19.05.2004 The Maserati MC 12 sportscar has finally gone head-to-head with its GTS class rivals, including the pace-setting Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranellos, as it joins a test at Paul Ricard

The Maserati MC 12 Sportscar, which was officially unveiled at the Geneva Salon in March, has finally taken part in its first public track test as it gears up towards its FIA GT series racing debut.

The stunning sportscar has at last gone head-to-head with its GTS rivals, including the class-dominant Prodrive-built Ferrari 550 Maranello, and the Barron Connor Racing run 'semi-official' Ferrari 575 GTC, at the Paul Ricard circuit in France.

In hot sunny conditions, Maserati Reparto Corse's official test driver Andrea Bertolini took to the track yesterday, and during the 72 laps he completed, his best time of 1:49.825 was enough to take him straight to the top of the GTS timesheets.

Paul Ricard has in recent years been redeveloped into a 'high-tech' test track and it is now very much favoured by teams as it recreates the conditions prevalent at Le Mans. The long Mistral straight assists engineers working on aerodynamic set-ups, while the whole lap offers similar engine running conditions.

Prodrive brought along two cars as they looked to finalise set-ups for next months twenty four hour classic, where they will be aiming to repeat last year's lights-to-flag GTS class victory. Yesterday the Care-owned Ferrari 550 Maranellos completed 212 laps between them, and the eventual fastest lap in 1:49.945 was only a tenth off the MC 12's pace. Colin McRae, as he continues to get more laps under his belt prior to his sportscar debut at Le Mans, was joined by Darren Turner, Rickard Rydell and Tomas Enge in the red cars.

N-Technology, the competition arm of the Fiat Group, who have been entrusted with development of the 'official' Ferrari 575 GTC racer were present with a single car being driven by former-F1 star Mika Salo. Yesterday the Finn completed 65 laps and posted a quickest time of 1:50.528.

Lastly, JMB Racing were ran one of their FIA GT-specification Ferrari 575 GTC's for Karl Wendlinger, and Barron Connor Racing had one of their LMES 575 GTC's on track with John Bosch and Thomas Biagi taking turns at the wheel.

Testing for all the teams continues at Paul Ricard today.

Tuesday Test Times: (Team/Laps/Best Lap): 1 Lister  71  1.44.494, 2 Maserati  72  1.49.825, 3 Prodrive no1  95  1.49.945, 4 N-Technology  65  1.50.528, 5 JMB Racing   49  1.50.694, 6 Prodrive no2  117  1.50.752, 7 Barron Connor   94  1.51.816

Circuit: Paul Ricard HTTT – 5.759 km (version 1A – SC). Car: MC12. Yesterday: Weather: air temperature 18/23 °C, track 23/36 °C; clear skies.