Monza, April 11 1999
Double-win for JB Giesse
The 1999 International Sports Racing Series (ISRS) seems to become a
repetition of the last year’s edition: In the second race, the highly traditional 1000
Kilometers of Monza, Emmanuel Collard and Vicenzo Sospiri drove to their
second win of the season. The two drivers had already been dominating the ISRS
last year when they gained the championship title in their Ferrari 333 SP in an
impressive way.
This year, the experienced drivers have to face a new "rival" within their own ranks:
A second 333 SP was entered the JB Giesse Team, driven by Mauro Baldi and
Laurent Redon; interestingly, at Monza this very car was the last and only one to be
in same lap as the winning team. The 3rd and 4th position were taken by 333 SPs
as well, but these were missing three, respectively four laps to the winning car.
Jean-Pierre Jabouille’s delight and skepticism
Naturally, JB Giesse boss Jean-Pierre Jabouille felt delighted after the win, but at
the same time he pointed out that there was no reason to lay back and to relax.
"The challenge in the ISRS is getting tougher and tougher by every race.", quoting
the 49-times Grand Prix entrant. This statement was basically referring to the fast
DAMS Lola-Judd which had its debut at Monza. Eric Bernard and Jean-Marc
Gounon had lead the race right from the pole position and after a short while, they
had already been in front of the other competitors by about 30 seconds. But later,
the fast British car – which is, compared to the 333 SPs, a brand new design –
suffered problems with the exhaust system, and in the end the car dropped out
due to a broken gearbox.
Arturo Merzario on 5th
A legend in sports car racing could be seen at the wheel of a Cauduro Tampolli:
Arturo Merzario, well known to Ferraristi through his entries for the Scuderia Ferrari
in the late 1960’s and early 1970’s. This time, he won the SR2 category.
By the way: The so-called "1000 Kilometers of Monza" were actually not the real
McCoy this year; since the ISRS had joined the FIA GT Series for this event, there
was not one 1000 kilometers race, but two 500 kilometers races instead!
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