Maserati triumphs at Paul-Ricard

Under the Var sun, the Maserati MC12 n°1 was imperial. However, at the start of the race, Andrea Bertolini had to hold off his sister car, the No. 2 Maserati of Enrique Bernoldi, itself chased by the No. 13 Corvette of Andrea Piccini. The latter, entering the tenth lap, tried to overtake the first Maserati within his reach, catching it in the process.

« CIt's a shame, I was faster than Bertolini (Maserati n°1, leader of the race) and I thought I would try to overtake shortly after, explains Bernoldi after this collision which caused his abandonment. Then, Piccini tried to overtake me. I gave him room to do it and, despite that, he hit me at the exit of the corner. The difference is that I am a pilot of F1 and he is not. »

At mid-race, the No. 1 Maserati is leading in front of the No. 13 Corvette? and the No. 5 Ford GT of the Matech team, Romain Grosjean having had a festival comeback from seventh place. While the No. 6 of Olivier Panis and Natacha Gachnang is delayed in front of his box, Romain Grosjean enters the pitlane and hands over to Thomas Mutsch. But the latter, during the second half of the race, did not manage to keep his rivals behind him and finished seventh.

For its part, the No. 13 Corvette, second for a long time, was pushed back to fifth place, inheriting a “stop & go” penalty. At the head of the race, the No. 1 Maserati escaped and, after an hour of racing, crossed the finish line in first position. Reigning champions, Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini pocket their second victory of the weekend, the third of the season, and take the lead in the GT1 World Championship.