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The No. 35 Maserati
MC12 will start third on the GT1 grid for the American Le
Mans Series race at Mosport International Raceway this
afternoon, after a strong practice and qualifying effort
yesterday. Andrea Bertolini opened the day with the fastest
GT1 lap in morning practice, then followed with a flying
qualifying lap of one minute 13.885 seconds on the
2.459-mile road course, just four-tenths of a second off the
class pole-setting Saleen and one- tenth behind the leading
Corvette.
Bertolini and his
co-driver Fabrizio de Simone benefitted from two days of
testing earlier in the week, plus a new tire construction
from team partner Pirelli. Maserati Corse and the drivers
are new to the American Le Mans Series this year, so the
extra track time was valuable for car development and setup.
Maserati competes with an MC12 in compliance with the rules
of IMSA and matches FIA GT Championship GT1 specifications.
Giorgio Ascanelli,
Maserati Corse technical director: "We had a very good day
despite the fact that we didn't collect all that we could,
because we had traffic in our good lap. Having two days of
testing here has been a benefit because we didn't start with
the usual disadvantage compared to the others - we came to
the weekend prepared to challenge.
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Maserati competes with an MC12 in compliance with
the rules of IMSA and matches FIA GT
Championship GT1 rules |
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The Maserati MC12 will start third on the GT1 grid
for the ALMS race at Mosport International Raceway
this afternoon, after a very strong practice and
qualifying effort on Saturday |
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"Pirelli brought some new material which helped us a lot,
and I think we are seeing the results of the work of the
year. For us it was a good day, but we share the sorrow of
the American nation for the [hurricane] disaster that hit
them this week."
Andrea Bertolini:
"Qualifying was good for us because the lap times were very
close. Pirelli prepared a new construction of the tire that
is quick, and it's good for the race because it is very
consistent. I am very happy today. On the quick lap time, I
had to overtake one Porsche, so it was possible to be two-
or three-tenths [of a second] better. But anyway, it's good
for Maserati and for Pirelli."
Fabrizio de Simone:
"Andrea did a good job. He had some traffic in his best
laps, so it could have been a little better. But third is
good. It means we have good consistency for the race, which
is the main point. We'll see what happens tomorrow."
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