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British sportscar racer, Rob Bell, has been called up to race in the second Italian round of the FIA GT championship, standing in for Chris Niarchos and partnering with Tim Sugden in the No.63 Scuderia Ecosse entry. Driving a Ferrari 430 GT, Bell and Sugden will contest the seventh round of the international FIA GT series, being held in Adria, Italy this weekend. With the Scuderia Ecosse team lying fourth in the team championship, the duo will be aiming for a strong finish to add to the team’s points tally.

Bell says, “I would like to thank Scuderia Ecosse for giving me the opportunity to run with them in Italy and I hope I can repay this with a strong result that helps them in the overall teams championship. Third place after this weekend is an achievable goal, so that has to be the aim. I know the car, as I race in the Le Mans Series with the same manufacturer model, so it shouldn’t take me long to be on the pace. However I haven’t raced at this track before, and that’ll be my first challenge. Luckily it’s a short circuit, so that shouldn’t take long.

“This round is a night race and with my experience from the Le Mans 24 Hours, I know what’s ahead and that adds an extra dimension to this weekend as well. I’ve been running in six hour endurance races, so this two hour event will seem like a sprint I reckon. I’m prepared for it though, so I’ll just be going out there to run consistently at a good pace and bring the car back clean for my team mate, Tim. It should be a good weekend.”

Adria International Raceway is a motorsport race track near Adria in the Veneto region of Northern Italy. It is a permanent road course, and is 2.702 km (1.679 miles) in length. The FIA GT Championship is reserved for Grand Touring sportscars, developed for the road and adapted for the circuit.  The cars take part in races between two and twenty-four hours in duration, with two or three drivers sharing the car.  The FIA GT Championship started in 1997, and is in its eleventh season in 2007.

Bell,28, from Newcastle, is an experienced sportscar racer and is enjoying a strong season this year. He competes in the Le Mans Series with Virgo Motorsport and the team leads the GT2 class championship with two rounds to go and heads the GT2 drivers championship with team mate Allan Simonsen. Bell also contested the Le Mans 24 Hour race for the first time in June with Team LNT and finished a creditable fifth in class.