The third round of the Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa was wrapped up today (Sunday 28 May) at Brno in the Czech Republic. Maurizio Fabris took the win with a margin of 2"961 over Antonio Andolfato and 13"708 over series leader Alberto Cerrai. For Fabris, following the second places earned at Monza and Silverstone, Brno is his first win of the season. Cerrai, despite coming fourth, maintains command in the Trofeo by a point. In second was Fabris with Andrea De Megni (tenth today) in third.
The race was held on a wet surface with the nineteen Maserati GranSport Trofeos sporting Pirelli PZero 'rain' tyres. The safety car was on from the start and stayed on for two laps. When the safety had pulled into the pits, Cerrai held his top spot. The placings were also unchanged in the pack. On lap seven, Alberto Vescovi lost seventh spot when he ended up in the grass while tussling with Andolfato, Mugelli and Martini for fifth, sixth and eighth place. Oddi then slipped from third to fifth after making a mistake. Fabris and Andolfato were quick to benefit. At the halfway point, Alessi had built a two second lead over Cerrai. Fabris was keeping up with the lead pair and holding third from Andolfato. The track conditions became ever more tricky as it dried out with the cars equipped with rain tyres. The early pit stops were made by Demegni, Burgan, Andruet, Pizzicannella and Mugelli. Next came Cerrai and Andolfato. With forty minutes gone and 14 laps covered, all the drivers had made their compulsory stop. The only driver to be called back was Pizzicannella when he was hit with a drive-through for exceeding the pit lane limit.


As the rain began to come down once more on lap seventeen, Andolfato moved into the lead but had Fabris and Cerrai to contend with. Ravasio, Alessi's replacement, had climbed to fourth. Fabris regained the lead on the subsequent lap and sped off towards the chequered flag. Three laps from the finish, Cerrai launched his last attack on Andolfato but a spin four curves from the end saw his chances of the podium disappear.

The next Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati race is programmed for the weekend of 2 July at the Oschersleben circuit in Germany.

Final results at Brno:
1. Fabris 22 laps in 1h.01'37"440;
2. Andolfato + 2"961;
3. Cerrai + 16"669;
4. Oddi-Ricci + 27"095;
5. Mugelli-Baccani + 28"777;
6. De Martini-Panacci + 33"630;
7. Bartocci + 38"484;
8. Galeazzi + 39"446;
9. Ravasio-Alessi + 41"857;
10. De Megni + 43"110.

Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa 2006 after three races (overall):
1. Cerrai 66 punti;
2. Fabris 65;
3. De Megni 35;
4. Andolfato 33;
5. De Martini and Panacci 25;
7. Zenere and Oddi 23;
8. Bartocci 20;
9. Vescovi 19;
10. Coulomb 17.

Driver Sponsor:
1.Pizzicannella 58;
2. Andruet 49;
3. Jarvis, Straw, Necchi e Mancin 25;
7. Moccia, Grassetto e Hales 20.

Sponsor:
1. Pakelo 75;
2. Isoclima e Toora 49;
4. Autosprint 44;
5. Audemars Piguet 38.