Leo
March 27th, 2004, 10:44 AM
Maserati has designed a new road-going Grand Tourer known as the MC12 from which a GT racing version has also been developed. The result is that 37 long years after its last victory in an international championship (1967, Cooper Maserati F1, South African Grand Prix), the Trident is returning to the track.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12comp.jpg
Circuit: Autodromo del Mugello (5,245 km – short course 2,760 km)
First day of testing this week for the Reparto Corse Maserati at the Mugello circuit. Nicola Larini took the track today at the wheel of a Maserati MC12, previously known as the MCC. Many serious race fans know that Nicola Larini has been a test driver for Ferrari as well as team driver for the Alfa Romero in the touring car series. His many talents should really help bring the best from the MC12.
Larini completed a total of 69 laps (none on the short version of the track), with a quickest time of 1’46’’306. The Reparto Corse Maserati continues testing tomorrow with the development work on the car aimed at the GT racing. Nicola Larini and Andrea Bertolini will share the test driving.
Now the MC12 is turning lap times in the 1'44 is getting quicker with each session. Maserati's return to the endurance championship class is a real boost to endurance racing in general.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12_rear.jpg
In addition to this, its styling was developed in the wind tunnel from a Giugiaro idea by the Maserati technicians with the fundamental contribution of Frank Stephenson, the Ferrari Maserati Group’s own Director of Concept Design and Development. The European type-approved version of the new car goes on sale after the summer.
We are waiting for more information about the north american version and also when it will be approved for sale in the USA. This is the kid of true supercar concept that should find a strong ready byers who are looking for a Maserati flavor that is even more high profile than the new Porsche Carrera GT that has only recently hit the market.
Designed for high level road use, it can exceed 330 km/h at full throttle, sprinting from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. Although easy and pleasant to drive on the road, the MC12 is also a brilliantly dynamic car. It handles very sweetly and fluidly yet the driver can still feel all the power of a genuinely sporty thoroughbred under the surface. The new model adds the definitive flourish to Maserati’s return to the racing circuits after the recent and highly successful debut in the Daytona 24 Hour Race, of the Trofeo Light, inspired by the equally impressive single-series protagonist. Under the guidance of engineer Giorgio Ascanelli, Maserati’s Racing Division is currently developing the new car to meet the rules of the major international championships.
The street legal version for road use will be available exclusively in a white and blue livery, harking back to an old Trident tradition. In fact, blue and white are the colours of the America Camoradi (Casner Motor Racing Division) Scuderia which raced the famous Maserati Tipo 60-61 Birdcages in the very early 1960s with Stirling Moss as their lead driver. Around 30 MC12s will be built in all, 25 of which will be for road use. A second series of 25 examples for clients will be built in 2005 also.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12_hard_top.jpg
LIGHT, RIGID STRUCTURE
The Maserati MC12 is a two-seater long-tail coupe-spider with a long wheel base (2800 mm). It has a typical racing/sporty set-up with a removable hard top. It is also powered by an impressive 630 hp six-litre mid-rear V12 engine and boasts 41%-front and 59%-rear weight distribution. Highly advanced composites and alloys have enhanced its structural rigidity and kept its overall weight down. The MC12’s bodywork is entirely carbon fibre, while its stress-bearing chassis is made from a carbon fibre and Nomex honeycomb sandwich. Two aluminium sub-chassis’s support the ancillaries, help absorb bumps, and guarantee an excellent standard of safety.
STYLING AND AERODYNAMICS
As a result of its imposing dimensions (5143 mm long, 2100 mm wide and 1205 mm high), the MC12’s styling is very much functionally-inspired. Intensive wind tunnel testing and advanced mathematical computations, combined with work on the track and road, have resulted in an extraordinarily efficient form that absolutely exudes power and personality. The air intakes, vents and other aerodynamic components have been designed to optimise the car’s internal fluid dynamics and air flows to ensure optimal downforce (vertical load) and aerodynamic efficiency values.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12comp.jpg
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12_rear.jpg
630 HP SIX-LITRE ENGINE
The MC12 benefits from all of the Ferrari Maserati Group’s most advanced technologies and competition experience. It boasts a powerful naturally aspirated 12-cylinder 65° V engine that displaces 5998 cc and punches out 465 kW at 7500 rpm. Designed to meet the specific needs and characteristics of a road-going Maserati, it also offers absolutely excellent drivability. The MC12 delivers a maximum torque of 652 Nm at 5500 rpm and remains exceptionally nimble and fluid, even at low engine speeds. It has an aluminium crankcase, titanium con rods, and extremely aerodynamically efficient four-valve cylinder heads to boot. Distribution is by way of four overhead camshafts per cylinder which are gear-driven, a solution that offers perfect timing control. The dry sump lubrication also boasts a highly efficient scavenger pump.
