RSS
Home
Vitaphone racing seals FIA GT1 Championship with Maserati MC12
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
(c) DPPI/FIA GT
Sangari Team Brazil’s Z06 Corvette wins their first race of the season in the FIA GT Championship at the Paul Ricard HTTT circuit
Returning to the famous Paul Ricard circuit in France the crowd was thrilled with an exciting penultimate round of the popular FIA GT Championship. Considered to be a Corvette circuit, the Sangari car had been strong throughout the weekend, setting the best time in free practice, pre-qualifying and qualifying. However, Enrique Bernoldi started sixth on the grid after a penalty; he recovered strongly and after a fine battle with Alex Müller he took the lead on lap 13 and pulled away.
A fine performance from Roberto Streit maintained the gap, before Bernoldi completed the task, without being seriously threatened. “Roberto did an amazing job; we couldn't have won here without him,” Bernoldi said afterwards. “As we've seen in the last races, if both drivers don't drive well, you don't win. Here, everything went perfectly. The team did a good job and the car was good. I'm very happy for the team and for myself; it's been a while since I've won a race, it means a lot to me. The team did a fantastic job and they deserve it. I'm very happy.”
(c) DPPI/FIA GT
15 seconds behind the winners, the number 2 Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC 12 of Alex Müller and Miguel Ramos took their second consecutive podium after third in the Algarve. Müller led convincingly from pole, and the number 2 car maintained second behind the Sangari Corvette for the rest of the race. “The race felt really good. We have a strategy where we only change the tires once, and we knew that was a risk, since tires are quite critical here. Coming second here feels like winning after fighting the Corvette, because at this circuit, it's impossible and they're really flying. I'm really happy.”
(c) DPPI/FIA GT
The number 3 SRT Corvette Z06 of Longin and Ruffier, finished third, for their second consecutive podium, despite the challenge of running with success weight for the first time. “Things have been going really well since Portimao,” Ruffier said. “It might be a bit close to the end of the season, but it's still good to get something at this point. The race was really cool and I had a lot of fights with the Maserati cars. Bert did a really good job, the team as well, and we've finished third which is a good position. We're really happy. Zolder's going to be much more difficult…”
Opting for a different car configuration with wider tires, a heavier car and bigger restrictors, really paid off this weekend for AF Corse. Their number 50 Ferrari 430 GT2 of Toni Vilander and Gianmaria Bruni took a win in the GT2 competition. Dominant throughout the race, they crossed the line 38 seconds ahead of the second-placed car, and nearest Championship rivals Westbrook and Collard in the number 60 Prospeed Competition Porsche.
(c) DPPI/FIA GT
The reigning Champions now have a three-point lead going into Zolder. “In this race, we found what we've been looking for the whole season,” Toni Vilander commented. “Normally, halfway through the stint, we start losing power and going slower in the lap times. Our strategy was to try and solve the problem and I think today we did it. Michelotto, Ferrari and our team did great work and I know the guys have been working all week without sleep. We came here knowing that we had a chance and uncertain how it would go, and it was a bulls-eye. It was great.” www.afcorse.it/en/web/home.do
GT2 Constructors Championship has now been sown up by AF Corse Ferrari and Vitaphone racing with their amazing runs in the Maserati MC12 have taken the GT1 Championship with one event to spare. Second and fifth yesterday, the 12 points gives Vitaphone Racing Team team its fifth successive GT1 Teams Title. The team first won in 2005 and have been unbeatable since. In recent years the team has also claimed the Drivers titles in 2006, 2007 and 2008, while Maserati claimed the GT1 Manufacturers Cup twice, and the Citation Cup once. www.vitaphone-racing.de/en/racing/vitaphone-team.html
After seven rounds in the GT1 class, Vitaphone leads Pekaracing, with SRT third and Luc Alphand Aventures fourth.
Nathan can be contacted at pricklyhedgehog@yahoo.com and welcomes your comments and suggestions, or you may post below.
For more info: http://www.circuitpaulricard.com/index.html www.fiagt.com
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
