Triumph For Team Vitaphone’s Maserati MC12 At Silverstone
Monday, May 8th, 2006Maserati GB���s driver Moz Fabris on the podium in the Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati
The 2006 FIA GT Championship could not have started better for Maserati. On the English circuit of Silverstone, the MC12 driven by Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini won the first race of the season and took the prestigious ‘RAC Tourist Trophy’. The Modenese car beat off the challenge of Bert-Janis’s Saleen S7R and the Aston Martin DBR9 driven by Gollin-Babini. The other Maserati fielded by the Vitaphone Racing Team, also did well as Jamie Davies and Thomas Biagi steered it to fifth. At the end of three hours and 95 laps, Bartels-Bertolini’s overall time was 3h00′40″717 at an average speed of 162 km/h; 4″735 faster than their competitors.
By the end of the second hour the driver changes had been made (between laps 51 and 53). With Michael Bartels and Thomas Biagi in the driving seats the two MC12s were second and fourth. The mandatory pit stops over, Bartels took the lead and steadily increased his advantage over his pursuer Janis (Saleen) to 60 seconds. The strategy at the beginning of the race proved to be extremely successful, eighteen minutes from the chequered flag, Bartels came in for his final fuel stop after an earlier tyre change. The lead he had built allowed him to come back onto the track in first place and cruise to the finish line.
Claudio Berro, Director of Maserati Corse, was extremely pleased: “It was a great win for team Vitaphone, obtained in a fantastic car, impeccable drivers and with a perfect strategy. The Pirelli intermediate tyres allowed us to take the lead on our adversaries in the early stages. The second MC12 also did well, even if it just missed out on the podium. Team Vitaphone has proved once more to be one of the contenders in this championship and we at Maserati are happy that they can use our cars.”
Andrea Bertolini, the team Vitaphone and official Maserati Corse driver, thanked his team and his co-driver, Bartels: “We couldn’t have done any better; in tough conditions the strategy is fundamental. The Pirelli intermediate tyres performed well. I did my best early on and Bartels was great in closing the race. Winning the first race of the season is satisfying, especially against such difficult opponents.”