It was a bitter Saturday for the Megadrive-Racing Box team at the Italian Gran Turismo championship at Vallelunga. Matteuzzi/Perazzini's Maserati MC12 had to retire in race 1 while holding first spot. With the retirement went the chances of contesting the title with Malucelli and Ramos.

At the rolling start Perazzini roared off and held onto his first place. However, at the Roma curve the MC12 had to give up first place to Morbidelli. On lap 4, benefiting from a problem with the Saleen, Perazzini retook the lead. After fifteen minutes of racing, Perazzini's advantage ranged between 1"5 - 1"7.


The driver changes over, the situation in GT3 saw Frigerio in the lead after substituting Aguas. Second was Merzario with Zampaloni in third. Twelve laps from the end Merzario was shown the black flag for failing to stop at a stop and go. The commissioners hit him with the penalty when it was his team mate Ceccato who had clashed with La Mazza. Zampaloni thus inherited second place but he gradually lost ground and ended the race in third. Frigerio/Aguas ran out winners with the Portuguese driver collecting his sixth win of the season. He is still in with a chance of winning the Trofeo CSAI GT3 title. He has 172 points compared to the 188 of Zampolini/Palma.

The last act of the championship comes this afternoon with race 2.



RACE 2

Vallelunga - At Vallelunga Gabriele Matteuzzi and Piergiuseppe Perazzini finished on a high by claiming third place. This result puts the MC12 crew on the podium overall. Zampaloni and Palma, at the wheel of the AF Corse Maserati Light, claimed the Trofeo CSAI GT3 class championship.

After the accident in race 1, the MC12 got off to a clean start. The mechanics had worked through the night to ensure the MC12 was on the grid. At the green light, Matteuzzi did not make any errors and led the pack from the very beginning.

In GT3, the best of the Maserati Lights was driven by Luca Frigerio in second. He was followed by that of Merzario, who soon overtook the AF Corse driver. Benefiting from a sound strategy, Zampaloni was in fourth.

After ten minutes of racing, Matteuzzi had built a 1” lead over his close pursuer while the chasing field was some seven seconds down.

The race proceeded without incident until lap 10 when the safety car was called for. The yellow flag was only flown for a couple of laps and, when it went off, the duel between the MC12s at the front of the field continued.

At the halfway stage, Matteuzzi stopped in the pits to hand over to Perazzini. Unfortunately, the stop cost the Maserati crew two places.

The driver change did not affect the GT3 standings. Aguas came onto the track in the AF Corse Light in second, followed by Ceccato and Palma. The Portuguese driver made up ground over the next few laps and took the lead from Caligaris. Ceccato, in the meantime, had slipped to fourth with Palma in third. Palma was intent on not committing any errors that would compromise his championship chances. Eleven minutes from the end, Palma closed in on Aguas.

The race order was unchanged at the finish: Matteuzzi/Perazzini crossed the line behind Lancelotti/Cappellari and Malucelli/Ramos. With today’s results, Megadrive took second spot in the team championship.

Aguas and Frigerio claimed victory in GT3 in front of the newly-crowned champions Zampaloni/Palma. Fourth were Ceccato and Merzario in the Megadrive Light.