I L TRIDENTE On-Line
Maserati MC12 Takes 5th at Sebring
03/19/05- Maserati Returns to Sebring after 48 years: After 48 years, Maserati is back with a factory-racing car at Sebring International Raceway, where in 1957 Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra won the 12-hour race with a 450S, the last victory in the United States with a factory car. Maserati presents a MC12 directly in compliance with the rules of IMSA. The car matches FIA GT1 specs. and carries a ballast of 50 kilos. The team will not score points for the Championship.
The drivers are Italians Andrea Bertolini - Ferrari-Maserati official tester, Fabrizio De Simone and Fabio Babini - Pirelli tester. The team had not tested at Sebring, a very demanding circuit for the car, under the mechanical point of view. The track is very hard on tires and set up and has a lot of bumps. So there are a lot of things to do and to test. The staff is working well, progressing session by session without any mechanical failure. It is very important to find a good set up to find the right balance and to make the right choice of tires, in order to be consistent during the long race.
Due to the bad weather conditions, IMSA today decided to cancel the official qualifying session. The starting grid of the race comes from yesterday practice results. The Maserati drivers set the ninth position and are confident for the race. This evening schedule included a night practice session, beginning with a warm up session tomorrow.
The Moibil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring starts on Saturday, March 19 at 10:45. Live television coverage is provided by Speed Channel and Motors TV in Europe.
Claudio Berro, Maserati Corse Director: "Maserati Corse is pleased to have the opportunity to display our car in front of audiences in North America. This is the most important sales market for Maserati, so this development is very important for our sales. We received an invitation from IMSA to race and we accepted it. The ACO and FIA recently came together for the same rules and regulations and we comply within the FIA regulations. The ACO says there is a 66 mm difference between GT1 cars and our car and seven to ten kilos. We are not concerned about the protest made by Aston Martin. We will respect IMSA's decision."
Andrea Bertolini: "Aston Martin is very fast and so is Corvette," said Bertolini. "I hope for the race that our car is very consistent. At the moment, the car is not easy because we don't have more time. We have a short time to practice."
Fabrizio De Simone: "It's a quite different track compared to the ones we have in Europe. The differences are mainly in the bumps and in the fast corners, especially Turn 1 and Turn 17. The different asphalts on this track…these are the main things...they are big differences. We have been testing since Monday until today. We are still working to get our setup for our car."
Fabio Babini: "It's not easy to drive here for the cars are all different. It's not easy for the bumps on the tracks. But I'm excited to drive at Sebring. American racing is very spirited racing."
Babini finished third in his category in Sebring, in 2002.
The participation of Maserati in the ALMS has been made possible thanks to the fundamental co-operation of important partners, including Pirelli and the team Risi Competizione that will support Maserati logistically.
The MC12 is using Pirelli Racing P Zero tyres, developed in 2004 and currently used on an exclusive basis in the FIA GT Championship. The successful cooperation between Maserati and Pirelli continues in the American Le Mans Series.
Car : MC12 n. 35, chassis n. 03/15440
Drivers: Andrea Bertolini/Fabrizio De Simone/Fabio Babini
Qualifying position: 9° - 2.00.381 – 38 laps (March 16th qualifying session)
Weather: rainy, wet
Circuit length: 3,7 miles
Images & text Courtesy Maserati Spa
