Maranello, 22nd march 2007

This coming weekend, the Chinese Zhuhai circuit hosts the opening round of the 2007 FIA GT Championship.

There are several changes for the reigning champions in the GT2 class. Amato Ferrari's team is now entered as AF Corse Motorola, to emphasise this prestigious partnership and the two Ferrari F430 GT have a new red and blue livery.

The crews are also brand new. Car number 50 is entrusted to the Finn, Toni Vilander, the 2006 Italian GT champion and the German, Dirk Muller, who returns to endurance racing, after a two year break in the WTCC. Italy's Gianmaria Bruni, a former F1 driver with Minardi back in 2005, shares the cockpit of car 51 with Stephane Ortelli from Monaco, a past overall winner of the Le Mans and Spa 24 Hours.

Another change concerns the tyres, with Amato Ferrari's cars fitted with Michelins for the 2007 season. The speed, consistency and reliability of the French rubber should be a perfect match for the demands of the new regulations that allows for a maximum of three sets of tyres to be used throughout the race weekend.

With all these elements in place, AF Corse Motorola will take on the challenge, up against other privately entered F430 GT cars, as well as Porsches. The Maranello cars boast new features developed by the Ferrari Corse Clienti department that affect both the aerodynamics and the engine.