No Ferrari 550s from Care Racing at Sebring | FerrariChat

No Ferrari 550s from Care Racing at Sebring

Discussion in 'Other Racing' started by RacerNika, Feb 16, 2004.

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  1. RacerNika

    RacerNika Karting

    Dec 2, 2003
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    #1 RacerNika, Feb 16, 2004
    Too bad - loved to see them at every race and they sure gave the Vette's some trouble

    CARE RACING TO MISS 12 HOURS OF SEBRING



    Care Racing Development has elected not to take up its two entries for the opening round of the American Le Mans Series. The scarlet Ferrari 550 Maranellos which last year enjoyed such success in North America’s premier sports car series will not therefore be seen at the 2004 12 Hours of Sebring, Florida in March.



    Care Racing’s Director of Business Development, Dominique Falque, explained: “We have been in negotiation with a number of teams throughout the winter months and have tried many different ways to bring these negotiations to a conclusion. Unfortunately there remains a substantial lack of budget at this stage. We have therefore taken the difficult decision not to be at Sebring.



    “We know this will be disappointing not only for the many Ferrari fans in North America, but also for the Series and the other GTS competitors as we had some really great and exciting track battles last year. We would still very much like to be in the American Le Mans Series and build on last year’s successes, and are therefore continuing to work on seeking a team and the budget to be in place from the end of June.



    “In the meantime, we are focussing our attention on the start of the European and Japanese Championships as well as the 24 Hours of Le Mans for which we have four entries thanks to our victories in the ALMS, the FIA GT Championship and at Le Mans itself.”
     
  2. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #2 BigTex, Feb 16, 2004
    Last edited by a moderator: Sep 7, 2017
    Sorry to hear this!

    Glad I'm not alone, in continuing to try to field a car with NO BUDGET!

    Of course that's why it's such a small car!
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  3. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #3 BigTex, Feb 16, 2004
    Nika, if you fill out a special request, Rob can update your post count from the old software.

    Of course, the lower post count LOOKS GOOD ON YOU, you understand!

    Just thought you'd like to know!

    Speedy "Does this post count make me look......" 308
     
  4. BigTex

    BigTex Seven Time F1 World Champ
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    #4 BigTex, Feb 16, 2004
    You would have thought the racing 550 variants would have lasted longer against the new 575GTCs, but I have read they are pretty awesome, right from the box!

    Per "Spin and Win" Danny Sullivan, anyway. We'll see.

    Even the racing 550 at Gstaad went begging. No sale.
     
  5. Papa G

    Papa G Formula 3

    Dec 29, 2003
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    #5 Papa G, Feb 16, 2004
    No Prodrive and also the Olive Garden (I believe) 550s. That stinks!!! I hope these new 575 GTCs are as awesome as they look.

    Papa G
     
  6. FLATOUTRACING

    FLATOUTRACING F1 Rookie

    Aug 20, 2001
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    #6 FLATOUTRACING, Feb 16, 2004
    The 575's cleaned up in their first FIA race last season, nearly 1/2 second per lap quicker than the 550's.

    I imagine they will be even faster this year.

    Not much demand for the 550's. They are way to expensive to run for small privateer teams compared to the 360 GT-N cars.

    You need a big budget to run the 550's and in the end the CR5's and 575's will be faster with factory money behind them.

    Regards,

    Jon P. Kofod
    www.flatoutracing.net
     
  7. Papa G

    Papa G Formula 3

    Dec 29, 2003
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    #7 Papa G, Feb 17, 2004

    I'm feeling a little better, thanks. Did I hear right that there will be only ONE team ( Danny Sullivan and co.) campaigning the 575 at Sebring this year?

    Papa G
     
  8. BartonWorkman

    BartonWorkman F1 Veteran
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    #8 BartonWorkman, Feb 18, 2004
    Jeez, why didnt I post this thread?

    Unfortunately, Care Racing/Rafanelli could not conclude a sponsorship deal and were scrambling until the Monday cut-off day to find funds to bring the
    team to Sebring.

    With Prodrive out of the picture, Frederic Dor is leasing the cars and running a limited schedule with plans in the works to contest Le Mans. This may throw things open to have Enge join the Barron-Connor effort but this appears to be a pay to drive situation so we'll see.

    The 575 GTCs won in the FIA GT but according to reliable sources, they were gifted the win in it's debut race for JMB.

    It is a shame that the relationship between Prodrive and Ferrari faded as it was Maranello which protested a Prodrive entered victory in the FIA GT with it's win overturned under scrutiny (engine mounted too low in the chassis).
    Then Ferrari took credit for the fantastic Le Mans GTS win even though Prodrive/Care Racing received little in the way of support from Maranello.

    Prodrive will re-emerge entering the new Aston Martin DB9s later this year and
    Barron-Connor will be the only Ferrari team contesting GTS at Sebring which is already looking like a Corvette runaway as the factory entered Corvettes are reported to be 2-3 seconds faster per lap on their new Michelin tires.

    BHW
     

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