FIA GT Championship

Victory for Davies and Biagi in GT1 at Adria

© DPPI

A Vitaphone one-two at the Italian circuit of Adria pleased the whole team today: Davies and Biagi took a fine win in their nr 2 Maserati MC 12, their second of the year, while Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini, with second place, claimed the 2006 GT1 Drivers title. Among their title-rivals, the nr 5 Phoenix Aston Martin DBR9 failed to finish, while the nr 9 Zakspeed Saleen, which had looked like a certain winner today, had a brake disc catch fire in the third hour, meaning a late change and a sixth-place finish. But Bartels and Bertolini’s fine performance all season means they can go to Dubai with the title firmly in their grasp.
Scuderia Ecosse claimed another win in the GT2 category - but this time it was the nr 63 car of Tim Mullen and Marino Franchitti which took the win, finishing ahead of the nr 59 AF Corse car of Mika Salo and Rui Aguas. Third place went to the newcomer to this round, Edil Cris Racing Team, whose Ferrari 430 GT2 was driven by Paolo Ruberti and Raffaele Giammaria. The car had looked close to claiming a win after an ambitious one-stop strategy, but a last-minute splash and dash demoted them to third. However, the nr 59 car was later excluded due to ride height problems, meaning that although the AF Corse car of Championship leaders Bobbi and Melo finished down in fifth place, the two drivers have claimed the 2006 FIA GT2 Drivers Championship.

The sole G2 car, Belgian Racing’s Gillet Vertigo, put in a fine performance to claim its highest finish of the season, finishing 11th overall.