Maserati will compete in round two of the American Le Mans Series, the Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta at the Road Atlanta circuit tomorrow. The team arrived at the Georgia circuit this week, buoyed after a promising start to the ALMS season at the 53rd Annual 12 Hours of Sebring this past March.

Maserati is competing in the ALMS series with an MC12 that runs in compliance with the rules of sanctioning body IMSA. The car matches FIA GT1 specification and carries this weekend a reduced a ballast of 30 kilos. The team will however not score points for the Championship. The drivers in Road Atlanta will be Italians Andrea Bertolini, the Ferrari-Maserati official tester, and Fabrizio De Simone, two of the trio who raced the MC 12 at Sebring.

This is the first visit for the MC 12 to the Road Atlanta circuit, which is to be found in the capital of Georgia. Its setting in the hills adds to the difficulty of the circuit while offering spectators superb views.

The length of the track is 2.54 miles and the circuit includes 12 curves. After the start-finish straight comes the right hand Turn One, one where care has to be taken on exiting. Then it is straight into a difficult stretch made up of curves and counter curves. Five rapid bends in quick succession mean that the driver has to get the racing line just right as making an error in one curve slows down the passage through all the others.
 

A short straight is the prelude to Turn Six, an ideal overtaking point. The slow right hand curve has to be considered together with Turn Severn, another right-hander. Acceleration is called for along the Backstretch, a straight where the full potential of the car can be exploited before braking hard for Turn Ten, a tricky double right-left that leads into the final curve.

Road Atlanta provides a good mix of elevation changes, high speed sections and challenging corners. In yesterday’s practice sessions the team, which is being closely supported by Risi Competizione, concentrated on and finding the right balance while also determining the right choice of tyres, in order to find the right set up for the three hour race.

Two further practice sessions, and final qualifying all take place today, while the Sportsbook.com Grand Prix of Atlanta itself will start tomorrow, Sunday April 16 at 12 noon and finish at 3pm.