The fourth round of the 2005 Trofeo Vodafone Maserati Europa took place today and it was a hard fought race which held the attention of the crowd until the last lap. Disputed today at Silverstone during the course of the F1 weekend, Alberto Cerrai, Max Cattori and Konstantin Ioannidis battled it out over the closing stages. The consistency and tenacity of Alberto Cerrai, the championship leader, won out eventually.

With this victory, his second in 2005, the Roman driver consolidates his overall lead. Behind him came the Swiss pairing of Hans Notter and Max Cattori, also Cerrai's closest championship challengers. As usual, Notter was in the driving seat for the first half of the race with Cattori taking over during the pit stop.

It was the first pole of the year for the revelation of this race, the Maserati GranSport Trofeo crew of Ioannidis and Alessi. The two paired up on the eve of the race after Francesco Ravasio pulled out for personal reasons. Ioannidis thus teamed up with Diego Alessi, the pole man in the Trofeo Maserati. Again the Roman showed fine form in claiming the top time during the race to go with his best lap time in yesterday's qualifying.

Alessi took command from the start while Ioannidis did well to manage the lead and hold his own against more experienced drivers in the closing stages. First Cerrai and then Cattori attacked but Ioannidis did not give up easily and his podium finish was well deserved.
 

Maurizio Fabris and the Smurra brothers also played a big part in the race and were in the top placings throughout. Unfortunately Stanislao clipped Fabris, who he had just overtaken. Fabris went into a spin and slipped down the field. The Smurra brothers went on to finish in fourth place but the race commissioners decided not to take any action. Some 'close quarters' action with Joe Macari saw the Pirelli VIP exit the scene, taking with it Jodie Kidd and Johnny Herbert. The pairing had been in third place in the opening stages. In fifth and sixth came Andrea De Megni and Joe Macari. Next across the line was Maurizio Fabris and the crew formed by Tony Andolfato and Thierry Andretta.

The British journalist (with Italian origins) Roberto Giordanelli, came a fine tenth, just behind Alberto Vescovi. The other British journalist and winner at Silverstone here last year, Vicki Butler-Henderson, drove a tough race before handing over to Jean-Marc Giraldi. Giraldi is on Monaco's Olympic Committee.

The next Trofeo Vodafone Maserati Europa race will be on 30 July at Spa. The race will be run on the same weekend as the 24 Hour and will count towards the FIA GT championship.