Date: 21 October 2010 FIA GT1 Championship - Navarra (Sp) - - - PDF document

Date: 21 October 2010 FIA GT1 Championship - Navarra (Sp) - Presentation of Round 8

Maseratis in Spain to Defend Top Positions

• N. 1 - Bartels/Bertolini, Vitaphone Racing Team (+ 50 kg - success ballast)
• N. 2 - Bernoldi/Ramos, Vitaphone Racing Team
• N. 33 - Heger/Mueller, Triple H Team Hegersport
• N. 34 - Triple H Team Hegersport

Only three races left for the end of the 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship and Maserati is on top in all the classifications, the reigning champions Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels in the driver's rankings, the Vitaphone Racing Team in the racing team rankings and the Trofeo SRO in the car manufacturers' classification. The eighth round will be held this weekend in the new racetrack in Navarra, Spain. It is a mystery circuit for all the drivers as it was inaugurated only a few months ago. This Spanish round concludes the European part of the 2010 program; after which the last two rounds will be held in Brazil and Argentina. Thanks to their last win in the Portuguese circuit of Algarve the leading duo, Bertolini/Bartels,

broadened the breach between them and their direct adversary - German driver Thomas Mutsch driving the Ford GT Matech - and now have a 27-point advantage over him (122 against 95). This gives them a burst of confidence, even if now the two Maserati drivers will have to deal with the extra 50 kg. ballast in Spain as imposed by the rules as per the latest results. Vitaphone Racing Team's other Maserati MC12, Bernoldi/Ramos's no. 2, will attempt to recover and get new points after the unfortunate incident in Portugal, which ended the race early for them due to a collision right after the start of the race. Triple H Team Hegersport's no. 33, driven by German drivers Heger/Mueller - who gained points in the last race too - wants to repeat its performance at Paul Ricard and at Spa, where it was able to get a spot on the podium. The Spanish round will be different from the previous rounds in that both the free practices and the qualifying sessions are scheduled for Saturday 23 October, while the two main races - Qualifying Race and Championship Race - will take place on Sunday. Schedule (local time) Qualifying practices: Saturday 23 October, from 4.45 pm to 5.45 pm Qualifying race: Sunday 24 October from 10.00 am to 11.00 am Championship Race:

Sunday 24 October from 4.00 pm to 5.00 pm