Maserati Corse lived a weekend of solidarity during the International Racing Festival in Copenhagen (Denmark), on 17th and 18th of March).  Two Maserati GranSport Trofeo turned in a track exhibition in benefit of UNICEF. Ten people experienced race car emotions at the wheel of the two GranSport Trofeo, with several Scandinavian drivers including Thorkild Thyrring, Stanley Dickens and Henrik Lundgaard all getting behind the wheel.

These exhibition runs were carried out for charity payment and all the money received will be given to the major humanitarian organization. Also Prince of Denmark Hans Kongelige Hojhed Joachim and Princess Alexandra, showed their enthusiasm after several laps in the Maserati Trofeo. Thanks to this initiative, UNICEF collected over than 700,000 euros during the event.

Meanwhile Maserati's preparations for the upcoming racing season have got well underway this month with both the new GranSport GT3 (a new racer based on the GranSport built to participate in the inaugural 'European GT3' sportscar championship) and the GranSport Trofeo (destined for a second year as the mount of choice in the single-model Trofeo Maserati series) both being involved in track action this month.

At the Paul Ricard High Technology Test Track (HTTT) at Le Castellet earlier this month, Maserati joined in the official two-day test for the proposed FIA European GT3 Championship cars. The new series will start at Silverstone (Great Britain) on 7th May. On the French track was one of the three Maserati GranSport GT3 racers in the colours of Italian Team AF Corse which will be engaged in the new championship driven by three crews: Lorenzo Casè and Cristian Passuti, Diego Alessi and Alberto Cerrai and Stefano Gabellini and Roberto Sperati.

The main objective of the test was to continue with the FIA designated procedure of balancing the performance of the cars. All AF Corse's drivers however were at the wheel of the second Maserati GranSport in order to gain a first contact with the Trident's car. Each driver covered around 170 km and the times lap, just an indication and fixed on dry conditions, were 2 minute 16 second bracket. During the next scheduled test sessions, the drivers will be able to develop the cars and find the right set-ups. This will take place on 12-13 of April at Dijon circuit where another two-day FIA test in planned.
 

Also, earlier this month the 2006 Trofeo Audemars Piguet Maserati Europa season officially got underway with two days of group testing at Misano. Over twenty drivers appeared on the Roman circuit during the test, including current champion Alberto Cerrai. At the wheel of the Trofeo GranSport which will be used to fight for the title over seven rounds on the most prestigious European circuits, was Andrea De Megni, winner of the sponsored drivers’ title. Alongside him were Diego Alessi and Francesco Ravasio, who dominated last year’s qualifying sessions, and Maurizio Fabris. Also in attendance were Alberto Vescovi, Antonio Andolfato, Carlo Romani, Simone De Martini, Franco Malugani, Manuel Villa, Urs Flueckiger and Juerg Marquard.

Matteo Cambi, president of the Guru clothing brand, enjoyed his first test outing in this series. Niccolò Oddi, Philip Burgan and Philippe Liechti, paired with rally driver Jean Claude Andruet, were also making their Trofeo debut. The drivers all expressed their satisfaction at the performance of the cars over the two days. The next session before the start of the championship is scheduled for 2nd April at Monza, where also on track will be the FIA WTCC cars.