Maserati secured its best ever result in the tenth edition of the Petit Le Mans. The MC12 fielded by Doran Racing and with Fredy Lienhard, Didier Theys and Andrea Bertolini on board finished second in GT1 at Road Atlanta behind Beretta/Gavin/Papis in the Corvette C6R.

The performance of the MC12 crew was made even more special by Andrea Bertolini’s splendid GT1 pole position in Friday’s qualifying session, beating the second official Corvette by a second. Runner-up position in this event confirmed how competitive the Modenese car is in endurance races. Other famous wins came at the 24 Hours of Spa in the FIA GT International championship (in 2005 and 2006) and at the 6 Hours of Vallelunga (2005 and 2006).

In the ten-hour Petit Le Mans race held at Road Atlanta, the number 27 MC12 took second place in the GT1 category and 19th overall (this category includes much more powerful cars from the LMP1 and LMP2 classes).

Qualifying

The Doran Racing Lista and Lista Office Maserati MC12 No. 27 was not only close to the two factory Corvettes Friday at Road Atlanta, it beat them in GT1 qualifying for Saturday's 10th annual Petit Le Mans American Le Mans Series (ALMS) race. Andrea Bertolini took just 1:17.428 to cover Road Atlanta's 2.54-mile, 12-turn road course for an average speed of 118.097 miles per hour in qualifying. Johnny O'Connell's Corvette was almost a full second behind, as its fastest lap was a 1:18.415 (116.610 mph). Oliver Gavin's Corvette's fastest lap in the 25-minute qualifying session was a 1:18.602 (116.333 mph).

Bertolini threw down the gauntlet with a 1:18.082 early in the session right before Arie Luyendyk Jr. brought out a red flag when he stopped in Turn 10. The green waved again about four minutes later, and Bertolini responded with a 1:17.977. The fourth of the eight laps posted by the driver from Castellarano, Reggio Emilia, Italy ended up being the one that counted.

Kevin Doran, the owner of the Lebanon, Ohio-based team, brought Bertolini in at that point and Bertolini waited in the cockpit in the pit road to see if the Corvettes would mount a last-minute challenge. No run was to materialise, and so the pole was in the record books.
 

The Corvettes have won all the GT1 poles since last year's season finale at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in Monterey, Calif. The beautiful blue Maserati would be in the 17th starting spot overall. The yellow Corvettes would be right behind it in 18th and 19th spot in the 33-car field. Didier Theys of Scottsdale, Ariz., who chose Bertolini to qualify the car due to his extensive experience with this marque overseas, and car owner Fredy Lienhard of Niederteufen, Switzerland will share the driving duties tomorrow. Bertolini is currently second in the FIA GT driver point standings in Europe for Maserati with one race remaining overseas. Saturday's Petit Le Mans would be only the second race ever for the No. 27 Maserati.

The team was third in class in the practice sessions Wednesday and Thursday. Its best lap on Wednesday was a 1:17.755 (117.600 mph). The stats from Thursday show fastest laps of 1:18.040 (117.171 mph) in the morning; 1:17.679 (117.715 mph) in the afternoon and 1:17.958 (117.294 mph) in the night practice. The latter was cut short by rain. The team didn't participate in Friday morning's practice session, which was eventually red-flagged due to heavy rain.

Race

The aim of the MC12 crew was to make it to the finish as they knew that it would be hard to take the class win against the official Corvettes. In front of more than 100,000 spectators, the Maserati MC12 was roared on by fans and insiders alike and it did not let anyone down. The Doran Racing MC12 confirmed the good form that it had shown when Theys and Lienhard had taken it to third place in the Road Atlanta race.

The MC12’s race ended after eight hours and fifty-five minutes after an accident involving Andrea Bertolini. Happily, Bertolini was unhurt in the crash. The Maserati driver lost control of the car at turn 12 due to a technical problem that the engineers are now looking into. However, driver error has been ruled out. As the Maserati MC12 had already covered 70% of the race (won by Capello/Dumas in the Audi R10) it was placed second.