Merzario will race the Pilbeam Sodemo Peugeot car. Bruneau believes the new engine could propel the team back in to the winners circle. "We are ready for this exciting challenge," said PiR boss and driver Pierre Bruneau. "We will be working in conjunction with Sodemo very closely and I think this will also show the versatility of the Pilbeam chassis in housing the engine. We expect great things from this project."



AUDISIO & BENVENUTO (I)

Audisio return for a third straight year of FIA Sportscar Championship competition and the little team from Genoa have a trio of Italian racers intent on scoring podium positions once again this year.

Giuseppe Chiminelli, Antonio Vallebona and Erminio Bonetti all graduate from the Italian Prototype Championship where they also raced for Franco Audisio's team. Roberto Tonetti, who has raced in the past two seasons, has been reduced to acting as the teams Sporting Director because of a shoulder injury. The team remain loyal to the Lucchini-Alfa combination.



TEAM SOVEREIGN (GB)

This small but efficient team ended the 2001 season on a real high after the indomitable Ian Flux claimed their first ever pole position at the wet Nurburgring qualifying session. Over the winter months the team has worked hard to hone the chassis so it can consistently compete for podium placings to add to last years 3rd place at Donington Park.

Team owner Mike Millard has decided to introduce new bodywork to the car after work in the MIRA windtunnel but as Mike himself explains it will not be ready until the Brno race in May. "We have basically had to narrow the bodywork down as the wheels we use are now smaller. We think this will give us more mechanical and aerodynamic grip after looking at the results from the wind tunnel."

Ian Flux is retained as Millard's partner and the versatile British racing legend will certainly be one to watch for his commitment and bravado throughout the season.



SCI (I)

Perennial racer Raniere Randaccio starts his fourth full season in the Championship with his loyal SCI team. Once again running the eye catching yellow Lucchini, Ranieri will once more be joined by Leonardo Maddalena who holds the record number of starts (a total of 32) in the Championship since it’s original inception in 1997.

This year the Roman team plan to introduce a 675 spec Tampolli to the Championship in mid season, hopefully for the Rockingham round in August.



SILIPRANDI (I)

Siliprandi have long been supporters of the Championship in their Lucchini Alfa and the team start the new season with Italian Prototype regular Ezio Mazza and Swiss George Paulin. They tested successfully at Barcelona last month and will be hoping that they can match their 3rd place at Monza last year when veteran Pasquale Barberio partnered Mazza.



VILLORBA CORSE (I)

A brand new team set up by Amadio Raimondo to run former Lucchini Engineering drivers Denny Zardo and Mauro Prospero. The pair will continue to run a Lucchini chassis this year and have been testing at Magione in Italy on the run up to the first race.

Zardo is a former Maserati Ghibli champion while Prospero took the Italian prototype championship in 1999 before graduating to International competition with the now defunct GPM team. Last year the pair scored a best ever result with 2nd place at the Monza 1000kms.
Bron: Pers release Sam Smith