On Saturday July 28th, at 16:00, the FIA GT Championship competitors will set off for their longest race of the season the Total 24 Hours of Spa, with the Vitaphone Racing Team's pair of dramatic Maserati MC12 racers starting as the clear favourites for honours. A full twenty four hours of racing around one of the most beautiful and challenging circuits in the world offers the prize of not only the honour of winning one of the major endurance races – the leading event reserved for GT cars only – but up to 20 points towards the classification of the 2007 FIA GT Championship.

This will be the seventh time that this prestigious event has been part of the Championship, and a lot is at stake, as the winning team has almost always gone on to win the title. Last year’s event proved that a 24-hour race could be as close and as thrilling as a sprint, with the battle between the Phoenix Racing Aston Martin and the Vitaphone Maserati only being resolved during the last few minutes. The winning Vitaphone MC12's driver line-up comprised of Eric van de Poele, Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini. For the Vitaphone team it was a second consecutive win at Spa for one of its the blue-and-black MC12s, as the 2005 race was claimed by van de Poele and Bartels, on that occasion with Timo Scheider alongside.

Can 2007 repeat that level of excitement of last year is the question? Considering the close competition we have seen this season, it would look very likely. With around 45 cars due to take part, divided between four categories, as well as two teams competing in an innovative relay race for the Coupe du Roi, it promises to be a really epic event.
 

Vitaphone Racing Team is now aiming for a Spa hat-trick this weekend to build on those wins in 2005 and 2006. A high-powered line-up in the nr 1 MC12 sees regular drivers Thomas Biagi and Michael Bartels joined by Eric van de Poele and Pedro Lamy, while Christian Montanari and Miguel Ramos will share the nr 2 Maserati MC 12 with Stéphane Lemeret and 2003 FIA GT Champion Matteo Bobbi. Should Eric van de Poele manage to help the nr 1 Maserati MC 12 achieve its goal, he would go straight into the record books, as the driver with the most wins in the 24 Hours of Spa - his first victory was back in 1987, with a CiBiEmme BMW.

As for the nr 2 car, Bobbi is looking forward to joining the team, after finishing second in GT2 last year with AF Corse. "Vitaphone has done an unbelievable job in order to prepare the car for the race. All the details are really perfect, and the whole team is focussed. For me, this is a good possibility to win. I was second in GT2 last year, and I finished third in GT2 after leading for some time, so now it’s time to be on top. To be back in a GT1 car is something special for me, and I want to help Montanari and Ramos to score as many points as we can. I have to thank Michael Bartels for giving me a seat for this race, and I will do my best for his team."