A spectacular Italian round of the FIA GT International Championship today in Monza. The Vitaphone Racing team won a sensational second place with the Latin duo made up of Portuguese ace Miguel Ramos and 22-year-old rookie Alexander Negraõ, while car no. 1 with Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels finished in 5th place brilliantly closing a difficult weekend featuring Saturday's poor qualification and a burst back tire during the 13th lap. The overall points earned by the two teams places Vithapone Racing ahead in the Championship, while Bertolini and Bartels are only at three lengths from the head of the Championship, in view of the second Italian round held in Adria on 21 June. The third JMB Racing Maserati also did quite well with likeable gentlemen drivers Ben Aucott and Stephane Daoudi, who skimmed the point area, ranking ninth after a difficult qualification due to technical problems. Maserati thus confirms its competitiveness on Italian turf, getting the third 2nd place in three races.



Miguel RAMOS (Team Vitaphone Racing- Maserati MC12 no. 2): "It was indubitably a very good race for us and I think it might have even been possible to win it. Unfortunately, Negraõ and I switched places when we were in first place, Alexander had a problem with the first gear that made him waste some time. I knew I was fast here at Monza; I managed to set an excellent rhythm going around with a 1'46" time, forcing the pace enough to repeat our second place won in 2007 and to look forward to the rest of the Championship, in which maintaining a steady performance will be the key, as seen by the great balance of competitors".

Alexander NEGRAÕ (Team Vitaphone Racing- Maserati MC12 no. 2): "I am really happy and I honestly did not think I would get near the podium after only two races. We could have won because we had really gotten close to the leaders and at that moment we were gaining quite a bit. It was a pity the change of drivers did not go smoothly. Maserati has proven it is a benchmark. We still have room for improvement in terms of team mechanisms, but we are very close to victory".

Andrea BERTOLINI (Team Vitaphone Racing -Maserati MC12 no. 1): "Considering how the situation was, 5th place is very good, we gained 5 points that enabled us to remain in contact with the leaders. As team no. 2 we also had the speed to win. Unfortunately Simonsen, who ended up in the gravel, scattered debri s on the track which punctured a back tire. The tire burst, but we were lucky because we were at the Ascari variant at 265 km/h when the aerodynamic part of the wheel arch flew off. At that point it was important to finish the race with extra points and we succeeded in doing that".

Michael BARTELS (Team Vitaphone Racing- Maserati MC12): "I am very happy because we finished the race with both vehicles within the point range and so earned a top place in the Team's Championship. We still have a few minor problems in terms of the team's efficiency both when qualifying and during the actual race, but I think everything will be solved from Adria on. Another positive element is that today's result lets us run with less ballast at the second Italian round and to focus on winning."