The three Maserati MC12s of the Vitaphone team ended yesterday's inaugural FIA GT race in Portugal in the top-six but with Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels only managing fifth place their drivers title chances suffered a setback.

The three turquoise-and-black Maserati MC12s of the Vitaphone Team all ended yesterday's inaugural FIA GT race in Portugal in the top-six but with Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels only managing fifth place their drivers title chances suffered a setback and the lost their outright lead in the points as the second place finishing Corvette crew of Anthony Kumpen and Mike Hezemans took four points out of their lead and have now closed up onto equal points with two races still to go. The Trident's drivers were however hindered in their chase of valuable points over the weekend by a hefty load of 'success' ballast and this compromised their race.

Instead it was left to Alex Müller and Miguel Ramos to uphold Maserati honour and the pair ended the sixth round of the FIA GT Championship at Algarve on the podium. The #2 Maserati MC12 came home in third place after a thrilling race around the roller-coaster Autodromo Internacional Algarve circuit in front of 38,700 delighted spectators, finishing behind two of the American machines: the #3 SRT Corvette Z06 of Bert Longin and James Ruffier who took their first win of the season after they crossed the line 33 seconds ahead of the #4 Pekaracing Corvette Z06 of Hezemans and Kumpen, while the third Vitaphone Racing Maserati MC12 participating in this race, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi and Matteo Bobbi, collected sixth place. Making it a top-six lock out for Maserati and Corvetta was the Sangari Team Brazil-entered Corvette Z06.

The race was exciting and hard-fought, even if its final result was affected by the appearance of the safety car, occurring during the 36th lap, due to oil spilled on the track by a GT2 car. This episode totally disrupted various team strategies, including Vitaphone Racing Team's. Müller and Ramos had ran a prudent race during the initial laps, which then became aggressive toward the end when, at the conclusion of an intense duel with Enrique Bernoldi, Müller was able to surprise him two laps before the end of the race, earning a well-deserved third place at the podium.

Andrea Bertolini's and Michael Bartels's race was a much steeper climb. Despite lugging 125 kg of ballast, the reigning champions' MC12 was in second place when, right after finishing the 25th lap, the left rear tyre lost tread due to a puncture. Thanks to the safety car's arrival nine laps later, the pair re-entered the fray aiming for the podium, but Bartels was rammed by Ruffier on lap 47, an episode that was investigated afterwards by race officials. At the end of the race, after a fruitless assault on Bernoldi and Streit's fourth position, the two settled for fifth place.

Pier Guidi and Bobbi's afternoon was good, leading the race for a few laps midway through the race. The two were forced to slow their rhythm down because while attacking Bernoldi after Bobbi felt a sudden deterioration of the front left tyre. The final sixth place didn't really reflect the Italian duo's performance.

After six rounds of the series Maserati's Bartels and Bertolini and Corvette's Hezemans and Kumpen are tied on 45 points – both crews having scored two wins, a second place, a fourth place and a fifth place. The rest of the season looks like being close just as close. The third placed drivers, Login and Ruffier, thanks to their win yesterday are still mathematically in with a shout of the title with two rounds to go as they have 29 points, but in reality they have no chance of securing the crown. However in the Teams' championship race the title for Vitaphone Racing is now merely a formality and it should be all wrapped up at the next race. The next and penultimate FIA GT round will be held at the Paul Ricard circuit in France on 4 October 2009.