Bernoldi/Streit take first GT victory

The Brazilian pairing dominated the two-hour race aboard their DKR-run Team Brazil Chevrolet Corvette C6.R. They ended up 15 seconds ahead of the best of the Vitaphone Maserati MC12s, driven by Alex Muller and Miguel Ramos.

Bernoldi had been forced to start from sixth on the grid despite topping qualifying after receiving a penalty for avoidable contact in free practice. He needed just nine laps to catch Muller and a further three to take a lead he was able to extend to more than four seconds by the time he handed over to his team-mate.

Streit emerged with a 12-second lead after the first round of pitstops was complete and edged away from Ramos over the course of the middle stint. Bernoldi rejoined with 20 seconds in hand over the Maserati and was able to control the race to the chequered flag.

"It wasn't as easy as it looked," said Bernoldi. "Our strategy meant we changed tyres at both pitstops, so we had to always push hard."

Muller and Ramos were content with second behind the Team Brazil Chevy.

"Second is like winning the race; we can't fight with the Corvette at this circuit," said Ramos.

Third place went to the SRT Chevrolet Corvette driven by James Ruffier and Bert Longin after the second Maserati, driven by Alessandro Pier Guidi and Matteo Bobbi, had to make an unscheduled pitstop for a top-up of fuel in the closing stages.

The AF Corse Ferrari team dominated the GT2 class. Gianmaria Bruni and Toni Vilander, who were driving a heavily-revised 430 GT, left the ProSpeed Porsche of championship rivals Emmanuel Collard and Richard Westbrook trailing 40 seconds in their wake at the finish.

Pos Driver                                 Car               Time/Gap
 1. Enrique Bernoldi/Roberto Streit        Chevrolet     2h00m27.312s
 2. Miguel Ramos/Alex Muller               Maserati           +15.512
 3. Bert Longin/James Ruffier              Chevrolet          +16.820
 4. Xavier Maassen/Thomas Biagi            Chevrolet          +25.620
 5. Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini       Maserati           +55.004
 6. Alex Pier Guidi/Matteo Bobbi           Maserati         +1:08.092
 7. Ange Barde/Olivier Panis               Ferrari            +2 laps
 8. Thomas Mutsch/Henri Moser              Ford               +2 laps
 9. Toni Vilander/Gianmaria Bruni          Ferrari            +2 laps
10. Emmanuel Collard/Richard Westbrook     Porsche            +2 laps
11. Alvaro Barba/Niki Cadei                Ferrari            +2 laps
12. Luiz Perez Companc/Matias Russo        Ferrari            +2 laps
13. Chris Niarchos/Tim Mullen              Ferrari            +2 laps
14. Bas Leinders/Renaud Kuppens            Ford               +2 laps
15. Luigi Lucchini/Martin Ragginger        Porsche            +3 laps
16. Matteo Malucelli/Paolo Ruberti         Ferrari            +3 laps
17. Andrew Kirkaldy/Robert Bell            Ferrari            +3 laps
18. Sascha Maassen/David Ashburn           Porsche            +3 laps
19. Darryl O'Young/Marco Holzer            Porsche            +4 laps

Retirements

    Ettore Bonaldi/Diego Romanini          Ferrari            45 laps
    Mike Hezemans/Anthony Kumpen           Chevrolet          40 laps