The American Le Mans Series (ALMS) debut of the Doran Racing Maserati MC 12 was judged to be a big success, after Didier Theys and Fredy Lienhard finished right behind the two factory Corvettes in the Generac 500, held on Saturday at the Road America circuit.

Their efforts were rewarded with a GT1 podium finish in their first race with the marque and this particular car's first race ever, as well as a trophy given to the top privateers. The factory Corvettes were 12th and 13th overall but the new blue Maserati was right behind them in 14th position at the chequered flag. One lap separated the two Corvettes and the Maserati completed two less laps than the second-place finisher in GT1, but it more than held its own. Indeed, the car's best lap was Theys' 2:02.908 to the Corvette's 2:02.031 and 2:02.197. The team ran between 14th and 19th overall the whole time.

The Generac 500 is a four hour race on a circuit, Road America, that is defined by many drivers as the 'Spa of North America'. Maserati competed here, officially, in 2005 and came third courtesy of Bertolini/De Simone On that occasion, the event lasted 2h45'. This year it is Doran Racing, one of the most famous outfits on the North American scene, who will are fielding a Maserati MC12. It is the eighth round of the 2007 ALMS.

Theys and Lienhard took to the Road America track for the first time on Thursday morning, and clocked the third quickest time in the free practice sessions. At the end of the first free practice session, the MC12 set the third fastest time (15th overall) in the GT1 class thanks to a time of 2.04.499 (at an average speed of 117.052). The Modenese car ran 22 laps, 19 of which were timed. The day's best lap was set by the Audi R10 driven by Capello and McNish (LMP1). In GT1, Gavin and Beretta's Corvette topped the timesheet.

On Friday Theys set the third fastest time the final qualifying session ahead of the Generac 500. The team Doran Racing car stopped the clock at 2:01.978, keeping the gap to the official Corvette driven by Jan Magnussen, the fastest of the GT1 drivers, to 1.005, and that with Olivier Beretta on board to 0.919. Theys set his fast time on lap six as the Swiss driver put all his knowledge of the Wisconsin track to good use. The Maserati MC12 averaged 119.471 mph and the time set will see it line up in sixteenth place on the starting grid.

Team Doran worked on the race set up during the last two free practice sessions. It closed out the first session with a time of 2:04.362 (at an average speed of 117.180 mph). The car ran thirteen laps, of which three were timed. Session two saw the MC12 take third thanks to a lap of 2:04.527 (average speed 117.025 mph), a performance set during the nine timed laps of the fifteen it was out on the circuit.

"The lap times weren't being displayed on the dash and our beacon wasn't working for some reason, so I had no idea what times we were running," said Theys after qualifying. "So, I just pushed it as hard as I could. As the session progressed I found some places I could go faster. I just wish now that we had a day or two of testing to improve the car even more. If I had more experience in the car I would have jumped the rear wing a hole. Without the understeer we would have had another second. But the whole car is more stable than it was yesterday. We've made improvements every session. We're very pleased with the consistency of our tires. The compound we chose might have been too soft for this weather, but they were very consistent and I think it will be a good choice for the race.
 

"We don't have experience with this configuration, but we'll do our best," continued Theys. "Our number one goal is still to finish the race. That is what is most important to us."

Come race day and Theys, of Scottsdale, Arizona, drove the first stint and was in the car for a portion of a rain delay that lasted a little more than one hour during the four-hour event. Lienhard, of Niederteufen, Switzerland, drove the middle portion of the race, and Theys brought it home at the end to put the Lebanon, Ohio-based team on the podium. The only incident the team had occurred about 21 minutes into the race on a restart for the first full-course caution. Theys had contact with a Ferrari in Turn 5, reportedly the Petersen White Lightning No. 31, but the only damage to the Maserati was a scrape on the right side. Theys didn't even have to make a pit stop due to the tussle.

Theys pitted for four fresh tyres and fuel around the one-hour mark, and then pitted again about 23 minutes later for rain tires when a thunderstorm erupted. Since lighting was involved the corner workers were told to take cover until it passed, and the field circled the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course for a little over an hour under a full-course caution for the bad weather Theys pitted again around the two-hour mark, when Lienhard took over. Lienhard drove for about an hour and 3 minutes with no incidents, and then Theys got in to bring the car home.

"There's a little scrape on the right side from an incident in Turn 1 at the second start," said Theys after the race. "I made a mistake. I started in second gear and I should have started in first. We entered the corner side by side, and I had contact with somebody. I don't know who it was; there were about five cars running together at that point. We had understeer the whole way. Kevin [Doran] made an adjustment to the tire pressure on a pit stop that helped, but then it started to rain so we had to stop to put on rain tyres. For my last stint the car was good. But Kevin said at that point you don't have to push, so I didn't. Finishing was our goal and we accomplished that, so we're happy. Fredy says we're going to the Petit Le Mans. It will be a little harder, but hopefully we'll be a little more prepared and now we have a little experience with this car. So basically the challenge will be about the same."

"The first 15 or 20 minutes I drove it was under yellow because of the rain," said Lienhard who also confirmed that the Maserati MC12 will now compete in the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta in October. "I didn't have any problems with the windshield fogging up; it was fine. With the rain, it ended up being cooler than I thought it would be too. On the restart I basically let the cars that wanted to pass me go by; that was fine. Finishing was our goal.

"When the track started to dry up, I was maybe out three laps too long on the rain tires. We wanted to combine the tire change with the driver change, so for about three laps I had no grip at all. I needed to be in the car over one hour, and I was. That was good enough for me for our first race with this car. I had an up and down weekend, but it ended up. We couldn't have expected more. We could not have done better for the budget that we have against the factory Corvettes. The team did a very good job. And yes, we'll go to the Petit Le Mans with the Maserati now."