Circuit Zolder 4006 m., sunny 10°

Today the Zolder Circuit in Belgium hosted the qualifying practices for the next-to-last round of the FIA GT International Championship. The three Maserati MC12 running on the track were fast during the practices. After having lowered his time limit twice, Andrea Bertolini was overtaken by his adversaries when he due left the track at the "Lucien Bianchi" curve and had to settle for third row with the sixth best time at 547 thousandths from Simonsen's pole position. The round was quite balanced, with seven cars in the space of a second. On its season debut, car no. 17, driven by Matteo Bobbi and Pedro Lamy with the Vitasystem colors, qualified tenth with 1 second f rom the pole position, while during their round, Nogaro winners Ramos-Negraõ -carrying 65 kg of ballast- ranked eleventh, 1"107 from the pole position.
Tomorrow promises to be a great racing day, with Bertolini and Bartels attacking and aiming at mathematically winning the Drivers, Team's Car Makers and Make titles one round in advance. The feat is feasible should MC12 no.1 win and keep Hezeman s-Gollin away from the podium, or via other combinations that will enable the Maserati aces to overtake their rivals by 5 points. All the Vitaphone Racing Team needs to nab the Car Makers' Championship is to increase their points by 2 over Phoenix Carsport Racing to win for the fourth consecutive year in the most important championship for GTs.


Andrea BERTOLINI (Vitaphone Racing Team- Maserati MC12 no. 1)
"We were very fast today and we were certainly capable of getting first row. At the third lap after I had twice lowered my time, I noticed a malfunction in the accelerator. I was able to disconnect the switches and correct my route, but by so doing, I lost speed and touched the rubber protection barriers at 35-40 degrees. The maneuver was successful: damage was minimal and we will now work to get the car in top condition for tomorrow's race. I myself came to no harm. The MC12 is a very safe car; it always has been. It's a real pity, though. I nevertheless feel very confident about tomorrow. We are fast -as proven by our second place during the free practices- and our chance of winning hasn't changed."

Qualifying Results Zolder (Belgium) - 9° round FIA GT Championship
1. Simonsen/Peter (Aston Martin DB) pole position in 1'25"810; 2. wendlinger/Sharp (Aston Martin DB9) +0"229; 3 Hezemans/Gollin (Corvette Z06) +0"329; 4. Fassler/Deletraz (Co rvette Z06) +0"456; 5. Lopez/Basso (Ferrari 550 Maranello) +0"470; 6. Bertolini/Bartels (Vitaphone Racing Team -Maserati MC12) +0"547.10. Lamy/Bobbi (Team Vitasystem-Maserati MC12) +1"072; 11. Ramos/Negraõ (Vitaphone Racing Team-Maserati MC12) +1"107