Vitaphone Racing Team: FIA GT Oschersleben Preview
Jul 02, 2008
The 2008 season of the FIA GT Championship coming to the fourth round.
The event is being held in Oschersleben, near Magdeburg in the ex DDR. The circuit is 3668 meters long and it is considered among the most modern in Europe .It’s a racetrack where Maserati had its first victory in the MC12 epic, on 19 September 2004, manned by the Bertolini-Salo duo. Since then the Tridente has always won: in 2005 with Babini/Biagi, in 2006 with Bartels/Bertolini and again last year with Bartels/Biagi.
It is therefore a home race for the Vitaphone Racing team, which earned three out of the four Maserati victories in Germany. After three qualifying practice sessions, the Bertolini-Bartels duo secured a top place in the Driver’s Championship with 20 points. Car no. 2, driven by Alexander Negraõ and Miguel Ramos, is ranked 5th with 10 points and in Oschersleben they will have to expiate the penalty earned in Adria due to a clash during the race, losing five positions in the starting line, but the latin duo are very motivated to catch a strong remount. Vi taphone Racing Maserati dominates the ranks for Teams with 30 points.
Lastly, the third MC12 run by the JMB Racing team confirms the Ben Aucott and Alain Ferté pair, who placed a splendid seventh at the Adria night races.
Andrea BERTOLINI (Vitaphone Racing- Maserati MC12 no. 1)
“Oschersleben is our racetrack for many reasons. Maserati has had a winning streak here right from the start, staying at the top for five consecutive times. As for me, I have always stood on a podium step since 2003 and I won in 2004 and 2006. Moreover, what is spurring us on is the fact that it’s Michael Bartels’ and the entire Vitaphone team’s home race. In these first three qualifying races we’ve proven that we are still the team to beat. We have to improve because in Adria we threw away a certain victory due to a mistake at the starting line, but our determination is paying off.”
