A great Maserati one-two brought the third round of the FIA GT Championship at Oschersleben in Germany to a close today (Sunday 2 July).  First and second places went to the Maserati MC12s driven by Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini and Jamie Davies/Thomas Biagi in the Vitaphone Racing Team cars. At the end of the three hour race, the Tridents outclassed the Aston Martin of Deletraz-Piccini, the Saleen driven by Bert-Janis and Gollin-Babini's Aston Martin. With this result, Bartels and Bertolini move to the top of the drivers' standings and Maserati stays in second place in the Manufacturers Cup. For Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini, Oschersleben is the second win of the season and comes on the heels of the Silverstone victory in round one.

Michael Bartels maintained his pole position aadvantage once the green light came on. He quickly extended his lead over the chasing group led by Bert-Janis' Saleen and the Aston Martin driven by Deletraz-Piccini. The second Maserati MC12, with Englishman Jamie Davies at the wheel, started from the seventh row (14th) after being hit with penalty handed down at Brno. However, he climbed seven places in one lap and then engaged in a duel with the Aston Martin driven by Pescatori-Ramos (overtaken on lap four) and Gollin-Babini (overtaken on lap six). On lap eight, Davies swept past the Aston Martin with Wendlinger-Peter on board to move into fifth behind Longin-Kumpen-Hezemans (Corvette).

The first Maserati MC12 to make a stop was that driven by Davies on lap 45. Replacing him was the Italian Thomas Biagi. Michael Bartels followed into the pits to hand over to Andrea Bertolini on lap 46. The places remained more or less unchanged with Bertolini leading and Biagi having moved into fourth and duelling for third with Janis-Bert. The second hour saw many of the back markers being lapped. Bertolini still led and Biagi was still fighting for a podium place. After the second pit stop, made by Biagi on lap 84 and Bertolini on 90, the two Maseratis were in first and second with Bartels and Davies back in the driving seat and heading for the finish line. The next FIA GT championship race will take place on 29-30 July with the fascinating 24 Hours of Spa Francorchamps (Belgium).
 

Michael Bartels: "It is difficult to find the words to express the sensations following this splendid win. I want to thank the team and above all Andrea because he drove incredibly during his spell and handed me a big lead over the others. It was enjoyable taking on the last part of the race in absolute calm even though driving in a very relaxed way means maybe running the risk of losing concentration and making errors. The whole team worked hard to earn the win, from free practice to qualifying. Everything was perfect and it was great, obviously, winning in front of my home crowd. Thanks to Pirelli and Maserati as, with this second one-two of the season, we were able to prove the the Trident cars are special."

Andrea Bertolini: "I am very happy as we managed to top off the hard work carried out. Michael was superb at the start and I was able to increase the lead over the pack. It was all perfect: car, tyres and team."

Jamie Davies: "I pushed like crazy in the first stint and overtook on the inside, outside and wherever there was a gap. At one point I found myself behind Karl Wendlinger. I was clearly faster than he was and I managed to attack him on the inside but he shut me out and a clash was inevitable. Apart from this, the race went well. In the closing stages I was wary of colliding with a GT2 car. The Pirelli tyres were splendid throughout. The team was perfect during the pit stops and the MC12 impeccable."

Thomas Biagi: "For us this is the second home race was we are a German team. Second was the best result possible since we began from fourteenth. The team worked extremely well and today Jamie (Davies) was the star. I would like to dedicate this win to Michael Bartels as he wanted me in his team for the second year running."