Thomas Erdos emerged with some credit at the end of a weekend that saw the FIA GT season open with a disjointed and somewhat confusing race, tinged with technical controversies and a spate of punctures.

Partnering Mike Newton once more in a Saleen S7-R, Erdos was consistently amongst the quickest drivers on the Monza circuit, posting impressive times in almost every practice session ahead of Saturday qualifying. “We’ve lost a little bit of pace since we were here for the test day,” admitted Thomas, “but still fourth quickest overall. I feel it’s going really well.” The team had been experimenting with a new damper installation, which was already showing clear advantages, while the drivers were exploring the characteristics of a freshly prepared engine.

By Friday evening, however, all the hard work came under sudden and unexpected threat when FIA officials published an announcement: “Four Saleen cars - will not be allowed to participate in qualifying, warm-up or the race, unless a favourable new inspection is passed before the FIA Technical Delegate.” The debate centred upon what, exactly, constituted a “bonnet”. Last season the interpretation decreed that the front panel was the bonnet. This year, apparently, the understanding has been swapped, and the various sections that compose the engine cover must now be fixed together permanently as one item and removed, when necessary, with tools, not the usual up-and-over catches.