Maserati drivers' Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels have won the FIA GT Championship title for the third time; a third place finish on Sunday in the last round of this year's series, held at Zolder, Belgium, gave them their second straight championship and their third overall after topping the standings in 2006 and 2008. The pairing have become the first ever crew to win three crowns, and Andrea Bertolini also becomes the driver with the most points in the FIA GT Championship (438.5).

The reigning champions ran a very tactical race, the Vitaphone Racing drivers carefully marking their adversaries Anthony Kumpen and Mike Hezemans (Corvette C6R), who were set back five positions on the grid for having reached pole position while the yellow flags were on display.

In qualifying on Saturday, driving Vitaphone Racing's Maserati MC12 #2, it was Alex Müller who was the best placed of the trio of turquoise-and-black Trident GT1 cars and he would start off from the second spot on the grid for the last round of the FIA GT Championship at Zolder. Müller stopped the clock at 1:27.464, which left him behind pole winner Kumpen by just 65 thousandths of a second. This performance confirmed the German driver's, and the MC12's speed potential at this track, potential that has already been made evident in other qualifying and practice sessions this season.

This qualifying session saw very small time gaps between each of the drivers: the first six on the timesheets arrived on the grid within seven tenths of each other. Wearing the Vitaphone Racing DHL team colours along with Matteo Bobbi, Alessandro Pier Guidi qualified his MC12 #33 in third place, just 190 thousandths of a second from pole position. Classification leaders in the drivers' championship, Bertolini and Bartels would start their quest to wrap up a third title off from third row of the grid after claiming the sixth best time, a lap in 1:28.183. The Italian pilot, who drove the #1 car during the qualifying session, was penalised by the display of the yellow flags in the second sector, which thwarted his attempts with the use of new tires.

While Bertolini and Bartels played a tactical game come race day yesterday, nevertheless the race had two splendid Maserati protagonists: Pier Guidi and Bobbi. After roaring off from pole position in the #33 MC12 and fending off Bernoldi's attack at the first turn, Pier Guidi set a pace that was untenable for everyone else, gaining more than one second per lap. When Bobbi took over from Pier Guidi, he continued to increase their advantage over their adversaries before handing back the MC12 to Pier Guidi. At that point, Pier Guidi maintained the advantage up until the finish line.

The race was however unfortunate for the other Vitaphone Racing MC12, that of Müller and Ramos. They had to make a stop near the end when their car went off the track while the Maserati #2 was in a strong fourth position. The excellent work of the team of mechanics enabled the MC12 to resume the race, but the laps lost while the car was being repaired proved too many, and they were unable to regain their position.

The Belgian round closes out the 2009 FIA GT Championship season, with drivers at the wheel of the Modena cars once again at the top of the final standing. The Teams' title was won by Vitaphone Racing, wrapped up at the Paul Ricard round held at the beginning of this month, while the Drivers' title was awarded yesterday to Bertolini and Bartels by a margin of just 2 points, the Trident drivers' collecting 55 points over a tough season compared to 53 points for Hezemans and Kumpens. Both pairs of drivers won two races each during the nine race calendar this year, but while the Maserati duo collected points from every round, the Corvette drivers' took a zero score home from the last round at Paul Ricard and this proved a very costly slip-up.

The latest FIA GT Championship crowwns to be won by Maserati means that from 2005 to today the tally increases to an unrivalled twelve title: two FIA GT Manufacturers' Cups in 2005 and 2007; four FIA GT Drivers' Championships in 2006 (Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini), in 2007 (Thomas Biagi), in 2008 and 2009 (Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini); five consecutive FIA GT Teams' Championships in 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 (Vitaphone Racing Team); one Citation Cup for gentlemen drivers' in 2007 (Ben Aucott) and three victories at the prestigious Spa 24 Hours (2005, 2006, and 2008).