Oschersleben: Matteo Bobbi race report

Out of all the drivers, Matteo Bobbi was the one who caught everyone's attention on the German track of Oschersleben this weekend.

The driver from Milan, who was forced to start last because he substituted his broken engine during the qualifying Saturday, set off a spectacular race.

Matteo climbed his way up to the top where he was in the lead till the last 20 minutes of the race. Then a very long pit stop and a contact with the JMB Racing's Ferrari prevented him from fighting for the podium.

Bobbi weekend's was dogged by serious problems with the Ferrari 550 engine. In fact, the engine broke down twice and this highly influenced the outcome of his race.

Matteo Bobbi

"I usually don't blame luck for what happens on the track, but this time around, I was really dogged by misfortune. On Friday during the free practice session, I was the only driver who was under the 1'24 mark and set the following time:1'23''598. But then came the surprise:the engine unexpectedly broke down. We therefore participated in the qualifying session with a new engine but things didn't get better. The engine broke down once again. The team substituted the engine for the second time in 2 days and so to abide by the regulation, I had to start last on the grid .Regardless of this handicap, I pushed hard during the race and knew that in 3 hours, I could recuperate. And I did just that. With 20 minutes left to go, after a great climb up, I was able to conquer the lead.Even if it was for a short period of time.

Due to a very long pit stop where I changed my tyres, I went on track in 4th place behind Wendlinger's Ferrari. My pace was faster than his and so I tried to overtake him many times to get the 3rd place on the podium. However Wendlinger hindered my way and even threw me off track when there were 20 minutes left to the end.

Regardless of all the damage done to my car, I was able to cut the finish line in 5th place.

I would like to congratulate Gollin& Cappellari who won the title on this track.For everything that they accomplished this season, they deserve this title."