Maserati's Return to North American Racing!
by Doug Magnon

Maserati’s return to North America racing at the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series’ 24 Hours of Daytona debuted last weekend with the Maserati Trofeo Light. The Maserati Trofeo Light is the product of collaboration between the Modena factory’s racing department Maserati Corse, and Italtecnica. It is a development of the car used in the company’s one make series which in turn is based on the road going Coupé Cambiocorsa. The Trofeo Light makes extensive use of light-weight body panels to achieve the Rolex Series minimum weight of 2550 pounds. The 4.2 liter V8 engine is rated at 430 horsepower.
    In a interview before the race Scuderia of Washington Team Manager Glenn Marquis said, “We wanted to return to the Rolex Series to defend our championships, and we wanted to have the right car for the 2004 season. We’ve just completed two weeks of very successful testing in France, including a full endurance test, and we’re absolutely delighted with the Maserati. The engine sounds just like the Maserati 450S of the past and I think fans are going to love this car. It’s going to add a new element to North American racing”.
    The Maserati marque has a great racing history in North America. Wilbur Shaw won the Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and 1940 driving an eight-cylinder Maserati 8CTF and “Birdcage” Maserati and V8-powered 450S, driven by Carroll Shelby, Jim Hall, Jim Rathmann and others, were consistent winners in US sports car racing in the 1950s and ‘60s. Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra drove a Maserati 450S to win the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1957.
    The new racing car from the Trident marque will compete in all rounds of the series in the GT class wearing the colors of Scuderia Maserati of Washington. At Daytona the Scuderia’s driver line-up consisted of Italy’s Fabrizio De Simone and the Americans, Stephen Earle, Emil Assentato and Nick Longhi. The new SFoW Maserati Trofeo Light GT began its racing career at the prestigious and difficult Rolex 24 at Daytona, immediately demonstrating its potential by taking the GT class lead in the first hour. The new racer, sponsored by Maserati of Washington, was consistently among the top three GT cars for the first six hours of the 24 hours race. A small suspension bolt broke at about the seventh hour, and time lost in the pits dropped the Maserati from a competitive finish but the team was satisfied with the initial outing.

The Trident marque also fielded a second car for the 24 hour endurance race with the Risi Competizione team has a crew made up of Germany’s Ralf Kelleners, the American, Anthony Lazzaro, and Italy’s Matteo Bobbi. Risi Competizione brought one of the two Trofeo cars to the finish line of the Rolex 24 at Daytona in a race beset by heavy rain. Ironically the rain caused overheating problems for most racing teams of all types by cluttering the drive lines with rubber debris from tires. This rubber debris became displaced into radiator intakes of many cars causing overheating issues. The three drivers from Risi had struggled with overheating problems from Saturday night through to the end of the race.
    The Scuderia of Washington’s Trofeo retired in the 22nd hour after changing the radiator failed to cure the overheating problem. “We ran it round for two laps without any water in it and that was the end of the engine,” said Maserati’s customer racing manager Claudio Berro. “One of the Maseratis has finished the race,” said the Italian. “I am very happy. The Maserati is a very new car and not prepared to a very high level. It was important for us to have one car there at the end, and that is what we have achieved.”

    “I think we’re going to be very competitive this season,” explained Team Manager Glenn Marquis. It’s a shame that later in the race the Maserati suffered damage from an off-course excursion in the rain, and that damage was unrepairable so we withdrew the car. Still, this was the first time a Maserati Trofeo Light GT has raced anywhere in the world and for our car to lead the class, even if for only a few laps, shows its potential. De Simone was delighted with the performance of the car compared to the pre-race test in January. “We are consistently four seconds per lap faster in the race than in the trials,” said the Italian. Berro ruled out a prototype class entry for the new Maserati MCC. The carbon-tub car that will be launched at the Geneva Motor Show next month is expected to race in the FIA GT Championship in the second half of this year. Instead it is the Trofeo that will fly the Trident flag in the championship as it is ideally priced and placed to run in the Grand-American Road Racing Championship in the SGS and GT classes.

    The race was one of the toughest on record on the Florida track and was stopped for nearly three hours on Sunday morning due to torrential rain that swept the circuit for the second time. The first brought out the safety car during the night. It was only the second time in the 42-year history of the race that it had been red flagged. The first and only other time was in 1989 when fog limited visibility.
    The Maserati Trofeo Light is derived from the road-going Coupe Cambiocorsa. This version is considerably lighter (2530 lb. dry weight) thanks in part to the use of composite materials for the bodywork, with substantial aerodynamic modifications. It has a front splitter and adjustable rear wing, while the wheel arches have been widened. The suspension has been completely revised with a new structure and tubular steel arms. The performance of the 4244 cc 90 degree V8 engine has been increased and now puts out 430 horsepower at 7000 rpm.
    The next round of the Grand-Am series will take place on February 28 at Homestead-Miami Florida. It will air on Speed Channel March 6, 1:00 Pacific Time. Further information on the Maserati Coupe and Spyder, the Maserati Trofeo Light GT, and the SFoW may be found at www.MaseratiGT.com on the Internet. The #30 Maserati Trofeo of Team Risi Competizione above leads out the #33 Trofeo of Scuderia of Washington.

2004 Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series