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Maserati has maintained its leads in the FIA
GT Championship following two races at the
weekend on the new Bucharest road circuit in
Romania, with Vitaphone Maserati team still
leading the teams' and drivers' points
tables. |
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Maserati has
maintained its leads in the FIA GT Championship
following two races at the weekend (23-24 August 2008)
at the new Bucharest road circuit in Romania, with
Vitaphone Maserati team still leading the team title
chase and its drivers, Andrea Bertolini and Michael
Bartels, still in front in the drivers’ title battle
despite the Maserati crews forced to haul 60 kg of
ballast follow previous round wins.
With 44,000
visitors over the weekend, 25,000 filled the grandstands on
Sunday to see Marcel Fässler and Jean-Denis Deletraz triumph
in their Phoenix Carsport Corvette C6R. The Swiss duo have
dominated the whole weekend, with Fässler taking pole
position, and leading their car to victory in Saturday’s
qualifying race. This gave them the pole advantage for the
Championship race, which they used to full effect. Chased
throughout by Hezemans and Gollin in their sister Phoenix
Carsport Corvette, their victory was only assured when the
nr 6 touched the wall and ended its progress. This left
second and third places to the Vitaphone Racing Team
Maserati MC 12 cars, which had seemed particularly at ease
on the short, tight circuit despite their success ballast
from Spa.
After a
difficult race, which Miguel Ramos described as the most
difficult of his career, the nr 2 Vitaphone Maserati
finished second, despite 60 kg penalty weight and the fact
that the car was suffering from a gearbox problem and
overheating oil. “It was the toughest race of my life
because when my turn to drive came the car was having
problems with the clutch between the second and third gears,
and by then the brakes were overheated too,” explains Ramos.
“I practically ran my stint entirely on fourth, taking
incredible risks, but all went well.”
Bartels and
Bertolini crossed the line 13 seconds behind the winners in
third, meaning that their Maserati MC 12 will have even more
weight for Brno. However, Michael Bartels spoke for everyone
when he thanked the city and the event organisers for their
hard work: “I would like to use this opportunity, on the
behalf of the drivers, to thank the Bucharest Ring people
here and the people at SRO,” he said. “To organise a race
like this; to manage to close a city with three million
inhabitants for a race, it means a lot. I think the race
went without big problems. From the driver’s side, we were
happy to find the conditions here. There are still some
improvements to be made, but I hope we can keep this race on
the calendar. Thank you to everyone at the Bucharest Ring.”
Anthony Kumpen
and Bert Longin put in a fine performance to finish just off
the podium, in fourth position, in their PK Carsport Saleen
S7R. Challenging the nr 1 Maserati for much of the hour
race, the car claimed its best finish of the season in the
Romanian heat. Fifth went to the nr 10 Gigawave Motorsport
Aston Martin DBR9, ahead of the nr 3 SRT Corvette of Bouchut
and Maassen, and the nr 8 IPB Spartak Lamborghini
Murciélago. These three cars raced nose to tail through the
city streets for much of the race, despite the heat and the
traffic. The top six finished within 38 seconds after 46
laps of racing, showing how close the race was. The nr 6
Phoenix Carsport Corvette was classified eighth, after
stopping ten laps back further to contact with the wall when
it was challenging for the lead.
FIA GT
Championship, Round six, Bucharest
Race One:
1. Deletraz/Fassler
Phoenix Racing Corvette C6.R 1hr 00min 47.952secs GT1
2. Hezemans/Gollin Phoenix Racing Corvette C6.R +0.613secs
GT1
3. Bartels/Bertolini Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12
+23.170secs GT1
4. Ramos/Negrao Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12 +30.369secs
GT1
5. Bouchut/Maassen SRT Corvette C6.R +36.924secs GT1
6. Kumpen/Longin Peka Racing Saleen S7R +40.810secs GT1
7. Simonsen/Peter Gigawave Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9
+43.593secs GT1
8. Kox/Rusinov IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini Murciélago
R-GT +1 lap GT1
9. Kirkaldy/Bell CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 +1 lap GT2
10. Vilander/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari 430 +1 lap GT2
11. Collard/Westbrook Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 RSR
+1 lap GT2
12. Malucelli/Ruberti BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 +2
laps GT2
13. Biagi/Montanari AF Corse Ferrari 430 +2 laps GT2
14. Mullen/Niarchos CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 +2 laps GT2
15. Babini/Davies Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 +2 laps GT2
16. Camathias/Rigon BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 +2 laps
GT2
17. Lieb/Felbermayr Jr Felbermayr Proton Porsche 997 RSR +2
laps GT2
18. Lietz/Felbermayr Felbermayr Proton Porsche 997 RSR +3
laps GT2
19. Leinders/Kuppens Belgian Racing Gillet Vertigo +4 laps
G2
Not classified:
20. Russo/Companc
Advanced Engineering Pecom Racing Team Ferrari 430 28 laps
completed GT2
21. Moser/Del Monte Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 23 laps
completed GT2
22. Wendlinger/Sharp Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin DBR9
Withdrawn GT1
23. Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin
DBR9 Withdrawn GT1
24. Forsten/Palttala Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 RSR
Withdrawn GT2
Race Two:
1. Deletraz/Fassler
Phoenix Racing Corvette C6.R 1hr 00min 56.962secs GT1
2. Ramos/Negrao Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12 +9.964secs
GT1
3. Bartels/Bertolini Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12
+13.856secs GT1
4. Kumpen/Longin Peka Racing Saleen S7R +24.321secs GT1
5. Simonsen/Peter Gigawave Motorsport Aston Martin DBR9
+33.792secs GT1
6. Bouchut/Maassen SRT Corvette C6.R +38.654secs GT1
7. Kox/Rusinov IPB Spartak Racing Lamborghini Murcielago
+1min 15.014secs GT1
8. Kirkaldy/Bell CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 +1 lap GT2
9. Vilander/Bruni AF Corse Ferrari 430 +1 lap GT2
10. Collard/Westbrook Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 RSR
+1 lap GT2
11. Babini/Davies Scuderia Ecosse Ferrari 430 +1 lap GT2
12. Malucelli/Ruberti BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 +1 lap
GT2
13. Russo/Companc Advanced Engineering Racing Team Ferrari
430 +1 lap GT2
14. Moser/Del Monte Kessel Racing Ferrari 430 +3 laps GT2
15. Leinders/Kuppens Belgian Racing Gillet Vertigo +4 laps
G2
Not classified:
16. Hezemans/Gollin
Phoenix Racing Corvette C6.R 36 laps completed GT1
17. Lieb/Felbermayr Jr Felbermayr Proton Porsche 997 RSR 27
laps completed GT2
18. Camathias/Rigon BMS Scuderia Italia Ferrari 430 21 laps
completed GT2
19. Mullen/Niarchos CR Scuderia Ferrari 430 17 laps
completed GT2
20. Biagi/Montanari AF Corse Ferrari 430 16 laps completed
GT2
21. Lietz/Felbermayr Felbermayr Proton Porsche 997 RSR 15
laps completed GT2
22. Wendlinger/Sharp Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin DBR9
Withdrawn GT1
23. Muller/Lichtner-Hoyer Jetalliance Racing Aston Martin
DBR9 Withdrawn GT1
24. Forsten/Palttala Prospeed Competition Porsche 997 RSR
Withdrawn GT2
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