www.QV500.com - Ferrari 360 Part 6: 360 GT - 2000 FIA GT Championship
 

118766, 2000 Silverstone 500km		 Many of the Ferrari 360's predecessors were great road cars with models like the 246 Dino and F355 standing out as among the very best. However, none had been able to make any significant impact on the world of international GT racing. This is where the 360 has been so different as, thanks initially to the efforts of JMB Racing, Michelotto and subsequently Ferrari, the 360 has secured itself a unique position among baby Ferrari's of the modern era. In Part’s 6 through 18 we will cover the cars transition from under-developed Challenge debutante to world championship winning endurance racer.
   
Having been launched late in 1999, several teams were keen to further enhance Ferrari’s specially prepared 360 Challenge Trophy cars with a view to running them in the prestigious FIA GT Championship. This series featured two classes, the top group being dominated by limited production GT machinery with large displacement engines, cars like the Chrysler Viper GTS-R, Lister Storm and Ferrari 550 Maranello. There was also the N-GT group where, against more volume models (read Porsche's 996 GT3-R), many people were confident a properly developed 360 could topple the ever dominant German marque and return Ferrari to the forefront of GT racing - somewhere it had been missing for many years. The 360’s international race record began when three outfits arrived at Monza for Round 3 of the 2000 series, the best prepared of whom were Team JMB Giesse with chassis 119073, a Challenge car left predominantly standard although it did feature supplementary NACA ducting to the rear wings. Also present were Scuderia Chicco d’Oro with chassis 118531 and Scapani with chassis 119339 – this car to be driven be ex-Ferrari F1 racer Ivan Capelli no less. Despite understandably lacking power and development time against hardened racers like Porsche’s GT3-R, it was clear that the 360’s chassis dynamics were excellent after JMB came in 17th overall (eighth in N-GT), Scapani 18th (ninth) and the Chicco d’Oro car 15th overall, a very respectable sixth in class.
 

119073, 2000 Magny Cours 500km		 These were to be the first and last appearances in the FIA GT Championship by Scapani and Chicco d’Oro, only JMB, the French outfit run by Jean Michel Bouresche and Team Manager Benjamin Durand, going on to try and prove the 360’s race prowess in this tough series. By the end of the year they had secured some back door factory assistance from Ferrari’s favoured development house, Michelotto of Padova, but this was still to come and for Round 4, the Silverstone 500km race, JMB made up for the absence of any other 360 contenders by adding a second chassis to the team, 118766.
   
118766 became the Alliot / Kutemann car for JMB’s subsequent races while 119073 was predominantly piloted by Pregliasco and Lambertini - neither pairing experiencing any luck during Round 4 and finishing up among the tail end charlies. After Silverstone, JMB decided to skip Round 5 and focus on the development of their aero pack, brakes and suspension. The results of some behind-the-scenes work was easy to spot at Zolder, JMB's cars arriving with huge adjustable rear wings and lower ride heights. With both machines running reliably to top ten class finishes, JMB had once again demonstrated the 360's promise despite missing out on over 40bhp compared to Porsche's GT3-R. They had prepared a fine platform for a crack N-GT racer but their almost Challenge-spec Tipo F131 motors were just not powerful enough for such a competitive series. However, with the promise of an all-new engine for 2001 and further upgrades coming from fabled Ferrari competition house Michelotto, JMB could be confident of challenging Porsche in 2001. Post Zolder, neither 360 appeared again until the final round at Magny Cours, both chassis's arriving in France with totally redesigned front bumpers and jutting chin spoilers, the Alliot / Kutemann car (118766) coming in 18th (eighth) while Pregliasco and Lambertini in 119073 were 20th overall and tenth in the N-GT class.
 
Rd. Race Drivers Entrant Overall N-GT Chassis
3 Monza 500km Garbagnati / Kessell / Ligresti Scuderia Chicco d'Oro 15th 6th 118531
Pregliasco / Lambertini JMB Racing 17th 8th 119073
Capelli / Prinoth Scapani 18th 9th 119339
4 Silverstone 500km Pregliasco / Lambertini JMB Racing 21st 10th 119073
Alliot / Kutemann JMB Racing 24th 13th 118766
6 Zolder 500km Alliot / Kutemann JMB Racing 19th 8th 118766
Pregliasco / Pescatori JMB Racing 20th 9th 119073
10 Magny Cours 500km Alliot / Kutemann JMB Racing 18th 10th 118766
Pregliasco / Lambertini JMB Racing 20th 11th 119073
 

119073, 2000 Magny Cours 500km