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The first race
of the 2006 Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa season
was run yesterday (Sunday 2 April) at Monza. The race was
won by Alberto Cerrai, winner of the 2005 Trofeo Maserati.
He edged out Maurizio Fabris and Manuel Villa. At the end of
the 23 laps, Cerrai's total time was 51'38"907, an advantage
of 23"294 and 31"154 over his pursuers.
The finish of the race witnessed at tight battle for second
spot between Manuel Villa and Andrea Demegni (in the Pakelo
VIP car). Demegni nudged Villa into a spin from which he
recovered to come back onto the track in fourth. At the
chequered flag, the race order was Cerrai, Demegni, Fabris
and Villa but a 20 second penalty for Demegni saw him
relegated to fourth. For Villa, the ex-rally driver, it was
the first pole in the Trofeo Maserati.
MASERATI GRANSPORT TROFEO
The Maserati GranSport Trofeo is based on the coupé version
of the standard GranSport. Modifications have been made to
reduce the car's weight and improve its safety features.
The aerodynamic efficiency of the racer has been markedly
improved thanks to the splitter and two flick-ups mounted on
the front, the redesigned undertray and the newly designed
rear wing that boasts a 40 percent greater surface area. The
braking unit has been improved and its cooling system
re-routed. The 8-cylinder V90° engine develops 425bhp at
7200 rpm thanks to the new layout and raising of the limiter
to 8000 revs.
The Maserati Trofeo, like the standard roadgoing version,
uses an F1-type gearbox with steering wheel mounted
commands. The system is known as Cambiocorsa. In Sport mode,
gearshifts are executed in 150 milliseconds. The oil pump
has been modified, as has the set up of the differential.
The work of the engineers also included changing the
geometry of the set up and lowering the car's centre of
gravity by approximately 50mm. All of these
developments have been carried out in collaboration with
Maserati's technical partners, in particular Pirelli,
Campana, Pakelo, PTC and Toora
Among the other new features of the Trofeo Audemars Piguet
Maserati Europa is the introduction of some 60 minute races
and the penalties/bonus seconds based on the drivers'
results. The aim is to generate open and hard fought races.
QUALIFYING
Once Saturday's
qualifying session was disputed at Monza, the first round of
the Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa 2006 was
underway. Pole position was taken by the Francesco Ravasio
and Diego Alessi pairing in a time of 2'00"296. Sharing the
front row of the grid is reigning champion Alberto Cerrai
(2'00"750). He is followed by the VIP car with the French
team of Jean (2'01"442) behind the wheel. Coulomb and
Beltoise are making their first appearance in the Maserati
Trofeo GranSport.
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A half empty glass that
became, suddenly, half full. Maurizio Fabris' race
could thus be summarised. A difficult start in the
pack contributed to a clash with Oddi at the first
chicane. Then came a stroke of luck, above all at
the end, that allowed him to claim a podium place.
"Fortune balanced out the early bad luck. After the
start I had to fight to get back among the top
positions. Then came the contact with Oddi that
damaged the car. The fact that some other drivers
retired towards the end helped my cause but I did
well to not give in and try to get used to driving
my car with the set up a little off." |
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Jean Claude Andruet, a
living legend of rallying, raced doggedly in
climbing the pack. The Frenchman, partnered by
Philippe Liechti, closed out his stint in ninth
while his companion finished fifteenth. "I enjoyed
myself in the Trofeo GranSport but I feel that I can
improve my control of the car’s grip and its brakes.
Thus, I couldn’t fully exploit the potential of the
electronics. The race went well and I was careful
not to get involved in any incidents. I managed to
climb the field and have fun." |
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Alberto Cerrai adopted
a tactic used many times last year in beating off
the challenge of Diego Alessi: letting him off the
leash in the first part of the race and then
overtaking him after the obligatory stops had been
made. "The race went as I hoped it would. I decided
to bide my time in the first part of the race before
attacking later. The safety car bunched the group up
but we then were able to build the gaps that existed
before it came on. After the pit stops, I thought I
would not be able to finish the race because of
strong vibrations from the front end but after
getting used to the handling, I was able to close
out the race without any problems. The car was
perfect once again." |
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The Maserati GranSport Trofeo is based on the coupé
version of the standard GranSport. Modifications
have been made to reduce the car's weight and
improve its safety features. |
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Battling it out for fourth spot towards the close of the
hour long session were Andrea and Manuel Villa. In the end,
Demegni, in 2'01"842, edged out Villa by just one
one-hundredth of a second. Also making row three was Luigi
Moccia and his partner, Stefania Grassetto (2'02"085). Among
the drivers making their debut, the young crew of Matteo
Cambi and Nicolò Oddi did well to take a place on the fourth
row with a time of 2'02"483. On the starting grid of Trofeo
Audemars Piguet Maserati there are also the ex-rally driver
Jean Claude Andruet (from France), together with the Swiss
Philippe Liechti, and the Governator of Curitiba (Brasil)
Beto Richa. For Ravasio-Alessi it was a repeat of past
performances in the Trofeo Maserati when the two claimed
pole on the fast Monza circuit.
RACE
Starting on the shoulder of Diego Alessi in row one, Cerrai
held second until lap 14 when he eased into the lead and
increased his advantage lap after lap. Lap four saw the
safety car called for after the Brazilian Beto Richa went
off at the Ascari curve. The pack bunched up once more with
Alessi up front. On the successive lap, the young Nicolò
Oddi overshot turn one and ran into Alberto Radaelli's
Trofeo GranSport. Oddi was forced to retire while Radaelli
managed to keep going until the 17th turn.
Luigi Moccia and Stefania Grassetto did well to come seventh
in the Toora VIP car. They were beaten by the experts
Alberto Pizzicannella (fifth) and Alberto Vescovi (sixth).
The third VIP vehicle, bearing Audemars Piguet colours,
finished 15th with Jean Claude Andruet and Philippe Liechti
on board. Apart from the three cars that retired, all the
Maserati Trofeo GranSports (20 at the start) made it to the
finish at Monza, a testimony to its reliability. The same
can be said of the Pirelli tyres, sponsor and sole supplier
of the Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa. Despite the
high temperatures, the Pirelli P0 tyres guaranteed an
elevated level of performance from the cars.
The next round of the Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa
will be held on 7 May at the Silverstone circuit in England.
The event will form part of the FIA GT International
Championship.
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