Having started off from pole position, the two Vitaphone Racing Team champions were able to remain in front during the entire race, resisting the Enge/Turner duo's final attempt to regain top position on the Aston Martin, which arrived second. The Maserati MC12 has confirmed its high performance and great reliability on the Brno circuit.

Vitaphone Racing Team's second Maserati MC12, driven by Bernoldi/Ramos, started out from the first row and ended the race in seventh position, slowed down by initial traffic and by subsequent pit stops.

After an excellent start which took them from seventh to fifth place, Heger/Margaritis, driving Vitaphone Racing Team's Maserati MC12 no. 33, engaged in an imprecise manoeuver when entering the pit stop, which made it lose positions. They finished the race in thirteenth place. After starting off in eleventh place, Maserati MC12 no. 34 -also due to slight contact with Nissan GT-R no. 22 during the first part of the race- ended the race in tenth place thanks to Matteo Bobbi's final efforts to recover lost ground.

Temperature: 15°C air - 16°C track
Length of circuit: 5403 m

Qualifying Race results: 1. Bartels/Bertolini - Vitaphone Racing Team - Maserati MC12
2. Enge/Turner - Young Driver AMR - Aston Martin - 4.608
3. Krumm/Dumbreck - Sumo Power GT - Nissan GT-R - 11.312
7. Bernoldi/Ramos - Vitaphone Racing Team - Maserati MC12 - 26.442
10. Bobbi/Longin - Triple H Team Hegersport - Maserati MC12 - 39.274
13. Heger/Margaritis - Triple H Team Hegersport - Maserati MC12 - 47.177

Sunday 23 May - Vitaphone Racing Team’s Maserati MC12 no. 1, driven by Bartels/Bertolini, ended the Championship Race in Brno in fourth place, beating out by one position the Team’s second Maserati, driven by Bernoldi/Ramos.

The race was incredible, full of sensational developments, especially at the beginning. After the entrance of the safety car at the second lap, Maserati MC12 no. 1 was stopped by race authorities due a stop-and-go caused by a speed violation at the start of the race.

At the eighth lap, contact between Marc VDS Racing Team’s car no. 40 and Triple H Team Hegersport’s Maserati MC12 no. 33 driven by Heger/Margaritis resulted in a second appearance of the safety car in addition to forcing no. 33 to leave the track.

After pit stops, Bartels/Bertolini’s Maserati MC12 performed an excellent recovery that took it from fourteenth place to the final fifth place, eight tenths from the podium and only 1 second and 759 thousandths from first place, obtained instead by Matech Competition’s Grosjean/Mutsch, who have thus regained their leadership in the standings, just beyond the Trident duo. This last is a recovery slowed only by All-Inkl.com Munnich Motorsport’s Lamborghini, who kept the two Vitaphone Racing Team cars at its back for long spans of time.

Bernoldi/Ramos’s Maserati MC12 no. 2 ended the race in sixth place, 9.050 seconds from the winner.

The Triple H Team Hegersport’s Maserati MC12 no. 34, driven by Bobbi/Longin, did okay in this particular race, finishing at eleventh place, 25.669 seconds from the winner.

The next race is scheduled for 4 July at the Paul Ricard HTTT (France).

Temperature: 21°C air - 34°C track
Length of circuit: 5403 m

Championship race results:

1. Grosjean/Mutsch – Matech Competition – Ford GT Matech
2. Enge/Turner - Young Driver AMR - Aston Martin - + 0.710
3. Krumm/Dumbreck - Sumo Power GT - Nissan GT-R - + 0.959

5. Bartels/Bertolini - Vitaphone Racing Team - Maserati MC12 - + 1.759
6. Bernoldi/Ramos - Vitaphone Racing Team - + 9.050
10. Bobbi/Longin - Triple H Team Hegersport - Maserati MC12 - + 25.669
Heger/Margaritis - Triple H Team Hegersport - Maserati MC12 – ret.

Driver's Championship:
1. Grosjean/Mutsch – Matech Competition – 56 points
2. Bartels/Bertolini - Vitaphone Racing Team – 44 points
3. Hennerici – Phoenix Racing/Carsport – 30 points

Text courtesy of Maserati Press Center