20.05.2004 Maserati Reparto Corse were out testing at Paul Ricard yesterday for a second consecutive day as Finnish ex-F1 star Mika Salo closes in on an MC 12 seat
Yesterday
saw the second day of testing for Maserati Reparto Corse at the Paul Ricard HTTT
circuit in the south of France.
Once again the company's official tester Andrea Bertolini was carrying out
driving duties on a day which, like Tuesday, was warm, sunny and dry.
Bertolini covered a total of 102 laps at the wheel of the Maserati MC12, the GT
racer which is due to make its competition debut later this year in the FIA GT
Championship. The Italian eventually posted
a best time of 1:49.573.
However the
greatest interest surrounds Finnish driver Mika Salo who is believed to be
closing in on a Maserati seat.
With regular testers Andrea Bertolini driving the Maserati MC12 and Fabio Babini
tied up with GPC Squadra Corse, the ex-F1 star has been drafted in by
N-Technology to assist with development work on the Ferrari 575 GTC racer.
Salo was immediately quick in the GT-specification car and posted consistently competitive times, despite a lack of experience with the Ferrari and sportscars in general although he is familiar with the Paul Ricard circuit. Yesterday, his second day at the wheel of the 575 GTC, saw him claim the second fastest GT class time, in front of both of the class benchmark Prodrive Ferrari 550 Maranellos.
Already, the Maserati MC12 has been driven by Nicola Larini, Alain Prost, Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello in private testing, and Salo is may join this roll call at Paul Ricard before the week is out.
Born in Helsinki, Finland, he ended his F1 career with Toyota in 2002 after a Grand Prix journey that also took in Tyrell, Arrows, BAR, Sauber and Ferrari, has since driven in Champ Cars, but is now looking to build a future in sportscar racing. He has a close relationship with Jean Todt having been drafted into the Ferrari team to replace the injured Michael Schumacher in 1999. It has not been forgotten that the German Grand Prix was his for the taking before he was ordered to move over to allow Eddie Irvine to claim victory for Ferrari.
Salo
set his quickest time yesterday, a 1min 49.113secs lap, and eventually completed
81 laps under the warm summer sunshine that graced the test.
The time proved just good enough to keep the faster of the two Prodrive Ferraris
out of second spot, despite the best efforts of Alain Menu, Peter Kox and Tomas
Enge. The trio combined with the team's second crew, comprised of Colin McRae,
Rickard Rydell and Darren Turner, to rack up a massive 246 laps, 1416km, over
the two days as Prodrive seeks the information it needs to topple Corvette at Le
Mans once again. The second car was seven-tenths down on its sister, and fifth
overall.
The development programme of the MC12 will continue today at Paul Ricard with Bertolini scheduled to drive on the French track.
Paul Ricard Fastest Times & laps completed, 19.05.2004: 1 Nielsen/Elgaard/Moller Lister 1min 44.239secs 13 laps Salo Ferrari 575 GTC 1min 49.113secs 81 laps, 3 Kox/Menu/Enge Ferrari 550 Maranello 1min 49.159secs 83 laps, 4 Bertolini Maserati MC12 1min 49.573secs 102 laps, 5 McRae/Turner/Rydell Ferrari 550 Maranello 1min 49.853secs 129 laps, 6 Wendlinger Ferrari 575 GTC 1min 50.080secs 116 laps, 7 Bosch/Biagi Ferrari 575 GTC 1min 50.529secs 126 laps
Circuit: Paul Ricard HTTT – 5.759 km (version 1A – SC), Driver: Andrea Bertolini, Car: MC12, Weather: air temperature 18/22 °C, track 22/38 °C; clear skies.
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