CAMBIOCORSA TRANSMISSION
In line with the MC12’s performance-oriented design, it is supplied exclusively with the six-speed Maserati Cambiocorsa transmission offering computerised gear selection. The driver doesn’t need to touch the clutch with this electro-hydraulic gearbox and instead selects the gears using the paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. The transmission’s two modes are selected at the touch of a button. The Sport mode will be the driver’s most frequent choice and includes a good dose of traction control, while the Race setting enhances the kind of sporty behaviour typically seen on the track. In Race mode, in fact, the system delivers much nippier gear changing and activates the ASR also.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12comp.jpg
Circuit: Autodromo del Mugello (5,245 km – short course 2,760 km)
First day of testing this week for the Reparto Corse Maserati at the Mugello circuit. Nicola Larini took the track today at the wheel of a Maserati MC12, previously known as the MCC. Many serious race fans know that Nicola Larini has been a test driver for Ferrari as well as team driver for the Alfa Romero in the touring car series. His many talents should really help bring the best from the MC12.
Larini completed a total of 69 laps (none on the short version of the track), with a quickest time of 1’46’’306. The Reparto Corse Maserati continues testing tomorrow with the development work on the car aimed at the GT racing. Nicola Larini and Andrea Bertolini will share the test driving.
Now the MC12 is turning lap times in the 1'44 is getting quicker with each session. Maserati's return to the endurance championship class is a real boost to endurance racing in general.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12_rear.jpg
In addition to this, its styling was developed in the wind tunnel from a Giugiaro idea by the Maserati technicians with the fundamental contribution of Frank Stephenson, the Ferrari Maserati Group’s own Director of Concept Design and Development. The European type-approved version of the new car goes on sale after the summer.
We are waiting for more information about the north american version and also when it will be approved for sale in the USA. This is the kid of true supercar concept that should find a strong ready byers who are looking for a Maserati flavor that is even more high profile than the new Porsche Carrera GT that has only recently hit the market.
Designed for high level road use, it can exceed 330 km/h at full throttle, sprinting from 0 to 100 km/h in just 3.8 seconds. Although easy and pleasant to drive on the road, the MC12 is also a brilliantly dynamic car. It handles very sweetly and fluidly yet the driver can still feel all the power of a genuinely sporty thoroughbred under the surface. The new model adds the definitive flourish to Maserati’s return to the racing circuits after the recent and highly successful debut in the Daytona 24 Hour Race, of the Trofeo Light, inspired by the equally impressive single-series protagonist. Under the guidance of engineer Giorgio Ascanelli, Maserati’s Racing Division is currently developing the new car to meet the rules of the major international championships.
The street legal version for road use will be available exclusively in a white and blue livery, harking back to an old Trident tradition. In fact, blue and white are the colours of the America Camoradi (Casner Motor Racing Division) Scuderia which raced the famous Maserati Tipo 60-61 Birdcages in the very early 1960s with Stirling Moss as their lead driver. Around 30 MC12s will be built in all, 25 of which will be for road use. A second series of 25 examples for clients will be built in 2005 also.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12_hard_top.jpg
LIGHT, RIGID STRUCTURE
The Maserati MC12 is a two-seater long-tail coupe-spider with a long wheel base (2800 mm). It has a typical racing/sporty set-up with a removable hard top. It is also powered by an impressive 630 hp six-litre mid-rear V12 engine and boasts 41%-front and 59%-rear weight distribution. Highly advanced composites and alloys have enhanced its structural rigidity and kept its overall weight down. The MC12’s bodywork is entirely carbon fibre, while its stress-bearing chassis is made from a carbon fibre and Nomex honeycomb sandwich. Two aluminium sub-chassis’s support the ancillaries, help absorb bumps, and guarantee an excellent standard of safety.
STYLING AND AERODYNAMICS
As a result of its imposing dimensions (5143 mm long, 2100 mm wide and 1205 mm high), the MC12’s styling is very much functionally-inspired. Intensive wind tunnel testing and advanced mathematical computations, combined with work on the track and road, have resulted in an extraordinarily efficient form that absolutely exudes power and personality. The air intakes, vents and other aerodynamic components have been designed to optimise the car’s internal fluid dynamics and air flows to ensure optimal downforce (vertical load) and aerodynamic efficiency values.
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12comp.jpg
http://www.motorsportscenter.com/uploads/mc12_rear.jpg
630 HP SIX-LITRE ENGINE
The MC12 benefits from all of the Ferrari Maserati Group’s most advanced technologies and competition experience. It boasts a powerful naturally aspirated 12-cylinder 65° V engine that displaces 5998 cc and punches out 465 kW at 7500 rpm. Designed to meet the specific needs and characteristics of a road-going Maserati, it also offers absolutely excellent drivability. The MC12 delivers a maximum torque of 652 Nm at 5500 rpm and remains exceptionally nimble and fluid, even at low engine speeds. It has an aluminium crankcase, titanium con rods, and extremely aerodynamically efficient four-valve cylinder heads to boot. Distribution is by way of four overhead camshafts per cylinder which are gear-driven, a solution that offers perfect timing control. The dry sump lubrication also boasts a highly efficient scavenger pump.
CAMBIOCORSA TRANSMISSION
In line with the MC12’s performance-oriented design, it is supplied exclusively with the six-speed Maserati Cambiocorsa transmission offering computerised gear selection. The driver doesn’t need to touch the clutch with this electro-hydraulic gearbox and instead selects the gears using the paddles mounted behind the steering wheel. The transmission’s two modes are selected at the touch of a button. The Sport mode will be the driver’s most frequent choice and includes a good dose of traction control, while the Race setting enhances the kind of sporty behaviour typically seen on the track. In Race mode, in fact, the system delivers much nippier gear changing and activates the ASR also.