Maserati and its pilots have maintained their leads in the FIA GT Championship's drivers' and manufacturers' categories after a fighting double podium finish at the German round of the series held at the Oschersleben circuit yesterday.

Maserati and its pilots have maintained their leads in the FIA GT Championship's drivers' and manufacturers' categories after a fighting double podium finish by the two turquoise-and-black cars of Team Vitaphone at the German round of the series held at the Oschersleben circuit yesterday.

In an action packed race in the rain, the battle for the lead started with a collision at the start when Wendlinger's Saleen hit Mueller's Maserati MC12 no. 2, which had set off from pole position, and his car in turn collided with Maassen's Corvette. The worst off in the impact was the Dutchman who was forced to return to the pits, and Mueller who found himself in last place, while Bertolini lost two positions. At that point Mueller managed an incredible recovery, performing an amazing driving stint that enabled him to climb to second place by the first pit stop.

It started raining right as the drivers were switching over in the pits, which forced everyone to change to rain tires. The rain intensified, causing numerous cars to run off track. At the end the first car to make it to the finish line was Kumpen/Hezemans's Corvette, which took advantage of a lengthy central stint, stopping only once to refuel.

"I think I started off well, but then I found myself sandwiched between two vehicles," commented Alex Muller after the race. "Nevertheless, I was driving a perfect car, which enabled me to recover well after helping me to get pole position yesterday. The race was difficult and we are happy to have finished it on the podium and to have improved our score."

The result sees Bartels and Bertolini retain their FIA GT Championship lead in the drivers' category with three rounds now completed. However Kumpen and Hezemans (Corvette) have narrowed the gap to 3 points as the Maserati drivers have 26 points while their rivals in the Z06 have 23. Maassen is third with fifteen points while tying four fourth place are the other Maserati drivers Ramos/Mueller who share the spot with Lingin/Ruffier, both crews have 12 points each. The next race is on 25 July in Spa, Belgium, which will host the Total 24 Hours. The event will see the debut of the Maserati GranTurismo MC - which was exhibited at Oschersleben – and its debut in the GT4 championship.