Maserati racing?

merak1974

merak1974

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merak1974 said:
I stand corrected. Yes, I should have written that Bertolini won the series in 2011 with a Maserati QPV :)
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In terms of somewhat more recent racing efforts, the Gran Turismo did rather well in GT4 racing in Europe as well as in North America until a few years ago; a nice collection of race and class wins and podiums across various series in Europe and UK. Jeff Courtney won the 2018 Pirelli World Challenge GTS-A (equivalent to GT4) Sprint Series in North America driving a Maserati Gran Turismo GT4.
 
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Twinspark

Twinspark

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They also had the GranSport at GT3. Don’t think it fared too well considering it wasn’t too well known that it exists.
 
merak1974

merak1974

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95
Twinspark said:
They also had the GranSport at GT3. Don’t think it fared too well considering it wasn’t too well known that it exists.
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A Gran Turismo GT3 was also developed and raced (by Swiss Team, with some, but limited assistance from the factory) with some success in 2012-2013, mainly in the Superstars Sprint GT series. A notable win came in 2012 in Vallelunga, up against an array of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches. A short video here:
 
GeoffCapes

GeoffCapes

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I don't know why the GT was never entered at Le Mans. Obviously I have no idea of the rules but it strikes me that a big GT car would be perfect for the race.
Or did it just not have the power to compete?
 
merak1974

merak1974

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GeoffCapes said:
I don't know why the GT was never entered at Le Mans. Obviously I have no idea of the rules but it strikes me that a big GT car would be perfect for the race.
Or did it just not have the power to compete?
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Racing at Le Mans required both eligibility and invitation, so the Gran Turismo GT3 developed by Swiss Team, even though homologated by FIA as a GT3, did not check all the right boxes... And remember that Ferrari had a contingent of their 458 and 488 GT cars competing at Le Mans, which effectively blocked any competition from Maserati as long as Ferrari and Maserati were part of the same FIAT corporate group.

The MC12 - which could have had a real chance at winning the race - was not allowed to compete due to (slight) non-compliance with Le Mans technical regulations, until very late in its lifetime, when it was in fact allowed to enter the race (2011, I believe), but at that point the car had effectively already been retired from racing, upon winning the GT1 World Championship in 2010.
 
Nayf

Nayf

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Twinspark said:
They also had the GranSport at GT3. Don’t think it fared too well considering it wasn’t too well known that it exists.
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The GranSport is actually the very first ‘GT3’ car. However it became a victim of rule changes demanded by Porsche (iirc) which is why it wasn’t competitive. The GranTurismo was (largely) a GT4 car, for which there wasn’t a Le Mans rules equivalent (GT3 and GTE for example).
 
Nayf

Nayf

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merak1974 said:
A Gran Turismo GT3 was also developed and raced (by Swiss Team, with some, but limited assistance from the factory) with some success in 2012-2013, mainly in the Superstars Sprint GT series. A notable win came in 2012 in Vallelunga, up against an array of Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porsches. A short video here:
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What a fabulous selection of noises
 
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