FERRARI TAKES SPA.(Competition)

Ferrari triumphed in the Spa 24 Hour endurance classic after a thrilling battle between two quite different Italian racing machines. The Belgian round of the FIA GT championship quickly distilled down to a fight between the Prodrive-built 550 Maranello run by Scuderia Italia and the GPC Squadra Corse team's factory-sanctioned 575GTC.

The GPC car was quicker, courtesy of a strong driver lineup that included ex-Formula One driver Mika Salo, but Scuderia Italia came out on top after a two-car fight that lasted more than half the race. Fabrizio Gollin, Lilian Bryner, Enzo Calderari and Luca Cappellari won, courtesy of a relatively trouble-free run that was only interrupted by one drive-through penalty for a pit-lane speeding infraction and a brake-pad and disc change.

The GPC Ferrari had a lap-and-a-half lead when its rear diffuser broke with five hours to go. The undertray was reattached, costing the team five minutes. Despite Salo's best efforts over the next two hours, the Italian team was forced to settle for second, a lap down.

Bryner became the first woman to win one of the big 24-hour races outright. "I'm very happy to win this race and I hope it proves that men and women are equal when it comes to driving racing cars,'' the Italian native said. "I hope we can see more women winning big races in the future.''

Third place fell to the best car in the N-GT category: Stephane Ortelli, Emmanuel Collard and Romain Dumas finished 13 laps down on the winners in their Freisinger Porsche 911 GT3-RSR.

IRL: 16 races for now

The IRL announced a 16-race schedule for '05, but that might grow by another race if a deal materializes to run in St. Petersburg, Florida.