The Vitaphone Racing Team MC12 driven by Thomas Biagi and Michael Bartels took sixth while Miguel Ramos and Christian Montanari in the sister car were seventh in the opening FIA GT championship race at Zhuhai today. The event was won by Christophe Bouchut/Stefan Mücke (Lamborghini Murciélago R-GT). An exciting race promised much more for the Modenese cars given their performances. Bartels and 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 and 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 Joe Macari and Ben 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 and 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.

Giorgio Ascanelli: "I cannot say that I am happy at how the race went. Errors by both teams 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, one that continued their pole form. The performance and consistency of the MC12s were similar even though their tyres were different. There are still nine races left and we can and must improve."

Andrea Bertolini: "We will take the positives from this race: the performance of the car and the Pirelli tyres. The clash at the start was a real shame and I had to recover from it. We were the fastest on the track and made up many places. I asked a lot of the tyres and was forced to up the tempo towards the end of my stint. We have high hopes for the future and will work in testing at Estoril to develop the tyres."