02
July
2006
|
10:00
Europe/Amsterdam

Absolute domination in Germany by the Maserati MC12S on Pirelli

Oschersleben (D), 2 July 2006 - The supremacy already shown by the Maserati MC12s on their P Zero Racing tyres in qualifying was amply confirmed throughout the race. Having started from pole position in the international FIA-GT Championship race at the German circuit, the two-seater car from Modena driven by Bertolini-Bartels literally dominated the scene, leading from start to finish. The excellent performance of the car, designed by Giorgio Ascanelli, was further confirmed by the great race by Jamie Davies in the Vitaphone team's second MC12, which came second despite having started from 14th place on the grid.

Andrea Bertolini, winner of the race and new leader of the championship together with Michael Bartels, was obviously in his seventh heaven due to the extraordinary weekend that saw Maserati number one on Pirelli monopolise the event. "The result we achieved here," Bertolini said, "the performance the car showed in both qualifying and the race and the fact that the team's second car worked its way up to second place with Davies-Biagi is confirmation of the excellent work carried out by Maserati, Pirelli and the team Vitaphone. The P Zero Racing tyres served us well, offering the highest level of grip and consistence". As at Silverstone, the most assertive driver in the race was Jamie Davies with the second Maserati MC12 he shared with Thomas Biagi. "It was a really tough race", said Davies, "and I didn't think I could keep up such a high level of performance for so long. I am pleased that the developments we did with Pirelli Competizioni in June produced such extremely positive results and that makes me hopeful as far as the coming races are concerned".

The BMS-Scuderia Italia's Aston Martin-Pirellis driven by Babini-Gollin and Ramos-Pescatori came fifth and sixth, completing an optimum overall result by Pirelli in Germany, together with a positive second place in the GT2 class by Aguas-Salo's Ferrari F430 GTC of AF Corse.

Pierluigi De Cancellis, Circuit Manager of Pirelli Competizioni, took the opportunity of underlining, "This is an optimum result achieved on a demanding track like Oschersleben, especially due to an extraordinary car such as the Maserati MC12, the performance of which was greater than our most optimistic expectations. The development work we carried out on the P Zero Racings brought home the results we hoped for and it is also the case to point out that on asphalt with a temperature of 40C and, therefore, in a difficult condition, the Pirelli tyres returned an excellent consistency of performance and played a primary role in Maserati obtaining their first and second places".

Oschersleben results (D), FIA-GT 2006 Championship third round:
1. Bertolini-Bartels (Maserati MC12), 3h01'11''822
2. Davies-Biagi (Maserati MC12), +14''363

3. Piccini-Deletraz (Aston Martin DBR9), +19''780
4. Bert-Janis (Saleen S7-R), +27''827
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8. Salo-Aguas (Ferrari 430 GTC), +5 laps (2. GT2).

Further Pirelli races information and pictures on the site www.pirellicompetizioni.com

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