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PORTUGUESE WIN FURTHER EXTENDS MASERATI’S

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP LEAD

The Maserati Vitaphone team has won the seventh round of the FIA GT World Championship at the weekend (19 September 2010), with Bartels and Bertolini braining their Maserati MC12 across the line to claim top spot on the podium in Portugal on the Algarve coast.

"This is the weekend we were hoping for,” said Andrea Bertolini. “We got a great overall performance from the entire team: Maserati, engineers and team. I started out well and I was able to keep our second position close to Peter Dumbreck and could do no more than that. Then at the pit stop the team performed a masterpiece and Michael was able to remain at the lead until the end. It is an important victory for the classification; the championship is still up for grabs because our adversaries are competitive, but today we met the goal we set. We are overjoyed and confident about the end of the season".

The victory further extends Maserati Vitaphone’s lead in the team Championship and Bartels and Bertolini’s bid for the driver’s title, the driver’s enjoy a 27 point lead and the team ahead by 43 points.

After the second place won yesterday in the Qualifying Race, Bartels and Bertolini won the Championship Race thanks to a perfect racing strategy and the outstanding work of the entire team.

Bertolini started off from first row in the grid and was able to maintain his second position in close contact with Dumbreck/Krumm's Nissan GT-R no. 23, building the foundation for a fast Vitaphone Racing Team pit stop. The masterful work performed at the pit enabled Maserati MC 12 no. 1 to reach top position. Bartels, with a new set of tires, was able to cruise along, keeping in check the recovery attempts of Mutsch/Westbrook's Ford GT Matech no. 5 until the end.

While Maserati number one had a very successful race, the same cannot be said for the number two car, with its race ending at the first corner. Bernoldi was unable to avoid crashing into Pastorelli/Schwager's Lamborghini Murcielago no. 38, which had fishtailed after going onto the artificial grass.
Triple H Team Hegersport's Maserati MC12 no. 33, driven by Heger/Mueller went off the track on the second lap and ended the race in ninth place. The performance of Triple H Team Hegersport's second Maserati MC12, driven by Pier Guidi/Mayr-Melnhof, was heavily affected by a flat to the left back tire in the race's initial stages. Confirming Maserati's competitiveness, Pier Guidi's fast laps after the pit stop got him the best overall time of the day with 1:43.275.
Next race, 24 October, in Navarra, Spain.
RACE RESULTS

Algarve
Length of the circuit: 4652 m
Temperature
27°C air - 38°C track
Championship Race results:
1. Bartels/Bertolini - Vitaphone Racing Team - Maserati MC12
2. Mutsch/Westbrook - Matech Competition - ford GT Matech +1.402
3. Hennerici/Margaritis - Phoenix Racing - Corvette Z06 +15.482
9. Mueller/Heger - Triple H Team Hegersport - Maserati MC12 + 41.948
19. Pier Guidi/Mayr-Melnhof - Triple H Team Hegersport - Maserati MC12 +2 laps
Bernoldi/Ramos - Vitaphone Racing Team - Maserati MC12 - ret.

2010 FIA GT1 World Teams Championship

Team Points Standings
Pos / Team / Nat / Total
1 / Maserati Vitaphone Racing Team / DEU / 152
2 / Reiter / DEU / 109
3 / Sumo Power GT / GBR / 99
4 / Young Driver AMR / DEU / 98
5 / Matech Competition / CHE / 95
6 / Hexis AMR / FRA / 92
7 / Triple H Team Hegersport / DEU / 73
8 / Marc VDS Racing Team / BEL / 30
9 / Mad-Croc Racing / BEL / 17
10 / All-Inkl.com Münnich Motorsport / DEU / 8
11 / Swiss Racing Team / CHE / 5

2010 FIA GT1 World Drivers Championship

Driver Points Standings
Pos / Driver / Nat / Total
1 / Michael Bartels / DEU / 122
1 / Andrea Bertolini / ITA / 122
2 / Thomas Mutsch / DEU / 95
3 / Marc Hennerici / DEU / 80
4 / Darren Turner / GBR / 66
4 / Tomas Enge / CZE / 66
5 / Alexander Margaritis / GRC / 65
6 / Romain Grosjean / CHE / 62
7 / Peter Dumbreck / GBR / 57
7 / Michael Krumm / DEU / 57
8 / Frédéric Makowiecki / FRA / 54
9 / Frank Kechele / DEU / 50
10 / Altfrid Heger / DEU / 45
11 / Ricardo Zonta / BRA / 42
12 / Thomas Accary / FRA / 38
13 / Peter Kox / NLD / 38
13 / Christopher Haase / DEU / 38
14 / Jamie Campbell-Walter / GBR / 37
14 / Warren Hughes / GBR / 37
15 / Richard Westbrook / GBR / 33
16 / Clivio Piccione / MCO / 31
16 / Jonathan Hirschi / CHE / 31
17 / Enrique Bernoldi / BRA / 28
17 / Miguel Ramos / PRT / 28
18 / Andreas Zuber / AUT / 26
19 / Maxime Martin / BEL / 26
19 / Bas Leinders / BEL / 26
20 / Andrea Piccini / ITA / 25
21 / Christoffer Nygaard / DNK / 24
21 / Stefan Mücke / DEU / 24
22 / Bert Longin / BEL / 24
23 / Jos Menten / NLD / 23
24 / Mike Hezemans / NLD / 23
25 / Alex Mayuyller / DEU / 21
26 / Matteo Bobbi / ITA / 18
27 / Xavier Maassen / NLD / 17
28 / Yann Clairay / FRA / 14
29 / Rafael Daniel / BRA / 11
30 / Dominik Schwager / DEU / 8
30 / Nicky Pastorelli / ITA / 8
31 / Stefan Rosina / ANT / 4
31 / Nico Verdonck / BEL / 4
32 / Henri Moser / CHE / 2
32 / Max Nilsson / SWE / 2
32 / Alessandro Pier Guidi / ITA / 2
32 / Karl Wendlinger / AUT / 2
32 / Seiji Ara / JPN / 2
32 / Stéphane Sarrazin / FRA / 2
33 / Renaud Kuppens / BEL / 1
33 / Markus Palttala / FIN / 1

(ends)

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Release Number: Maserati_286

Date of release: 12/8/2018 8:10:56 PM