Just three weeks prior to the season kick-off, the Vitaphone Racing Team has selected its driver line-up for the 2005 FIA GT Championship.

In addition to Michael Bartels (Monaco) and Fabio Babini (Italy), the team has now also signed Timo Scheider (Austria) and Thomas Biagi (Italy). And in the Spa-Francorchamps 24-hour race, the Vitaphone Racing Team will be supported by Belgium's Eric van de Poele - just as it was the case in 2004.

During the course of the past five years, Timo Scheider made a name for himself by contesting DTM as Opel works driver. In 2004, he succeeded in regularly scoring points, and at the end of the season, he finished eighth, thus being the best Opel driver. One year earlier, the 26-year old won the International Nürburgring 24-hour race behind the wheel of an Opel Astra Coupe V8.
 

Thomas Biagi was born 7th May, 1976, in Bologna and has been a racing driver since 1987. When it comes to single-seater racing, the 1991 Italian Kart Champion completed the classic racing driver career and finished runner-up in the 2001 Euro 3000 Series.

In his first FIA GT Championship season, back in 2003, Biagi and his Ferrari 550 Maranello team-mate, Matteo Bobbi, secured the Drivers' Championship right away in superior style by winning six out of the ten championship rounds.

"I'm really delighted that we have succeeded in completing our driver line-up by signing Timo and Thomas", said Rafael Calafell, the Team Director of the Vitaphone Racing Team. "Now we have to focus on adapting to the Maserati MC12 and on adapting the cars to the requirements of our drivers. I'm confident that we will be competitive when the season kicks off."

In addition to the new signings in the driver area, the Vitaphone Racing Team has also succeeded in securing two new partners who are going to support the squad in the 2005 season: Germany's biggest brand-independent car leasing company, ALD Automotive, and TV Spielfilm, the juvenescent TV magazine published by the publishing company 'Milchstraße'.