Date: 18 May 2007
The MC12s face the Bucharest-Ring test
Hot on the heels of its triumph in the Tourist Trophy two weeks ago, the Maserati MC12 will this weekend line up at the new circuit of Bucharest , Romania .
The track, designed by German architect Hermann Tilke, extends around the parliament building - the second largest construction in the world. The circuit is characterised by long straights interrupted by a series of chicanes. The road section has been completely relaid but is rather narrow. This means that overtaking will be difficult. For the FIA GT it is a return to a city circuit ten years after the race in Helsinki .
Overall leader, Thomas Biagi, will be flanked here by the italian Fabrizio Gollin given the Michael Bartels is still convalescing. However, he has made the trip to Bucharest . Gollin, the 2004 FIA GT champion, will be driving a car with an extra 40kg on board. This added weight is due to the Silverstone win of Thomas Biagi, his teammate.
The other Vitaphone Racing Team crew (currently leading the team series) is made up of Miguel Ramos and Christian Montanari. The two will be out to continue their fine start to the season, one that has seen them finish in seventh in race 1 and sixth in the second meet. The Scuderia Playteam, having claimed its first points of the season in England , are hoping for an even better result this time around with Andrea Bertolini and Andrea Piccini. They will be hoping to gather more points for their title challenge. All the Italian team's drivers participated in two unusual events. The first saw them on the pitch alongside other FIA GT drivers as they played in a charity football match with Dinamo Bucharest in front of 15,000 fans. The second event saw them welcome fifteen young and promising Romanian motor-racing drivers to show them a day in the life of an FIA GT team.
JMB Racing will try to improve the podium conquered in the first Citation Cup event at Silverstone.
In the afternoon, Prime Minister Cãlin Popescu Tãriceanu extended visit to the Playteam Sarafree hospitality and box. He chatted with the drivers from the Italian team, the engineers and showed great interest in the MC12.
The two hour race will get underway at 14.15 local time and qualifying held at 18.05 tomorrow. In Italy the race will be beamed live on SkySport 2 (Sky channel 202) from 15.15.