The 51st Annual Mobil 1
12 Hours of Sebring
Presented by Dodge
March 12-15, 2003
Team Olive Garden
Photo Courtesy:IMSA
Team Olive Garden’s leader is out to
prove a point. Gabriele Rafanelli wants to beat factory racing
teams. He also likes to flaunt conventional wisdom: That only
factory-backed racing teams can win in today’s high-caliber American
Le Mans Series (ALMS).
"Under the skin, it’s an all-new car," says popular team boss,
Rafanelli. "To beat the factory Corvettes and their multi-million
dollar budget, we’ve taken everything to the limit in the short gap
between Petit Le Mans last year and the Hours of Sebring this year.
Even though the green, white and red Team Olive Garden Ferrari 550
Maranello GTS V2003 looks similar to last year’s car, it has been
re-designed from the ground up. We had no option for conservatism
this year."
"I am grateful for the continued encouragement and support from
Olive Garden and Coca-Cola. In the business world, they take their
competition seriously. I like to think our efforts to win are in
similar spirit with their competitive drive. And of course, without
the backing Pirelli has given us, we wouldn’t be so confident head-
ing for Sebring."
Team Olive Garden drivers Johnny Cecotto, Emanuele Naspetti
and Mimmo Schiattarella share Rafanelli’s optimism. "Last year,"
says Schiattarella, "our car was very, very good in slow and medium-speed
corners - we had good mechanical grip. In high speeds it was far be-
hind the Corvettes, but we believe we have solved that problem. Now,
to have also more torque, better engine response and much more power
than we had last year - despite of the tighter restrictors" well for
me it will be like Christmas!"
Rafanelli sums up his goals this way, "I wish Mimmo and Emanuele a
happy Christmas if that’s what they like, but for me, I want to de-
clare Saturday, March 15, 2003 as independent’s day!"
What’s New -- Team Olive Garden Ferrari 550 Maranello GTS V2003
* New 6.0 Liter. V-12 by Élan Power Products with all-new torque enhancing
carbon-fiber intake design
* Pirelli P Zero racing tires
* Front/rear chassis rigidity improved
* Underbody airflow completely revised for lower drag / higher down force
* All-new suspension designs front and rear with greatly improved kinematics
* Improved damping options by Moton
* New Hewland six-speed sequential gearbox
* Improved cockpit environment
2003 Sebring Index
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