Piergiuseppe Perazzini and Gabriele Matteuzzi, driving the Racing Box Maserati MC12 won the second Italian GT series race, after finishing second in the first one, at Misano yesterday. The double header event comprised round two of the 2005 Italian GT Championship.

Meanwhile Andrea Palma in the Trofeo Light scored a first place in his category in race 1 while in race 2 Aguas, Zampaloni, Corradi and Baso took the top four places in their category with their Trofeo Lights.

Race 1

The Maserati MC12 pairing of Matteuzzi/Perazzini collected second spot in the first round of the Italian GT championship held at Misano Adriatico. Victory went to the Ferrari 550 Maranello fielded by the BMS scuderia and driven by Malucelli and Ramos, but the MC12's debut in the national championship was a promising one.

Starting from the front row, the Megadrive-Racing Box car maintained a high tempo throughout and held second for the whole of the race. Malucelli got off to a flying start and was tracked by Matteuzzi, Belicchi in the Lister and Livio's Ferrari 550 GTC. Perazzini replaced Matteuzzi halfway through the race. He immediately set off after the leading Ferrari into which had climed the Portuguese driver, Ramos.

The heat was reminiscent of a summer's day and was the cause of a number of the drivers going into spins. Around twenty minutes before the chequered flag was flown, Ramos headed the classification by 5-7 seconds over the Maserati MC12. The last few back markers did not cause Ramos many problems as he weaved his way between them without losing too much of his lead.

When the hour of racing was up, Ramos was first across the finish line with Perazzini 5”801 off the pace. Third came Cappellari/Lancelotti in the other BMS-Scuderia Italia Ferrari 550. In the CSAI-GT victory went to the AF Corse Maserati Light driven by Zampaloni and Palma after the twin car, with Aguas/Frigerio behind the wheel, was forced out of the race with a radiator leak. Corradi/Cipolli's Light finished in second place and completing the Trident success was the third place earned by Ceccato and Baso.

Gabriele Matteuzzi: "I'm pleased. It went almost exactly to plan. We missed out on the final attack by a whisker. Seeing as we were making our debut we decided to start quite steadily to see how the car behaved. Unfortunately I was hampered by slower drivers who didn't see me coming as they were disputing places among themselves. I usually enjoy weaving my way out of traffic but in this car it was trickier than I expected. On a couple of occasions I even had to brake to avoid cars. The heat made the track surface very slippery. "

Piergiuseppe Perazzini: "The car handled very well. I tried to take Ramos and I almost managed it despite the dirty and slippery track. The gap was down to a second but then I had a problem with one of the wheels. I thought I had punctured and I slowed down to avoid making it worse. It was then that the Ferrari pulled away."

Danilo Zampaloni: "I started from fourth position and made my way up the pack in the opening stages. When I passed the car over to Palma, my team mate, we were in second place. The other Light from our team was leading at that point but then it had to drop out with a technical problem. With Aguas and Frigerio having abandoned, we inherited top spot and maintained it without much difficulty until the chequered flag. "

Andrea Palma: "Quite a steady race, at least it was after Frigerio's problem - a stone had caused a leak in his radiator early on in the race. Zampaloni left me a car that was in perfect condition and I focused on closing out the race without pushing too hard. "

Giorgio Cipolli: "It went quite well if you look at the second place we obtained. Personally though, I am not very happy because we are still behind with the car's preparation. We lost between a second to a second and a half each lap; that really is too much."

Bruno Corradi: "We were hindered by excessive tyre wear. Our car's suspension does not yet have adjustable dampeners and perhaps this is why we cannot get the best out of our tyres."

Rui Aguas: "We had a good lead and, during the driver change, did not notice that the radiator had been punctured by a stone thrown up by, I think, a Viper. It was a shame."
 

Race 2

The Maserati MC12 secured its first win in the Italian GT championship in a race that was full of excitement. Lancelotti (Ferrari 550 Maranello) sped into a lead at the start. Behind the GT1s it was complete chaos as Pescatori was clipped by a Porsche and went into a spin. He crossed the width of the track but, amazingly, avoided hurtling into any other drivers.

Lancelotti's lead was taken away almost immediately by Perazzini. He was trailed by Ramos, Zani and Santaniello. Perazzini's lead grew turn after turn. Meanwhile, Palma's Light was in command in the CSAI-GT class. Cipolli was in second position and third placed Frigerio was hit with a drive-through penalty. A quarter of the race over, Perazzini led by 4-5 seconds from Ramos.

The race order was unchanged after half an hour. Perazzini was one of the first to pit and he handed the car over to Matteuzzi. It was Cappellari (Lancelotti's team mate) who was able to best exploit the mid-race upheaval to move into the lead. He was tracked by Matteuzzi and Malucelli, who had replaced Ramos in the hotseat. Around twenty minutes from the end the MC12 lost precious time and was overtaken by Malucelli.

Cappellari and Malucelli, first and second, were engaged in an almighty scrap that only ended when Malucelli nudged Cappellari when trying to overtake him on the inside at Tramonto. Matteuzzi profited immediately and swept past the pair ahead of him. The two Ferraris, though slightly damaged, pressed on, but the MC12 began to pull away. Malucelli was hit with a drive-through penalty for his clash with Cappellari.

Mattuezzi held a 3”2 lead over Cappellari, Malucelli, Mastracci and Case’. The gap between Matteuzzi and Cappellari grew in the final stages before the MC12 crossed the finish line in triumph. Maserati claimed the fastest lap time of 1’30”487 with an average speed of 161.526 km/h. Maserati was also successful in the CSAI-GT with Aguas/Frigerio claiming the win from Zampaloni/Palma and Corradi/Cipolli.

Piergiuseppe Perazzini: "When Lancelotti spun early on in the race I tried to manage the lead without pushing too much. I realised that I could put three or four tenths each lap between me and the Ferrari 550. The gap grew with the lapping of the back markers. We lost a little time at the driver change because of a technical problem. Our comeback was aided by the duel between Cappellari and Malucelli. Once we were back in the lead our advantage steadily grew. I think that Mattuezzi and I drove well today."

Gabriele Matteuzzi: "My stint began very badly as the starter motor did not kick in and we lost around ten seconds. Things worked out in the end and my advantage increased. I think that we would have won even if Cappellari and Malucelli had not clashed."

Luca Frigerio: "It was a chaotic start: one car on my right hit the wall and it then appeared on my left. I had to really slow down to avoid hitting it and fell back to last or close to last place. My race was all about coming back from there. One Porsche was holding me up for a few laps until I managed to get past it, but not without a slight clash. I was hit with a drive-through because of this and this meant that I had to drive at a tempo that was perhaps not suitable for that stage of the race. I then passed the car over to my team mate, Aguas, and he completed the comeback."

Rui Aguas: "We were able to be as quick as we were in qualifying despite the drive-through. The team worked magnificently and I would like to thank them for patching up the car in time for the second race. This time around we had more grip as there was more rubber down on the track."

Giorgio Cipolli: "A third place, in theory, should be valued. What worries me is that our Light is slower than the best of the rest. In all probability, we did not prepare well enough during winter. I am a little disappointed."

Matteuzzi and Perazzini now lead the Italian GT Championship's general GT1 classification with 35 points. In the Trofeo CSAI-GT Zampaloni/Palma (35 points) head Corradi/Cipolli (27 points).