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Yesterday
(Friday) was the third and last day of testing for Maserati Corse at the Ricardo Tormo circuit in Valencia, Spain. During the sessions the squad had carried out
important work on new tyres introduced by Pirelli.
Andrea Bertolini, the Modenese company’s official tester,
and Andrea Piccini took turns at the wheel of an MC12 over
the three days. The tests saw the technicians focus on a
comparison of the various compounds developed by the Milanese tyre supplier.
Valencia was also a chance to test the brakes.
Overall, 139 laps were covered on Friday with a fastest lap time of 1:31.567 set.
Rain hampered the drivers' progress in the afternoon.
On a dry track on Wednesday the test had got underway with Bertolini and Piccini
running 119 laps and setting a top time of 1:31.286;
wind hindered the opening day a little but did not prevent
the planned programme from being completed. Meanwhile on
Thursday 144 laps were recorded and a quickest lap of 1:31.824 posted.
Maurizio Leschiutta, Maserati Corse’s technical director, reflected on what had
been a very intense three days of testing in Spain: "The test results were positive. We
worked on preparation for the end of the season, both on the car and the tyres.
The new compounds performed well and, I think, will allow us to be competitive
at Adria and in the races we have left.
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Andrea Bertolini, the Modenese company’s official
tester, and Andrea Piccini took turns at the wheel
of an MC12 in Valencia. |
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The Valencia tests saw the Maserati technicians
focus on a comparison of the various compounds
developed by the Milanese tyre supplier. Valencia
was also a chance to test the brakes. |
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"I would like to thank Pirelli for all their hard work and
for having supplied us with these new tyres, and also
Maserati Corse for their superb levels of professionalism,"
added Leschiutta.
The MC12s will be back on the track on 7-8 September at Adria (in the province
of Rovigo, Italy). There they will be competing in the seventh round of the FIA
GT International Championship. Unusually, the race will get underway at 19.45 on
Saturday 8 September with the chequered flag being shown at 21.45.
Maserati currently head the FIA GT Manufacturers’ Cup with 118.5 points, Vitaphone
Racing Team (Maserati MC12) lead the Team standings with 74 points from Scuderia
Playteam Sarafree (Maserati MC12), while Thomas Biagi (Maserati MC12) holds onto
the top
spot in the Drivers’ championship.
Over in the Citation Cup, reserved to gentleman drivers, it is Joe Macari and
Ben Aucott who are in charge, with 34 points.
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