Jetalliance Aston wins at Monza

Karl Wendlinger and Ryan Sharp overcame a strong challenge from Vitaphone Racing's two Maseratis of Christian Montanari/Miguel Ramos and Thomas Biagi/Michael Bartels.

Wendlinger was beaten to the first corner by the fast-starting Chevrolet Corvette of Mike Hezemans, but the Dutchman then went off at the first Lesmo and dropped to fifth. Wendlinger edged away from Biagi and Montanari before handing over to Sharp.

Montanari's hand-over to Ramos was the quickest of the leading group and Sharp emerged over 10 seconds behind the Maserati after the first stops. He closed Ramos down, but then tried an overly ambitious passing manoeuvre around the outside of the second chicane. The resulting spin lost the Aston Martin 18 seconds and left Ramos clear.

Sharp stayed out as the other frontrunners made their second stops and was able to build up a big enough cushion for Wendlinger to hold the lead when the Aston finally came in. The Jetalliance squad decided not to change tyres at the changeover and this allowed Wendlinger to rejoin ahead of the Biagi/Bartels Maserati, which had jumped its sister car at the second stops.

Despite being on old tyres, Wendlinger was able to maintain his lead and it was Biagi who made an error. His trip through the Parabolica gravel dropped him behind the Montanari-Hezemans battle.

Montanari's pace in the closing stages of the race was impressive and he dived past Hezemans with just over five minutes to go to take third, which became second after Biagi's off.

Behind Bartels and Biagi in fourth came the Corvette of Anthony Kumpen and Bert Longin. The C5-R couldn't quite match the pace of the leaders but a consistent run allowed it to finish clear of its pursuers, led by the BMS Scuderia DBR9 of Fabio Babini and Jamie Davies.

After such bad luck in the previous races, former Formula One driver Gianmaria Bruni took his first GT2 victory. Sharing with GT veteran Stephane Ortelli, Bruni beat off the challenge of AF Corse Ferrari teammates Dirk Muller and Toni Vilander to take the win.

Classified:

Pos  Drivers                  Car                     Time
 1.  Wendlinger/Sharp         Aston Martin DBR9       2:00:19.905
 2.  Montanari/Ramos          Maserati MC12 GT1        +    5.619
 3.  Hezemans/Deletraz        Corvette C6R             +    8.519
 4.  Biagi/Bartels            Maserati MC12 GT1        +   15.175
 5.  Kumpen/Longin            Corvette C5R             +   28.924
 6.  Babini/Davies            Aston Martin DBR9        +   46.509
 7.  Lechner/Lichtner-Hoyer   Aston Martin DBR9        + 1:45.263
 8.  Piccini/Bertolini        Maserati MC12 GT1        + 1:46.347
 9.  Pier Guidi/Giannoccaro   Maserati MC12 GT1        +    1 lap
10.  Kox/Menten               Lamborghini Murcielago   +    1 lap
11.  Peter/Hines              Corvette Z06             +    1 lap
12.  Monfardini/Toccacelo     Aston Martin DBR9        +   2 laps
13.  Casadei/Cloet            Corvette C5R             +   3 laps
14.  Macari/Aucott            Maserati MC12 GT1        +   3 laps
15.  Bruni/Ortelli            Ferrari 430 GT2          +   3 laps
16.  Muller/Vilander          Ferrari 430 GT2          +   3 laps
17.  Ruberti/Pasini           Ferrari 430 GT2          +   3 laps
18.  Zani/Busnelli            Porsche 997 GT3 RSR      +   4 laps
19.  Vannalet/Engelhorn       Corvette C5R             +   4 laps
20.  Rugolo/Cressoni          Ferrari 430 GT2          +   4 laps
21.  Edwards/MacHitski        Porsche 997 GT3 RSR      +   4 laps
22.  Enge/Mullen              Ferrari 430 GT2          +   4 laps
23.  Penders/Lamot            Porsche 997 GT3 RSR      +   6 laps
24.  Kutemann/Waaijenberg     Maserati MC12 GT1        +   6 laps
25.  Stepec/Carcone           Chrysler Viper GTS-R     +  11 laps
26.  Niarchos/Kirkaldy        Ferrari 430 GT2          +  20 laps

Not Classified:

     Drivers                  Car                     Laps
     Malucelli/Collard        Porsche 997 GT3 RSR     28
     Bouchut/Mucke            Lamborghini Murcielago  22