Vitaphone Racing
| Founded | 2004 |
|---|---|
| Founder(s) | Michael Bartels |
| Folded | 2016 |
| Base | (office) Olpe, Germany (technical) Oschersleben, Germany (formerly) Herborn, Germany |
| Former series | FIA GT Championship FIA GT1 Championship Blancpain Endurance Series ADAC GT Masters British GT Championship VLN Langstreckenmeisterschaft Nürburgring |
| Noted drivers |  Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Thomas Biagi Mika Salo |
| Teams' Championships | 2005 FIA GT Championship 2006 FIA GT Championship 2007 FIA GT Championship 2008 FIA GT Championship 2009 FIA GT Championship 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship |
| Drivers' Championships | 2006 FIA GT Championship 2007 FIA GT Championship 2008 FIA GT Championship 2009 FIA GT Championship 2010 FIA GT1 World Championship |
Vitaphone Racing, or Vita4One, was a German racing team who participated in the FIA GT Championship. The team was actually Bartels Motor & Sport GmbH, but operated under the title of its main sponsor, Vitaphone GmbH. They have successfully raced the Maserati MC12 GT1 since 2005, becoming one of the most successful GT teams in the series with five FIA GT1 Teams' Championship and four FIA GT1 Drivers' Championship. Their chief drivers were Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini.
Racing history
[edit]
The Vitaphone Racing team has enjoyed success in the FIA GT, GT1 class championship. In 2004, they initially campaigned a Saleen S7-R, coming in fourth in the teams championship. Although racing under their own entrant name, the car was in actually run by Konrad Motorsport.
In 2005, they switched to the Maserati MC12 and won the FIA GT teams championship ahead of JMB Racing (also racing a Maserati MC12) allowing Maserati to win the FIA GT Manufacturers Title.[1] In 2006 Vitaphone Racing again won the FIA GT Teams Title, and their drivers Andrea Bertolini and Michael Bartels tied each other for the Drivers' Title.[2]
In 2007, they once again won both the Driver and Teams Championships, this time with Thomas Biagi the sole Drivers Champion, because the regular co-driver that year, Michael Bartels, missed races at Silverstone and Bucharest, with Mika Salo and Fabrizio Gollin taking his place at each of those rounds respectively. Also, Bartels did not receive the points for finishing 6th at Zhuhai, as he did not complete the required 35 minutes of time in the car.
2008 would be another successful year for the team, with Bartels and Bertolini repeating their success of 2006, and also winning the Spa 24 Hours alongside fellow Vitaphone drivers Miguel Ramos and Alexandre Negrão. Vitaphone also claimed the Teams' Championship for the fourth consecutive year.
They also entered an Aston Martin DBR9 at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 2008, as the Maserati MC12 was not eligible as a GT1 car under ACO's technical regulations.
In 2009, they won their fifth consecutive Teams' Championship, with Bartels and Bertolini being Drivers' Champions for the third time.
They have continued their GT programme in 2010, entering two updated Maserati MC12 to contest the FIA GT1 World Championship. They became the inaugural GT1 World Champions at the 2010 FIA GT1 San Luis round winning both the Drivers and Teams Championships with Bartels and Bertolini taking the Drivers Championship.
For the 2011 season, Vitaphone withdrew from the GT1 World Championship and competed in the Blancpain Endurance Series with 2 Ferrari 458, one of which was driven by the team's owner Michael Bartels and Andrea Bertolini.
In 2012, the team (as Vita4One) entered the FIA GT1 World Championship one last time in a BMW Z4. In the following years, he competed in championships such as ADAC GT Masters, Blancpain GT Series, and British GT, without notable success. His last appearance was in 2014.
