Date: 20 June 2008

FIA GT Adria Qualifying Practices: on the front row

Adria International Raceway, 2.7020 km, sunny, 30°

Maserati is consistent on this day of qualifying races here in Adria, where the third set of qualifying practices for the International FIA GT Championship is being run. Today Andrea Bertolini did a fast lap in 1'11"802 with an average of 135.47 km/h, earning a place in the first row, only 200 milliseconds from Swiss driver Fassler. Vitaphone Racing Team's second Maserati also did well, with a ballast weighing it down by 55 kg. due to the second place earned in Monza. Here Alexander Negraõ ranked fourth with 1'11"916, the best result among the cars with ballast on board. Unfortunately, though, during the morning's races, contact between and a GT2 was judged irregular by race officials, so Maserati no. 5 was penalized and set back five positions. Tomorrow it will start at the fifth row. The third MC12, driven by gentleman driver Alain Ferté from the Team JMB, is ranked 11th and is starting from sixth row. The race is scheduled for tomorrow. the innovative formula, already tried out successfully in 2007, consists of a 2-hour evening race, which will start at 7.50 pm. For Vitaphone Racing's MC12s, the aim is to consolidate their first place in the Team's rank and close the 3-point gap in the Pilot rank between Bertolini/Bartels and Bouchut//Maassen.

Andrea BERTOLINI (Vitaphone Racing- Maserati MC12 no.1) "I'm very pleased with today's result. Pity we didn't get pole position. Getting a place in first row here in Adria's short circuit is essential. We focused on our choice of Michelin tires; we found they have incredible consistency, which will be crucial tomorrow. It is true that here in Adria surpassing is difficult, but our car can make the difference. I hope we encounter no problems with racetrack traffic. The goal is to take home as many points as possible."

Results Qualifying Practices ADRIA - 3° round FIA GT Championship 1. Fassler/Deletraz (Corvette Z06) pole position in 1'11"602; 2. Bertolini/Bartels (Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12) +0"200; 3. Wendlinger/Sharp (Aston Martin DB9)+0"213; 4. Ramos/Negraõ (Vitaphone Racing Team Maserati MC12) +0"3114; 5. Bochut/Maassen (Corvette Z06) +0"437; 6. Hezemans/Gollin (Corvette Z06) +0"456; 7. Peter/Simonsen (Aston Martin DB9)+0"569; 8. Tuero/Lopez (Ferrari 550 Maranello)+0"709. 11. Aucott/Ferté (JMB Racing Maserati MC12)+1"178.