Another Weekend, Another World Title for Maserati!

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Just week after Maserati took the Manufacturers’ title in the FIA GT World Championship, the Maserati MC12-equipped Vitaphone Racing Team has taken its third consecutive team prize following penultimate round of the championship in Nogaro at the weekend (30 September 2007) when it scored a second and third place.

With no less than five Maserati drivers topping the chase for the driver’s title, Maserati is odds-on for a clean sweep of all the major titles in the world’s leading championship for sports cars.

Since 2005, the year the Maserati MC12 was first used in this championship, the Vitaphone Racing Team has notched up 12 victories (the last time at Brno with Montanari/Ramos), a Drivers' title with Bartels/Bertolini, and made a significant contribution to the GT1 Manufacturers' Cup both in 2005 and 2007. This is the first time in the history of the FIA GT that a team has managed to pull off the feat of three consecutive title wins.

At the Paul Armagnac circuit in Nogaro, France, Michael Bartels and Thomas Biagi just missed out on the win. They came home in second behind the Corvette C6R driven by Hezemans/Deletraz. This result, though it satisfied the team, left a bitter taste in the mouth of the Italo-German pairing as they were slowed down in the exciting opening stages by Lechner/Lichtner-Hoyer's Aston Martin.

"It was an odd start as the red light didn't go out and I was slow reacting because I didn't know what to do,” said Thomas Biagi. “This meant that I was behind Lechner and I really had to sweat before I managed to get past him. I don't think he acted very sportingly, braking on the straight and clipping me once I had overtaken. I hope that the Federation does something about it and protects the drivers challenging for the title. I have to admit that I was aiming for the win after starting on pole. The fact that the victory didn't come is a little disappointing. We were quick in the race, above all at the beginning. This pace wasn't maintained towards the end though. I think we would probably have won if it had not been for Lechner".

The Modenese company's success was completed by the second place claimed by Playteam Sarafree. The team's drivers, Bertolini/Piccini, are still in the race for the Drivers' crown. The squad from Lombardy is making its debut in the FIA GT and won on the city circuit in Bucharest as well as collecting a number of podium finishes.

After making an even start, the Maserati went on the hunt for Lechner's Aston Martin that had moved into the lead. This proved to be a difficult exercise due to the sometimes excessive efforts of the leader and the obvious difference in acceleration between the two cars. The Maserati MC12s are forced to mount the 2007-sized restrictors, a huge disadvantage as other cars are fitted with ones from 2006, among them the Aston Martins.

The precious time lost when stuck behind Lechner proved decisive as, after the final round of pit stops, Biagi found himself five seconds off Hezemans. (For the record, Biagi pulled off a risky overtaking move to edge past Lechner on lap 16.) Christian Montanari and Miguel Ramos had a tough race but ended with a deserved third spot. The winners from Brno had 65 kg of ballast to deal with (25 kg of which is assigned by the FIA). Following an untidy pit stop, they made a comeback that included several fine overtaking moves.

In the overall classification, the pairing are part of a group of six drivers on 50 points, 5 points off lone leader Thomas Biagi. In the group that will dispute the title with the man from Bologna in the last round at Zolder are Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini, sixth today. The two could not hide their disappointment at not being in a position to go for the win here in France. The 60 kg of added weight and fact that their tyre choice did not come off as it was warmer today than it has been over the past few days, meant that they were far from their best.

However, the duo did put up a fight of it early on and limited the gap to the lead car to a few seconds. Their team mates, Giannoccaro/Pier Guidi, finished just behind them. Alessandro Pier Guidi did especially well to set the race's fastest lap time of 1'25"735 on lap 45.

In the Citation Cup, Ben Aucott at the wheel of the JMB Racing MC12, today made certain of the first edition of the championship reserved to gentleman drivers. They did so with a race to spare after winning today's event (coming eleventh overall). Aucott shared the drive with Stephane Daoudi. Aucott has won four and come second three times in the seven races he has appeared in.

The other MC12 fielded by the Monaco-based team and with Kutemann/Gosse on board, came home in twenty-fourth place.

The next round of the FIA GT International championship will be held at the Belgian circuit of Zolder on 21 October. The event will be where the Drivers' title will be decided.

(ends)
Race results
Pos Car Class Drivers Car Time Laps Gap
1 5 GT1 Hezemans/Deletraz Corvette C6R 2:00:51505 81
2 1 GT1 Bartels/Biagi Maserati MC12 GT1 2:01:08.221 81 16.671
3 2 GT1 Montanari/Ramos Maserati MC12 GT1 2:01.12.721 81 21.171
6 11 GT1 Bertolini/Piccini Maserati MC12 GT1 2:01:45.325 81 53.775
7 12 GT1 Pier Guidi/Giannoccaro Maserati MC12 GT1 2:01:47.664 81 56.114
11 16 GT1 Aucott/Daoudi Maserati MC12 GT1 2:01.40.698 79 2 LAPS
24 15 GT1 Kutemann/Gosse Maserati MC12 GT1 2:01:48.270 76 5 LAPS

Manufacturers Cup overall
Rounds
Pos Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total
1 Maserati 5 18 19 14 25 36.5 13 21 19 170.5
2 Corvette 18 14 5 10 35.5 4 6 11 103.5
3 Aston Martin 6 7 7 15 9 6 19 8 9 86
4 Lamborghini 10 8 4 3 4 29

Drivers overall
Rounds
Pos Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total
1 Thomas Biagi 3 10 3 5 10 14 2 8 55
2 Andrea Bertolini 4 10 1 8 11 8 5 3 50
Andrea Piccini 4 10 1 8 11 8 5 3 50
Christian Montanari 2 3 6 8 1 9 5 10 6 50
Miguel Ramos 2 3 6 8 1 9 5 10 6 50
Mike Hezemans 4 8 6 18 4 10 50
Jean-Denis Deletraz 4 8 6 18 4 10 50
3 Ryan Sharp 5 5 10 5 10 8 4 47
Karl Wendlinger 5 5 10 5 10 8 4 47
4 Michael Bartels 5 10 14 2 8 39
5 Anthony Kumpen 6 6 4 4 8.5 6 1 35.5
Bert Longin 6 6 4 4 8.5 6 1 35.5
6 Jamie Davies 5 2 2 3 6 1 6 5 30
Fabio Babini 5 2 2 3 6 1 6 5 30
7 Alessandro Pier Guidi 1 5 11 4 2 23
8 Stefan Mücke 10 8 3 21
Christophe Bouchut 10 8 3 21
Alessandro Pier Guidi 1 5 11 4 21
Fabrizio Gollin 3 18 21
9 Marcel Fässler 18 18
10 Pedro Lamy 14 14
Eric van de Poele 14 14
11 Giambattista Giannoccaro 1 5 4 2 12

Teams overall
Rounds
Pos Name 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Total
1 Vitaphone Racing Team 5 13 9 13 11 23 5 12 14 105
2 Scuderia Playteam Sarafree 5 10 1 13 11 8 9 5 62
3 Jetalliance Racing 5 5 12 5 11 8 4 50
Carsport Holland 4 8 6 18 4 10 50
4 Aston Martin Racing BMS 5 2 2 3 9 1 8 5 35
5 PK Carsport 6 6 4 4 8.5 0 4 34.5
6 All-Inkl.com Racing 10 8 4 4 26
7 PSI Experience 8 8
8 Luc Alphand Aventures 7 7
9 JMB Racing 2 2.5 4.5
10 SRT 1 2 3
11 Barwell Motorsport 1 1

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