Racing record
[edit]![[icon]](/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wiki_letter_w_cropped.svg){kind=small} | This section needs expansion. You can help by adding missing information. (June 2026) |
24 Hours of Le Mans results
[edit]| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Drivers | Class | Laps | Pos. | Class Pos. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | Vitaphone Racing Team Strakka Racing |
53 | Aston Martin DBR9 | Peter Hardman Nick Leventis Alexandre Negrão |
GT1 | 82 | DNF | DNF |
Complete FIA GT Championship results
[edit]| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | Class | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | R11 | DC | TC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Vitaphone Racing Team |
5 | Saleen S7-R | Saleen 7.0L V8 | P | Michael Bartels Uwe Alzen Spa 24h endurance driver:  Franz Konrad |
GT | MON 1st |
VAL 13th |
MAG 3rd |
HOC 1st |
BRN 13th |
DON DNF |
SPA DNF |
IMO 2nd |
OSC 1st |
DUB 16th |
— | 7th | 4th |
| 6 | Saleen S7-R | Saleen 7.0L V8 | P | Franz Konrad Walter Lechner Jr. Spa 24h endurance drivers:  Toni Seiler / Gerold Pankl |
— | VAL 15th |
MAG DNF |
HOC DNF |
BRN DNF |
DON 15th |
SPA DNF |
IMO DNF |
OSC DNF |
DUB 19th |
— | 19th 21st | ||||
| 2005 | Vitaphone Racing Team |
9 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | P | Michael Bartels Timo Scheider Spa 24h endurance driver:  Eric van de Poele |
GT1 | MON 2nd |
MAG 2nd |
SIL 2nd |
IMO DNF |
BRN 5th |
SPA 1st |
OSC 4th |
IST 1st |
ZHU DNF |
DUB 2nd |
BAH 2nd |
2nd | 1st |
| 10 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | P | Fabio Babini Thomas Biagi Spa 24h endurance drivers: Jamie Davies / Stéphane Lemeret |
MON 4th |
MAG 4th |
SIL 1st |
IMO 2nd |
BRN DNF |
SPA DNF |
OSC DNF |
IST 2nd |
ZHU 4th |
DUB 1st |
BAH 1st |
4th | ||||
| 2006 | Vitaphone Racing Team |
1 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | P | Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Spa 24h endurance drivers: Eric van de Poele / Andrea Montermini |
GT1 | SIL 1st |
BRN 4th |
OSC 1st |
SPA 1st |
RIC 8th |
DIJ 5th |
MUG 2nd |
BUD 2nd |
ADR 1st |
DUB 5th |
— | 1st | 1st |
| 2 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | P |  Miguel Ramos Stéphane LemeretSpa 24h endurance drivers: Vincent Vosse / Dirk Müller |
SIL 4th |
BRN 7th |
OSC DNF |
SPA DNF |
RIC 5th |
DIJ 3rd |
MUG 4th |
BUD 3rd |
ADR DNF |
— | — | 12th | ||||
| 2007 | Vitaphone Racing Team |
1 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Thomas Biagi |
GT1 | ZHU 6th |
SIL 2nd |
BUC 1st |
MON 2nd |
OSC 1st |
SPA 2nd |
ADR 2nd |
BRN 7th |
NOG DNF |
ZOL 3rd |
— | 1st | 1st |
| Michael Bartels (Rd 1–3, 5–10) |
6th | |||||||||||||||||||
| Fabrizio Gollin (Rd 4, 6) Spa 24h endurance driver |
4th | |||||||||||||||||||
| Eric van de Poele (Rd 6) Spa 24h endurance driver |
NC | |||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Miguel Ramos Christian MontanariSpa 24h endurance drivers: Alessandro Pier Guidi / Mika Salo |
ZHU DNF |
SIL 6th |
BUC 6th |
MON 4th |
OSC DNF |
SPA DNF |
ADR 5th |
BRN 5th |
NOG 3rd |
ZOL DNF |
— | 4th | ||||
| 2008 | Vitaphone Racing Team |
1 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Spa 24h endurance drivers: Eric van de Poele /  Stéphane Sarrazin |
GT1 | SIL 3rd |
MON 2nd |
ADR 1st |
OSC 5th |
SPA 1st |
BUC 4th |
BRN 2nd |
NOG 3rd |
ZOL 1st |
