Larbre Competition claimed its third win of the season to keep Gabriele Gardel in the fight for the GT1 Drivers title, one point behind the leaders Andrea Bertolini and Karl Wendlinger. The star of the race was undoubtedly Pedro Lamy, who started from the back of the grid and put in two storming stints, climbing from 25th to 3rd place in the space of 25 laps, before putting in a series of fastest race laps in the closing stages, and overtaking the Corvette and Timo Scheider in the nr 9 Vitaphone Maserati to take the lead in the penultimate lap. The team benefited from the mechanical failure which befell the Russian Age Racing Aston Martin DBR9 in the closing stages, but also had to recover from nearly running out of fuel at the first pit stop.

With Scheider and Bartels finishing second, third place on the podium went to the Zhuhai winners, the GLPK Carsport Corvette C5R of Hezemans, Kumpen and Longin. After a slower start, Hezemans caught the Russian Age Aston Martin, which led for the whole first stint, appearing unbeatable. Running constantly in the top group, the Corvette claimed its fourth podium of the season. Fourth place went to the nr 15 JMB Racing Maserati MC 12 of Wendlinger and Bertolini, after a consistent race, to retain their Championship lead - although by just one point. The second Vitaphone Maserati, of Biagi and Babini, was fifth, after losing out during a brief safety car period at the two-thirds distance. The other losers during that safety car period, the nr 2 GPC Ferrari 575 M Maranello, was sixth, ahead of the Lister Storm and the Russian Age Racing Ferrari 550, scoring the last point on their first solo excursion in the car without Christophe Bouchut.

VITAPHONE CLAIM 2005 GT1 TEAMS CHAMPIONSHIP
The Vitaphone Racing Team placed its two Maserati MC12 cars in second and fifth places in today's MotorCity GT 500 Dubai race, scoring twelve points and putting them out of reach of their sole remaining rivals, JMB Racing. With Timo Scheider heading straight off to Malaysia to compete in the A1GP race this weekend, Michael Bartels spoke of his pleasure at winning the title : "It was one of the most exciting races we saw in the FIA GT Championship. Considering that we are carrying 150kg of handicap and FIA weight, I think that the car is still performing. I did not expect to finish in second position. I have to thank Pirelli and Maserati for delivering very performing material. I also have to thank the young structure of Vitaphone Racing Team which achieved a great goal to win the GT1 Teams Championship in its first season. We will have an incredible finale with a very close point standing in the Drivers Championship and we should all look forward to the race in Bahrain". All four Vitaphone drivers, Bartels, Scheider, Biagi and Babini, are still in with a chance of winning the Drivers title.



Race Result

1

11
GT1
Lamy/Gardel
Ferrari 550 Maranello
3:01:07.031
89
159.03
2

9
GT1
Bartels/Scheider
Maserati MC12 GT1
3:01:07.806
89
0.775
159.02
3

6
GT1
Longin/Kumpen/Hezemans
Corvette C5R
3:01:15.059
89
8.028
158.91
4

15
GT1
Bertolini/Wendlinger
Maserati MC12 GT1
3:01:17.250
89
10.219
158.88
5

10
GT1
Babini/Biagi
Maserati MC12 GT1
3:01:27.885
89
20.854
158.73
6

2
GT1
Deletraz/Piccini/Lemeret
Ferrari 575 Maranello GTC
3:03:15.739
89
2:08.708
157.17
7

14
GT1
Keen/Halliday
Lister Storm GT
3:01:44.268
86
3 LAPS
153.14
8

88
GT2
Collard/Sugden
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:03:01.884
86
3 LAPS
152.06
9

18
GT1
Fomenko/Vasiliev
Ferrari 550 Maranello
3:01:14.338
85
4 LAPS
151.78
10

12
GT1
Zacchia/Blanchemain/Vosse
Ferrari 550 Maranello
3:01:10.626
84
5 LAPS
150.05
11

90
GT2
Bleekemolen/Crevels
Spyker C8 Spyder GT2 R
3:01:48.093
84
5 LAPS
149.53
12

16
GT1
Peter/Kutemann/Waaijenberg
Maserati MC12 GT1
3:01:59.205
84
5 LAPS
149.38
13

89
GT2
Thurnundtaxis/Buncombe/Casadei
Ferrari 360 Modena
3:01:15.193
81
8 LAPS
144.63
14

69
GT2
Ried/Ried
Porsche 996 GT3 RS
3:01:35.668
80
9 LAPS
142.57
15

17
GT1
Bouchut/Ortelli
Aston Martin DBR9
2:39:02.395
78
11 LAPS
158.72
16

74
GT2
Busnelli/Moccia
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
3:03:03.644
78
11 LAPS
137.89
17

105
G2
Kuppens/Leinders/Ickx
Vertigo Streiff
2:35:43.805
69
20 LAPS
143.39
18

132
G3
Sicart/Sicart/Barde
Ferrari 360 Modena
3:03:34.707
63
26 LAPS
111.06
Not Classified
--

56
GT2
Vonka/Jurasz/Fumal
Porsche 996 GT3 RS
1:47:51.449
47
D.N.F.
141.02
--

57
GT2
Konopka/Rosina
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
1:48:03.327
48
D.N.F.
143.76
--

4
GT1
Lacko/Konrad
Saleen S7 R
1:33:39.010
45
D.N.F.
155.51
--

66
GT2
Lieb/Rockenfeller
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
1:19:40.811
38
D.N.F.
154.34
--

97
GT2
Moro/Kaufmann
Porsche 996 GT3 RSR
1:23:07.888
32
D.N.F.
124.58
--

3
GT1
Cioci/Montermini
Ferrari 575 Maranello GTC
34:56.039
17
D.N.F.
157.49
--

5
GT1
Lechner/Ruberti
Saleen S7 R
53:41.278
17
D.N.F.
102.47
--

86
GT2
Lambertini/Rosa/Drudi
Ferrari 360 Modena
21:20.690
10
D.N.F.
151.62
Fastest Laps
--
105
G2
Kuppens/Leinders/Ickx
Vertigo Streiff
2:06.868
48
95.10mph
153.06
--
132
G3
Sicart/Sicart/Barde
Ferrari 360 Modena
2:17.660
2
87.65mph
141.06
--
11
GT1
Lamy/Gardel
Ferrari 550 Maranello
1:56.015
67
104.00mph
167.37
--
88
GT2
Collard/Sugden