The new racing model is an offshoot of the Maserati GranTurismo MC Concept introduced last September in Monza and based on the Maserati GranTurismo S road version, with electro-actuated gearbox system.
On March 17th and 18th the car participated in the “Balance of performance”, two days of practice organized by SRO at the Paul Ricard circuit in order to analyze and balance the performance of the models that will be racing in the GT4 European Cup.
A Maserati GranTurismo MC entered by a private team is scheduled to participate in select GT4 European Cup events during the second half of the 2009 season.
A limited series of the Maserati GranTurismo MC produced for gentlemen drivers who wish to race in the 2010 GT4 European Cup and the Italian national GT series will be on sale beginning October 2009. The cars will be sold directly through Maserati Corse in Italy.
In 2010 Maserati intends to once again organize a European single-make cup race, in the spirit of the past Trofeo series. The cars participating in this Cup will be a variation of the GT4-version Maserati GranTurismo MCs.
Maserati chose to create a model with GT4 features because GT4 is the category with the closest links to production models. There is a niche of GranTurismo road car owners who love racing and want to be able to test their mettle on a track driving a racing version of their GranTurismo.
The Maserati GranTurismo MC is the result of extensive development work carried out during test sessions that began in the Summer of 2008.
Various drivers have taken part in developing the Maserati GranTurismo MC Concept from which the Maserati GranTurismo MC stemmed. With their strong professional and racing background, each and every one of them contributed to the creation of the final version.
The predominant part of the fine-tuning work was conducted by Andrea Bertolini, official Maserati tester as well as Maserati MC12 racer and incumbent FIA GT Champion.
Bertolini worked together with Thomas Cremonini, Maserati series production tester, and Vitaphone Racing Team teammate Michael Bartels, also 2008 FIA GT champion.
During the most recent tests, the Maserati GranTurismo MC with GT4 specs was also tested by former Formula 1 driver Ivan Capelli.
Latest in a long line of Maserati race cars
With the creation of the Maserati GranTurismo MC the tradition of the Trident remains loyal to its origins — those of a company founded in 1914 to tune and subsequently build racecars.
The Maserati list of racing wins is abundant and it includes a two consecutive wins at the famous Indianapolis 500 in 1939 and in 1940, with Wilbur Shaw at the wheel of the 8CTF "Boyle Special". This year is the 70th anniversary of that success at Indy.
Juan Manuel Fangio won two F1 world titles in 1954 and in 1957 at the wheel of a Maserati 250F. In the 1950s and 1960s cars with the Trident logo won many Endurance races, while the last victory in a Formula 1 GP was clinched by Pedro Rodriguez on a Cooper-Maserati in 1967.
In 2004 Maserati Corse started racing again internationally in the FIA GT Championship featuring the MC12; it achieved three victories at the prestigious Spa 24 Hours (2005, 2006, and 2008) and no less than ten championship titles:
- Three FIA GT Drivers Championships in 2006 (Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini), in 2007 (Thomas Biagi) and in 2008 (Michael Bartels/Andrea Bertolini)
- Four FIA GT Teams Championships in 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008 (Vitaphone Racing Team)
- Two FIA GT Manufacturers Cups in 2005 and 2007
- One Citation Cup for gentlemen drivers in 2007 (Ben Aucott).
Racing has always been the most demanding test-bench for all cars. Traditionally, reliability and performance are severely proven on track. It is in races that new technologies and materials are tested. And it is on the circuit that Maserati has decided to raise the much praised performance of its Maserati GranTurismo S to even higher levels to create the Maserati GranTurismo MC.