SLU 2nd |
— | 1st | 1st |
| 2 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Miguel Ramos Alexandre Negrão Spa 24h endurance drivers: Alessandro Pier Guidi / Stéphane Lémeret |
SIL 5th |
MON 4th |
ADR 3rd |
OSC DNF |
SPA DNF |
BUC DNF |
BRN 3rd |
NOG 1st |
ZOL 4th |
SLU DNF |
— | 4th | ||||
| Team Vitasystems |
17 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Matteo Bobbi Pedro Lamy |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | ZOL 8th |
— | — | 25th | 11th | ||
| 2009 | Vitaphone Racing Team |
1 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini Spa 24h endurance drivers: Stéphane Sarrazin / Alexandre Negrão |
GT1 | SIL 2nd |
ADR 2nd |
OSC 1st |
SPA 2nd |
HUN 4th |
ALG 4th |
RIC 3rd |
ZOL 5th |
— | — | — | 1st | 1st |
| 2 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Miguel Ramos Alex Müller Spa 24h endurance drivers: Eric van de Poele / Pedro Lamy |
SIL DNF |
ADR 3rd |
OSC 4th |
SPA DNF |
HUN 1st |
ALG DNF |
RIC DNF |
— | — | — | — | 6th | ||||
| 33 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Alessandro Pier Guidi Stéphane Lémeret Spa 24h endurance drivers:  Carl Rosenblad / Vincent Vosse |
— | — | — | SPA 2nd |
— | — | — | — | — | — | — | 8th |
Complete FIA GT1 World Championship results
[edit]| Year | Entrant | No. | Car | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | R1 | R2 | R3 | R4 | R5 | R6 | R7 | R8 | R9 | R10 | DC | TC | ||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | QR | CR | |||||||||
| 2010 | Vitaphone Racing Team |
1 | Maserati MC12 GT1 | Maserati 6.0L V12 | M | Michael Bartels Andrea Bertolini |
ABU 3 |
ABU 4 |
SIL 3 |
SIL 7 |
BRN 1 |
BRN 5 |
PRT 1 |
PRT 1 |
SPA Ret |
SPA 7 |
NÜR 10 |
NÜR 6 |
ALG 2 |
ALG 1 |
NAV 7 |
NAV 6 |
INT 8 |
INT 9 |
SAN 12 |
SAN 7 |
1st | 1st |
| 2 | Enrique Bernoldi |
ABU Ret |
ABU 6 |
SIL 9 |
SIL 15 |
BRN 7 |
BRN 6 |
PRT 5 |
PRT Ret |
SPA 11 |
SPA 4 |
NÜR 7 |
NÜR 12 |
ALG 13 |
ALG Ret |
NAV Ret |
NAV 12 |
INT 4 |
INT 1 |
SAN 16 |
SAN 14 |
15th | ||||||
| Miguel Ramos |
21st | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Alexandre Negrão (Rd. 9 only) |
INT 4 |
INT 1 |
24th | |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2011: Vitaphone Racing Team did not participate | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2012 | Vita4One Racing Team |
17 | BMW Z4 GT3 | BMW 4.4L V8 | P | Mathias Lauda Nikolaus Mayr-Melnhof |
NOG 12 |
NOG 11 |
ZOL 5 |
ZOL 14 |
NAV 7 |
NAV 5 |
SVK 10 |
SVK 7 |
ALG 5 |
ALG 8 |
SVK 2 |
SVK 3 |
MOS 7 |
MOS 10 |
NÜR 9 |
NÜR 5 |
DON 8 |
DON Ret |
— | 12th | ||
| 18 | Michael Bartels Yelmer Buurman |
NOG 11 |
NOG 10 |
ZOL 1 |
ZOL 2 |
NAV 3 |
NAV 4 |
SVK 3 |
SVK 1 |
ALG 2 |
ALG 5 |
SVK 1 |
SVK 1 |
MOS 10 |
MOS 7 |
NÜR 4 |
NÜR 4 |
DON 9 |
DON 9 |
— | 3rd | 4th | ||||||
References
[edit]- ↑ "2005 FIA GT standings". Maserati Corse. Archived from the original on 2006-05-16. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
- ↑ "2006 FIA GT standings". Maserati Corse. Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2006-12-03.
External links
[edit]- German auto racing teams
- FIA GT Championship teams
- European Le Mans Series teams
- FIA GT1 World Championship teams
- ADAC GT Masters teams
- GT World Challenge Europe Endurance Cup teams
- British GT Championship teams
- 24 Hours of Le Mans teams
- GT World Challenge Europe Sprint Cup teams
- Nürburgring Langstrecken-Serie teams