Dramatic finish

Press, 14 September 1988, Page 46

Dramatic finish

NZPA-Reuter Monza, Italy They did not know whether to laugh or cry in the Ferrari pits on Sunday evening after Gerhard Berger and Michele Alboreto’s tumultuous onetwo triumph in the Italian Grand Prix motor race. For more than two hours after the dramatic finish of .the event, an official technical inspection by the race authorities and the F.I.A. (International Automobile Federation) of the Austrian’s car was continuing amid rumours that its fuel tank was too big. A crowd two and threedeep pressed up to high wire fencing surrounding the “pare fermee” as the scrutineering continued, leaving the Ferrari team biting their nails instead of celebrating its first win on home soil since 1979. Eventually, a F.I.A. spokesman emerged from the crowd to confirm the fuel tank capacity of Berger’s car was 149.650 litres and not the rumoured figure of 151.500 litres after two thorough tests. The limit for turbo cars is 150 litres and had Berger’s been over the limit he would have been disqualified, ironically gifting the race to Alboreto.