Maserati Maintains Multi-championship Lead

Maserati Maintains Multi-championship Lead

Maserati has maintained its multi-championship lead in the FIA GT Championship after the weekend’s (Saturday 8 September 2007) round at Adria in Italy and which featured an evening sprint race, further adding to diverse range of racing conditions in which Maserati MC12 had proven to be the car to beat.

Maserati now lead the Manufacturers’ title chase, two Maserati teams head the team championship and no fewer than three Maserati drivers head the drivers’ championship.

The Bertolini/Piccini Maserati MC12 came second at Adria in the seventh round of the FIA GT International Championship. The race was held in the evening and was an exciting one from the off. The MC12’s fine form was also highlighted by Montanari/Ramos’ fourth spot and the Ferté/Aucott crew taking victory in the Citation Cup.

“I would like to dedicate this podium finish to a very important person for my home town, Modena,” said Andrea Bertolini at the finish. “He was also loved throughout the world: Luciano Pavarotti. As for the race, I am content with second as we made the most of Biagi’s bad luck to move back into contention in the championship. I want to thank the entire team and, most of all, Pirelli, as they backed us up throughout and supplied a superb set of tyres. Things look bright for the future.”

Team mate Andrea Piccini added “Considering our start position, the extra weight we had on board and how hard it is to overtake on this track, second place is a brilliant result. Together with Pirelli, we decided to sacrifice the qualifying spot to have a consistent and high-performing tyre in the race. Today we dropped fifteen seconds and so missed out on the win because of another car”.

Bertolini/Piccini started from eighth but made a sparkling comeback thanks to their consistently high performing Pirelli tyres. The fact that their tyres held up well meant that they did not need to change them during the final pit stop, allowing them to attack eventual winners Wendlinger/Sharp as the chequered flag drew near. A win was possible but a clash with Longin/Kumpen’s lapped Corvette saw Andrea Piccini lose 15 seconds just after he had taken over in the cockpit. Andrea Bertolini, post race, dedicated the crew’s second spot to the memory of Luciano Pavarotti.

The race was full of action from the start when Lichtner/Lechner’s Aston Martin clipped Thomas Biagi’s MC12, bending the right rear suspension.

The mechanics replaced the damaged part, allowing Michael Bartels to make it back onto the track only eight laps down. The two closed out the race but Biagi now has an overall lead of only three points in the Drivers’ championship. Bertolini/Piccini are hot on his heels.

Fourth placed Montanari/Ramos meant an unhappy weekend for the Vitaphone Racing Team. Still, they head the Team Championship by 31 points from Playteam Sarafree. Montanari, after a difficult start, managed to find his rhythm and quickly climbed from fifth to second. A hiccup in the pits saw the pair slip to fourth, a mistake that cost them precious time and blew their chances of finishing on the podium.

The other Playteam Sarafree MC12 was unlucky to pull up with a gearbox problem when in the top ten.

Over in the Citation Cup, reserved to gentleman drivers, Ferté/Aucott took the win (13th overall). Third went to Kutemann/Moser (23rd overall) in the JMB Racing MC12. The result sees Ben Aucott strengthen his lead in the championship.

Maserati continues to top the GT1 Manufacturers’ Cup standings on 130.5 points from Corvette and Aston Martin.

The next round of the FIA GT will be held at the Czech circuit of Brno in two weeks time.

ENDS

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