FIA GT Championship

Strong driver line-up in FIA GT for AF Corse

© Planetlemans

A day after the Scuderia Ecosse driver announcement it is time for Italian team AF Corse to announce its drivers for the 2007 FIA GT Championship. Over the last few weeks several drivers were linked to one of the four Ferrari 430 seats, but just days before the official FIA GT test at Monza we can now reveal who the drivers are.
The Italian team signed four experienced drivers namely Dirk Müller, Stephane Ortelli, Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni.

Former ALMS GT champion, Daytona 24 GT1 winner and BMW works driver Dirk Müller was the first to announce his plans for 2007: “I am totally happy to be behind the wheel of a Ferrari. I immediately felt home after my first test in Vallelunga and I have to say, a dream becomes true. I am pleased to have Michelin with us and I am very much looking forward to it. I got all my GT achievements with them.”

According to the Italian press Müller will be joined by Monegasque endurance racing veteran Stéphane Ortelli. Ortelli, who will also drive the Team Oreca Saleen S7R in the Le Mans Series, won the FIA GT N-GT class title in 2002 and 2003 and drove for AF Corse in the Spa 24 Hours last year, where he finished second.

Gianmaria Bruni is the only Italian driver for AF Corse. The ex-Minardi F1 driver finished seventh overall in the GP2 Series in 2006 but has now opted to race in the FIA GT championship. He will most likely share the car with the driver who replaced him at the Coloni GP2 team in 2005, Toni Vilander.

Vilander, from Finland, drove for the AF Corse team at the final FIA GT race at Dubai in 2006 and finished second in the GT2 class. He will also do a full season with the Italian team, but might combine this ride with one in the USA.

A formal announcement on the driver pairing per car is expected later this week at the FIA GT test at Monza. Most likely it will be Müller-Ortelli and Vilander-Bruni, but Müller mentioned Vilander as his new team mate on his own website.