Tuesday 16th November 2004

Maserati scores historic 1-2 in China

FIA GT race at Zhuhai sees victory for all-new MC12 car

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Maserati scored an historic first and second place with the all-new MC12 car in the final round of the 2004 FIA GT championship at the Zhuhai circuit in China. Andrea Bertolini and Mika Salo drove car number 33 to victory ahead of team mates Johnny Herbert and Fabrizio De Simone in car 34 after three hours of all-action racing.

The MC12 was finally homologated by the FIA at the last World Council meeting on 13 October and today the AF Corse race team scored the maximum points available in this race towards the drivers’ and constructors’ championships. The MC12 has raced in the 2004 FIA GT Championship but was previously unable to score any points due to homologation issues.

Maserati SpA Chief Executive Martin Leach commented, "Today’s end-of-season victory lays down a marker for the other teams competing in the 2005 FIA GT Championship that Maserati is hungry to fill the motorsport trophy cabinet at Modena in the style of the glory days of the 1950s and 1960s."

Race result

No. 33 Andrea Bertolini/Mika Salo - 1st - 113 laps - 3hr 1min 11.193secs average speed 160.85km/h - chassis n. 06/15442

No. 34 Johnny Herbert/Fabrizio De Simone - 2nd - 113 laps – 3hr 1 min 12.864secs average speed 160.82km/h - chassis n. 03/15440

Weather: hot and humid

Circuit length: 4.3 km

[Robbo1]

So, are Maserati about to "do a Ferrari" and kill the FIA-GT Championship just as it started to get interesting? Have they been sandbagging up to now?
Hopefully the new DBR9 will be up to the challenge.

[The DJ 27]

I hope the FIA realise that the car has been built as a racing car, and then turned into a road car, a la the Merc CLK-GTR and Porsche 911 GT1, which killed the championship the first time round. Ban it!

[gtr-mike]

Here here, it is rediculous to allow such a car in this class. It is a prototype racer and nothing else. Someone at the FIA took a back hander for this.

[Ahonen]

I vented my spleen about these cheating bastards earlier this year, but the predicted domination has begun already. I would've thought they'd wait until next year before wiping the floor with everyone, but clearly they couldn't care less.

Why M. Ratel didn't see sense and ban it before it raced is beyond me. GT racing doesn't want or need cars like this - especially when they take the p!ss even further by running as a factory team (which is against the rules) with four professional drivers.

It makes me so angry that Ferrari has the FIA in its pocket like this. Yes, I know they're having to be re-homologated to the correct width, but the simple fact is that it shouldn't have been allowed to compete until it was 100% legal - which at the moment isn't the case.

Ferrari has "done a BMW" - built an illegal car and expected to be accomodated. BMW were unsuccessful but Ferrari, as ever, will get its own way.

I love way the release refers to it as being 'all new', too...

Maserati's PR dept conveniently forgets the disastrous WTCC/ETCC works effort when talking about the company's racing history, too.

And breathe.