The Ferrari F430 is a sports car produced by the Italian automobile manufacturer Ferrari from 2004 until 2009 as a successor to the Ferrari 360. The car is an update to the 360 with exterior and performance changes. It was unveiled at the 2004 Paris Motor Show. The F430 was succeeded by the 458 which was unveiled on 28 July 2009.
The Maserati MC12 is a limited production two-seater sports car produced by Italian car maker Maserati from 2004 to 2005, to allow a racing variant to compete in the FIA GT Championship. The car entered production in 2004, with 25 cars produced. A further 25 were produced in 2005 after the FIA changed the rules and reduced the maximum length allowed. The second batch of 25 are 150mm shorter than the originals, making a total of 50 cars available for customers. With the addition of 12 cars produced for racing, a total of just 62 were ever produced.
BMS Scuderia Italia SpA is an auto racing team founded in 1983 in Brescia by Italian businessman and motorsports enthusiast Giuseppe Lucchini. Originally named Brixia Motor Sport (BMS), the team initially competed in the World Touring Car Championship. The team's name was altered to BMS Scuderia Italia upon their entrance into Formula One in 1988. After departing Formula One in 1993, BMS Scuderia Italia has continued to be involved in other categories such as touring car racing and sports car racing.
The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation (SRO) at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South America. At the end of 2009, the championship was replaced by the FIA GT1 World Championship, which morphed into the FIA GT Series for 2013.
Dirk Müller is a German Ford factory racing driver, driving for Ford Chip Ganassi Racing in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His former Schnitzer BMW team-mate Jörg Müller is unrelated, as is French driver Yvan Muller.
Stéphane Ortelli is a Monégasque professional racing driver with three world championship titles. He has won the 24 Hours of Le Mans race in 1998 with Allan McNish and Laurent Aïello and the Spa 24 Hours in 2003 with Romain Dumas and Marc Lieb. He's also won the GT1 Class at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 2005 with David Brabham and Darren Turner. Currently, he is an Emil Frey Racing driver competing and developing the Jaguar and Lexus GT racing cars in the Blancpain Endurance Series and the VLN series.
Toni Markus Vilander is a Finnish professional racing driver who currently drives for the Risi Competizione Ferrari team in various categories of sports car racing.
Andrea Bertolini is an Italian professional racing driver currently driving for AF Corse in the FIA World Endurance Championship. He is the official test driver of the Maserati factory. Bertolini began racing at a young age, working as the youngest ever test driver for Ferrari at 19, followed by work in the experimental and development department. He also participated in the development of the Maserati MC12, in which he has enjoyed racing success winning for three times the FIA GT Championship in GT1 class, and also claiming the first edition of the FIA GT1 World Championship. He won the WEC championship in GTE Am category in 2015 and in the same year he won the 24H of Le Mans in the same class.
Vitaphone Racing, or Vita4One, was a German racing team who participate in the FIA GT Championship. The team was actually Bartels Motor & Sport GmbH, but operated under the title of its main sponsor, Vitaphone GmbH. They have successfully raced the Maserati MC12 GT1 since 2005, becoming one of the most successful GT teams in the series with five FIA GT1 Teams' Championship and four FIA GT1 Drivers' Championship. Their chief drivers are Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini.
The 2004 FIA GT Imola 500 km was the eighth round of the 2004 FIA GT Championship season. It took place at the Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Italy, on September 5, 2004.
JMB Racing is a racing team from Monaco that competes in sports car racing. It was founded in Nice, France, in 1995 as JB Racing by Jean-Michel Bouresche and Jean-Pierre Jabouille. It was renamed JMB in 2000 after Jabouille left the partnership. JMB relocated its headquarters to Monaco in 2004, racing with a Monegasque license since then.
The Spanish GT Championship / Iber GT was a Spanish auto racing series founded in 1999 and organised by the GT Sport Organización. The series runs multiple classes of grand tourer cars in events around Spain and Portugal. The series later formed the basis for the International GT Open, a European-wide series which follows a similar structure.
AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Challenge Europe, European Le Mans Series, Asian Le Mans Series, and International GT Open, and are four-time champions of the GT2 class of the former FIA GT Championship. The team has also entered cars under Advanced Engineering, AT Racing, PeCom Racing, Spirit of Race, Formula Racing, 8Star Motorsports and MR Racing, and in association with Michael Waltrip Racing.
The Italian GT Championship is an Italian sports car series founded in 2003 and organized by the Automobile Club d'Italia (ACI) and the Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana (CSAI). It replaced a previous supercar-based championship which ran from 1992 until 2002 when it was folded due to a lack of entrants. The series borrowed heavily from the international FIA GT Championship in its first few seasons, although additional entries from Ferrari Challenge, Porsche Supercup, and Maserati Trofeo competitors were allowed.
Risi Competizione is an Italo-American auto racing Ferrari factory-backed team formed by Giuseppe Risi in 1997. Initially, the team had a partnership with Doyle Racing using the name Doyle-Risi Racing, but soon Giuseppe Risi took full control of the project and it was rebranded with its current name in 2000. Risi Competizione has won races and championships in the IMSA GT championship, American Le Mans Series, and Rolex Sports Car Series, as well as earning three class wins at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1998, 2008 and 2009. Much of Risi Competizione's success has come through the use of Ferrari machines.
The Ferrari 458 Italia is an Italian mid-engine sports car produced by Ferrari. The 458 is the successor of the F430, and was first officially unveiled at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. It was succeeded by the 488 GTB in 2015.
Christopher James Buncombe is a British racing driver who made his last appearance at the Le Mans 24 Hours was in 2011. He joined Aston Martin Racing at the end of the 2009 season when he drove in the Le Mans Series scoring a podium finish on his debut with the team at Nürburgring driving the 008 Aston Martin LMP1 car. Chris won the 2007 24 Hours of Le Mans in the LMP2 class driving for Binnie Motorsports in their Lola B05/40-Zytek.
The 2012 Avon Tyres British GT season was the 20th season of the British GT Championship. The season began on 9 April at Oulton Park and finished on 30 September at Donington Park, after ten rounds held over seven meetings. Motorbase Performance drivers Michael Caine and Daniele Perfetti won the GT3 category in a Porsche 997 GT3-R, Team WFR's Jody Fanin and Warren Hughes won the GT4 championship driving a Ginetta G50, while Ryan Hooker and Gary Eastwood took the GTC title in a Ferrari 458 Challenge driving for FF Corse.
François Hubert Marie Perrodo is a French billionaire businessman, racing driver, and car collector. He is the chairman of Perenco, an oil and gas company with operations in 14 countries, which was founded by his father. In October 2023, Forbes estimated his family to be worth US$10 billion.
Gabriele Gardel is a Swiss racing driver. He is the 2005 FIA GT Champion.
