Date: 3 May 2009 Maserati MC12 Second at the Tourist Trophy Car N. 1 - Bartels/Bertolini (Vitaphone Racing Team) - pos. 2° Weather: cloudy (14°), dry (22°) Lenght: 5.141 m Silverstone (UK), May, 3rd 2009 - Maserati MC12 grazes victory at the Tourist Trophy with the Vitaphone Racing Team Bertolini/Bartels duo's second place. Indeed, the success of the first round of the FIA GT championship goes to Wendlinger/Sharp (Saleen S7), which nevertheless had to fight for it tooth and nail with the Trident's Italian/German duo in a riveting neck and neck up to the last few minutes. When Bertolini re- entered the track - replacing Bartels - he gained top position thanks to superb teamwork, managing to do the second pit stop in record time. Unfortunately, while it was defending its position against Wendlinger's attack, car 1 was penalized by back markers. Maserati MC12 no. 2 got a tough break when it was forced to exit the race after about one hour of racing due to a wheel problem. Driven by Miguel Ramos at the time, who had substituted team-mate Alex Mueller just a few laps before, it had been in third place behind Bertolini. The next stage of the FIA GT championship will be held in Adria on Saturday, 16 May. Michael Bartels: "We feel we are the winners of the GT1 category because I do not consider the Saleens as part of this car class since they have a definite edge over other cars because of their use of larger restrictors. So for us this second place amounts to a full-fledged success, it is the best position we could have aspired to today". RACE RESULTS: 1) Wendlinger/Sharp (Saleen S7) 2) Bartels/Bertolini (Maserati MC12) 3) Moreau/Bartels (Corvette Z06) DRIVERS CHAMPIONSHIP: 1) Wendlinger/Sharp - 10 points 2) Bartels/Bertolini - 8 points 3) Moreau/Bartels - 6 points.