News April 30 2007

Maseratis not so hot at FIA GT

Maserati failed to turn a strong performance in practice into a good result in the first round of the FIA GT World Championship held at China’s Zhuhai racetrack at the weekend with pit lane miscalculations and a late introduction of the safety car halting any plans the world champions had for getting the 2007 season off to a flying start.

A fine drive in practice by Thomas Biagi saw the Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12 scoop pole position for the first race of the season, which despite being the 2003 GT World Champion, was the first time Biagi had ever scooped a pole position. But despite this opening performance, a fastest race lap by Biagi and a veritable fleet of Maserati MC12s in the event, the race was won by Bouchut/Mucke in a Lamborghini Murcielago.

Bartels/Biagi were seriously hampered by the entry of the safety car near the end of the race and the Playteam Sarafree MC12’s race ended prematurely when a miscalculation on refuelling interrupted Alessandro Pier Guidi and Andrea Bertolini when in full flow.The reigning champion clashed with another car at the start and slipped down to last place. He then staged a great comeback to fifth spot by the time he retired. His drive was aided by the consistency of his Pirelli tyres. Alessandro Pier Guidi was forced to pull over on lap 30 when on the shoulder of leader Biagi.

The safety car came onto the track on lap 46 to allow the repair of a raised kerb that had caused the retirement of one competitor. Its entry compromised the race of the Vitaphone Racing Team MC12s, in particular that of the Biagi/Bartels duo, until then comfortable leaders over the Corvette. The German team delayed making a pit stop in order to allow Bartels the 35 minute stint, as the regulations demand, but they were a few seconds out in their calculations. When the safety car left the scene 15 minutes from the end, the car that had started on pole was at the back of the field. Biagi, Bartels’ replacement, did all he could to close the gap and set the fastest lap time of 1’32”581 on lap 67, a sign of how competitive the MC12’s proved.

Bartels/Biagi also drove more than half the race without a roof as it came loose on lap 16. However, their performance was not affected.Ramos/Montanari did well and were in third when the safety car appeared. Montanari too was penalised towards the end when the safety car came on meaning that he missed out on a possible podium place.The JMB Racing Team MC12 with gentlemen drivers Macari/Aucott on board improved on their qualifying performance in the race.

At the end of the race the commissioners revealed that Bartels had been excluded from the classification for not respecting article B 50 that requires a minimum drive of 35 minutes. This decision did not affect Biagi, who came sixth, nor the Vitaphone Racing Team, who collected 5 team points at Zhuhai.

The officials also stated that 30 seconds will be added to Bertolini/Piccini’s final time at the next event at Silverstone. This penalty was for not respecting a yellow flag. The retirement of the Playteam MC12 meant that the commissioners could not impose a drive through during the race.

“I cannot say that I am happy at how the race went,” said Maserati’s Giorgio Ascanelli at the end of the race. “Errors by both Maserati Corse and the team Playteam and Vitaphone affected the results even though the entry of the safety car took the chance of victory away from Biagi and Bartels. The car again performed very well as Biagi and Bertolini’s fastest lap time showed, confirming yesterday’s pole. The performance and consistency of the MC12s were similar even though their tyres were different. There are still nine race to come, we can and we have to improve.”

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Race results

1 7 GT1 Bouchut/Mucke Lamborghini Murcielago 2:00:47.212

2 19 GT1 Peter/Hines Corvette C6R 2.453

3 4 GT1 Kumpen/Longin Corvette C5R 4.110

4 23 GT1 Babini/Davies Aston Martin DBR9 10.230

5 5 GT1 Hezemans/Deletraz Corvette C6R 11.833

6 1 GT1 Biagi/Bartels* Maserati MC12 GT1 13.982

7 2 GT1 Montanari/Ramos Maserati MC12 GT1 15.526

17 16 GT1 Macari/Aucott Maserati MC12 GT1 3 LAPS

2007 FIA GT1 Teams Championship Round 1

Pos Name Points

1 All-Inkl.com Racing 10

2 PSI Experience 8

3 GLPK Carsport 6

4 Aston Martin Racing BMS 5

Vitaphone Racing Team 5

5 Carsport Holland 4

6 Barwell Motorsport 1

2007 FIA GT1 Drivers Championship Round 1

Pos Name

1 Christophe Bouchut 10

Stefan Mücke 10

2 Luke Hines 8

Philipp Peter 8

3 Anthony Kumpen 6

Bert Longin 6

4 Fabio Babini 5

Jamie Davies 5

5 Jean-Denis Deletraz 4

Mike Hezemans 4

6 Thomas Biagi 3

7 Miguel Ramos 2

Christian Montanari 2

8 Jonny Kane 1

Jonathan Cocker 1

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