After 48 years, Maserati is back with a factory racing car in Sebring, where in 1957 Juan Manuel Fangio and Jean Behra won the 12 Hours race with a 450S, the last victory in the US with a factory car.

Maserati has presented directly an MC 12 in compliance with the rules of IMSA. The car matches FIA GT1 specifications and carries a ballast of 50 kilos. The team will not score points for the Championship.

The drivers are Italians, Andrea Bertolini, the Ferrari-Maserati official tester, joined by Fabrizio De Simone and Fabio Babini, both Pirelli testers.

"The team didn’t test before in Sebring, a very demanding circuit for the car, under the mechanical point of view," revealed Maserati. "The track is very hard with tyres 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 tyres, in order to be consistent in the long race."

Due to the bad weather conditions, IMSA decided yesterday to cancel the official qualifying session. The starting grid of the race thus comes from yesterday practice results.

The Maserati drivers set the 9th position and are confident for the race. This evening  schedule includes a night practice session, while tomorrow a warm up session. The 12 Hours of Sebring will start on Saturday, March 19 at 10.45.

Claudio Berro, Maserati Corse Director says: "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. 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 differen. 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 at the 12 Hours of 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 Risi Competizione, who are supporting the Maserati effort 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.

Maserarti Reparto Corse qualifying details: Car : Maserati MC12 no. 35, chassis no. 03/15440; Drivers: Andrea Bertolini / Fabrizio De Simone / Fabio Babini; Grid Position: 9th - 2.00.381 – 38 laps  (March 16th qualifying session); Weather: rainy, wet; Circuit length: 3.7 miles.